Quantification of 3-deoxyglucosone (3DG) as an aging marker in natural and forced aged wines

Abstract

The Maillard reaction product 3-deoxyglucosone (3DG) was quantified in wines, by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis after derivatization with ortho-phenylenediamine. Both sweet red Port wines and dry white wines were analysed during natural and forced aging. In natural aging, and for dry white wines, 3DG is negatively correlated to age (r=−0.939), while for sweet red Port wines, 3DG is positively correlated to age (r=0.782). The same tendency was observed during a wine forced aging protocol. For a dry white wine, with higher levels of α-amino acids, 3DG is consumed (kconsumption 0.077–0.098day−1) along the time protocol, while for a sweet red Port wine, with lower levels of α-amino acids, an accumulation of 3DG is observed with time (kformation 0.041–0.060day−1). These results suggest that 3DG content can be used as an aging marker, as it has discriminated dry white and sweet red Port wines from different ages and cultivars. Analysis of wine-model solutions allowed verifying that the fructose content has a higher effect on 3DG formation than glucose, as well as that an increase on amino acids content does not lead to an increase of 3DG yields.