Estabilización proteica de vinos blancos mediante adsorción en columnas de relleno

Abstract

La estabilización proteica del vino blanco es una etapa importante en su elaboración, y tiene una relación muy estrecha con la comercialización del producto final. Los métodos tradicionales utilizados en la mayoría de las bodegas consisten en operaciones discontinuas con adición de material adsorbente, que requieren mucha mano de obra, hay pérdida de producto y se generan residuos que tienen un impacto ambiental elevado.<br/>En este trabajo se ha estudiado la alternativa de utilizar materiales adsorbentes que permitan disminuir o eliminar las desventajas existentes. <br/><br/>Después de una revisión bibliográfica detallada se eligieron el óxido de zirconio y el óxido de aluminio, en diferentes granulometrías y grados de acidez, para estudiar la posibilidad de transformar el proceso de estabilización proteica tradicional discontinuo, en un proceso continuo mediante adsorción con óxidos metálicos empacados en una columna. <br/><br/>Los resultados obtenidos muestran que dicha transformación es posible, y que el óxido de zirconio es un adsorbente que muestra una selectividad con las fracciones proteicas del vino, se puede regenerar, se puede empacar en una columna sin causar problemas técnicos y no modifica las características fisicoquímicas del vino tratado, cumpliéndose así todos los requisitos buscados, obteniendo finalmente un vino blanco estabilizado.

Wine is one of the most popular low-alcohol drinks, thus many research projects have focused on making wine easier to produce or on improving the final product. The macromolecules in wine can form precipitates or cause turbidity, which affects its stability. The white wine protein stabilization is an important stage in its elaboration, and has a very narrow relationship with the commercialization of the product. The colloidal fractions of the wine, such as proteins and polysaccharides, have a considerable influence on some of the basic operations (for example, filtration, clarification, and cold stabilization).<br/>There are a lot of nonselective models for reducing the protein content in wine. The traditional methods used in most of the cellars consist on discontinuous operations with addition of adsorbent materials that require a lot of manpower, there is loss of product and residuals are generated that have a high environmental impact. <br/>In this work has been studied to use alternative adsorbent materials, like metal oxides, that allow to diminish or to eliminate the existent disadvantages. Two types of adsorbent material were used: zirconium and alumina. The used materials were in different particle size and acidity degrees.<br/>The obtained results show that these materials can be used in packed bed. The protein fractions were removed from a white wine in a packed bed of ZrO2 and showed an improvement in the protein stability. The affinity of the ZrO2 depended on the molecular weight of the wine protein fraction. The physicochemical properties of the wine were not modified after the treatment. Finally, the zirconium oxide in the both form can be regenerated.