Screening Factors Affecting Potassium Polyaspartate and Carboxymethylcellulose Stability in Wine to Predict their Efficiency

Abstract

Potassium polyaspartate (KPA), a colloidal additive for tartaric stabilization, has recently been approved for use in wine (OIV/OENO 543-2016), and has been adopted by many wineries in Europe. Research conducted so far on this product has highlighted its efficacy for tartrate stabilization, similar to the other additives such as metatartaric acid (MT) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). However, unlike CMC and MT, KPA has been reported to have no interaction with color, no haze formation and maintains its efficacy for tartrate stabilization over time. In the present study, we evaluated for the first time the efficacy of KPA in wines treated with different KPA concentrations at high temperatures. A full factorial experimental design has been used in order to investigate the interactions between the doses of KPA and CMC and temperature on the tartaric wine stability, evaluated by the conductivity test. The results of this study show that the temperature is the variable that has the greatest effect on the efficacy of this new additive. In any case, KPA was still able to maintain its efficiency for at least 45 days at temperatures around 40 °C, such as those occurring during commercial shipments. The results obtained from the conductivity test are consistent with those of the cold test.