Interactions of Some Environmental and Chemical Parameters Affecting the Color Attributes of Wine

¹ Facultad de Ciencia y Tenologia, Universidad Mayor de San Simon, Cochabamba, Bolivia
² Instituto de Fermentaciones Industriales (CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain.

The influence of variations in environmental parameters (temperature, atmospheric oxygen, light) and pH as well as of certain compounds present in wine on the color attributes of wine was studied. The combined interaction of these parameters makes it difficult to study their individual effects, and for this reason, the study design was based on 2ⁿ factorial analysis for calculating the primary effects of the parameters considered and the main interactions among them. At low temperature (up to 20°C), color stability was more dependent upon incident light than upon oxygen concentration. At higher temperatures (up to 45°C), the oxygen content in the container head space became as important a factor as light. Minimum head space in darkness yielded the lowest color intensity and browning values. The interaction between temperature and wine pH was also extremely important. The catechins [L(-)epicatechin] underwent the highest degree of oxidation and polymerization, yielding highly pigmented products.

Key words: wine, color, environment, compounds

Submitted on April 19, 1993