Abstract
Currently, Rio Grande do Sul state is the main producer of blueberry in Brazil. Practically all production is commercialized in fresh state and only a small portion is subject to processing. The blueberry wine making process is an alternative to expand the beverage industry and offers to the consumer a value-added product as well as a new market for Brazilian blueberry producers. The objectives of this study were to produce wines from blueberries and to evaluate the effect of deacidification (with calcium carbonate) and chaptalization (with glucose syrup or sucrose) on physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant content, and sensory parameters. Samples were analyzed for total soluble solids, pH, total titratable acidity, total sugar content, alcohol content, monomeric and total anthocyanin, total flavonols, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity by DPPH and FRAP methods. The use of calcium carbonate caused a reduction in total titratable acidity, while the use of glucose syrup resulted in wines with low alcohol content. The blueberries wine from Climax and Aliceblue cultivars had higher content of anthocyanin when produced with glucose syrup. The use of calcium carbonate and glucose syrup also provided wines more appreciated by tasters in relation to color. With regard to flavor, George and Aliceblue were the cultivars with lower preference under the control treatments (without carbonate and sugar). The presence of phenolic compounds may have provided a positive influence on wine flavor, once the more preferred wines presented the greater phenolic content.
Highlights
Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) are temperate fruits which require some winter chilling (Allemann and Young 2006)
Ehlenfeldt and Meredith (1994) show that the predominant organic acid in the highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cultivars was citric acid, while in rabbiteye (V. ashei Reade) cultivars, succinic and malic acid were found in greater quantities
These authors showed that in Climax cv., these acids were present at an average level of 89%
Summary
Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) are temperate fruits which require some winter chilling (Allemann and Young 2006). Itaara city is located in the center of Rio Grande do Sul state, at 425m of elevation above sea level This climate is favorable for blueberries, with sufficient chilling hours, hard winters and dry summer (Itaaras’s City Hall 2010). The antioxidant activity of this fruit is based on high content of phenolic compounds (Ehlenfeldt and Prior 2001, Castrejón et al 2008) like anthocyanin, phenolic acids and tannins (Mcghie and Walton 2007). These compounds are a current interest due to their important biological and pharmacological properties including antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflamatory, and antiproliferative activities (Kim and Um 2011)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
