Module co-managed by Perdomini-IOC

Chitosan is a compound extracted from chitin and, after cellulose, is the second most abundant polysaccharide on our planet. We find this biopolymer distributed in nature as a constituent of the exoskeletons of crustaceans and fungi such as Agaricus or Aspergillus.

In the wine world, chitosan essentially owes its reputation to the particularly effective action it takes to combat microbiological drift. For example, some wines particularly contaminated with Brettanomycès can recover their population below the technically measurable threshold.
In fact, this polysaccharide is also used in oenology for reducing sulfite use, as a heavy metal chelator, and as an antioxidant and clarifier of musts and wines. Bertrand Robillard, of the Institut Oenologique de Champagne, elaborates in his presentation on all the properties of chitosan, and possible oenological applications.

For more than 10 years, the OIV has been recommending the use in oenology of chitin derivatives (chitosan and chitin-glucan) of exclusive fungal origin in order to avoid any allergenic risk, but the official methods prescribed to confirm the fungal origin of chitosan are challenging and require long analytical times (more than 3 hours per sample). For this reason, the new, fast and more automated analytical method based on the analysis of stable isotope ratios, which is the result of Matteo Perini‘s research at the Edmund Mach Foundation, is of great interest.

To learn more, contact the technicians at Perdomini-IOC

Recordings of the Perdomini-IOC module held during Enoforum Italia 2021 from May 18-20, 2021 in virtual format.