PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pedro Rodríguez-Rodríguez
AU  - Encarna Gómez-Plaza
TI  - Differences in the Extraction of Volatile Compounds from Oak Chips in Wine and Model Solutions
AID  - 10.5344/ajev.2010.10045
DP  - 2010 Dec 10
TA  - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
PG  - ajev.2010.10045
4099  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2010/12/10/ajev.2010.10045.short
4100  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2010/12/10/ajev.2010.10045.full
AB  - Studies on the accumulation of oak-derived volatile compounds in wine and on the effects of different factors on the final concentration of these compounds are usually conducted both with wine samples and with model solutions, the results obtained with model solutions usually being assumed to be comparable with those that would have been obtained with real wine. This present study was designed to test this assumption and to assess whether the studies with model solutions could be useful for explaining the behaviour of these volatile compounds during aging. To do this, the evolution of the concentration of oak-derived volatile compounds (furfuryl and guaiacyl compounds, cis and trans-β-methyl-γ-octalactone and vanillin) was studied in wine and model solutions containing oak chips. Given that the physico-chemical properties of the wine or the model solutions might also influence extraction, the model solutions were adjusted to three different titratable acidity values and three different alcohol percentages. The results show that the extraction rate and final quantities of guaiacyl derivates and lactones in model solutions are very similar to those observed in wines. However, the behaviour of other compounds, such as furfuryl compounds and vanillin, depended on the type of matrix in which the oak chips were soaked. Also, the physico-chemical properties of the matrix should also be taken into account when studying the extraction of oak-derived volatile compounds, because the accumulation of some compounds such as the lactones is affected by the physico-chemical characteristics of the wine or model solution.