Natural extracts from grape seed and stem by-products in combination with colloidal silver as alternative preservatives to SO2 for white wines: Effects on chemical composition and sensorial properties.

Abstract

The search for alternative additives to sulfur dioxide, with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, in the production of wines is one of the current objectives of the enological industry. In the present study, aqueous extracts obtained from winery byproducts (grape seeds and stems), alone or in combination with colloidal silver complex, have been used in white vinification. The antimicrobial effect of the extracts was similar to that of sulfur dioxide, being more effective on lactic and acetic bacteria in those wines to which colloidal silver was added. The effect on the color, the phenolic compounds and the volatile fraction of the wines was evaluated, as well as their sensory profile. The use of both extracts modified the color of the wines, increasing the chromatic parameters a* and b*, indicating a browning tendency, although no other signs of oxidation were found. Wines with seed extracts contained higher amounts of flavan-3-ols, and a significant increase in some volatile compounds such as fatty acid ethyl esters and benzene compounds, which were identified in the extracts. From a sensorial point of view, the wines with stem extracts were the most similar to those elaborated with SO2, detecting a certain bitterness in wines with seed extracts.