Grape stems as preservative in Tempranillo wine

Abstract

SO2 is the most widely used preservative in the wine industry. However, there are several drawbacks related with the use of SO2 in wine, such as, its toxicity and the unpleasant odor in case of excess [1]. These reasons justify the importance of searching alternatives to reduce or eliminate this preservative from wine. Polyphenol rich extracts from agri-food industry by-products have been studied as a replacement for their high antioxidant activity, and positive results reported [2]. The grapes stems are discarded early on in the winemaking process, in spite of containing large amounts of polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant activity. The aim of this work was to determine whether the ground stem and its extract had the potential to totally or partially replace SO2 in wine.