Le proteine vegetali in enologia

Fining agents are widely used in oenological practice, both in musts and wines, with the aim of improving the clarity and sensory characteristics of the treated products.

Each  fining agent  has specific properties and reacts with different compounds of the wine depending on its chemical characteristics such as molecular weight and charge. The result of this process is showed through the formation of insoluble aggregates containing the compounds that the oenologist aims to remove from the wine. Animal proteins have been the only tools available for decades. The general evolution of the food sector has been offering to winemaking, for some years now, proteins of vegetal origin with unique characteristics.

Pea and potato proteins with different properties are available on the market. Pea proteins generally have a higher molecular weight than potato proteins and both differ enormously from animal proteins by their typical low solubility.

Pea proteins allow a reduction in browning and polyphenols in some cases comparable to that of caseinate while potato proteins react preferentially with more astringent tannins. Even in the case of vegetal proteins, the development of their production process influences in an impressive way the characteristics of the compounds, defining the specificity of the oenological application. Vegetal proteins have also highlighted
characteristics useful for the colloidal stabilization of wines, a topic that offers many insights.