Extraction of ellagitannins from oak wood of model casks

Abstract

Eight experimental model casks were constructed using wood from four oak trees and filled with a 12 % ethanol solution for 200 days. The concentration of ellagitannins was subsequently measured in the solutions and in the inner and outer faces of the cask wood. Only a low proportion of the total ellagitannins was extracted from the wood, and this proportion varied significantly between both different casks and between the eight ellagitannins measured. The two most abundant ellagitannins, castalagin and vescalagin, were the least easily extracted. The concentration of ellagitannins was much lower in the solutions than expected from calculations based on the difference between the inner and outer faces of the wood. This degradation of ellagitannins occurs subsequent to their extraction into solution.