Impact of an alternative ageing technology using micro-oxigenation on the wine spirit's antioxidant activity

Mestrado em Engenharia de Viticultura e Enologia - Instituto Superior de Agronomia / Faculdade de Ciências - Universidade do PortoThe study of antioxidant activity, a quality parameter, was performed during the first year of a Lourinhã wine spirit’s ageing, through two different ageing technologies: traditional technology using 250 L barrels, and alternative technology using 1000 L stainless steel tanks with wooden staves and micro-oxygenation. In both technologies, the same types of wood were used: Limousin oak and chestnut, and mixture of them, with medium plus toasting level. The quantity of the wooden staves added to the stainless steel tanks was calculated to reproduce the surface area to volume ratio of 250 L wooden barrel, therefore, to be comparable. The tanks were provided with micro-oxygenation during the ageing period, simulating the amount of oxygen entering through the barrels. The alternative technology induced higher antioxidant activity along with faster enrichment in wood derived phenolic compounds. In addition, the antioxidant activity, the total phenolic content and the low molecular weight phenolic compounds concentrations determined by HPLC exhibited significant positive correlations. The results also showed that alternative technology can be used as a valid method of ageing wine spirits since it allowed obtaining a high quality aged beverage through a more economically and environmentally sustainable process. A synergistic effect with the chestnut wood was also observedN/