Use of pulsed electric fields to improve the winemaking process

Most of the compounds of interest in oenology to elaborate red wines are found in grape skins. These molecules are principally phenolic compounds, and also, and aromatic compounds known as primary or varietal compounds. Red wine composition depends on the initial grape composition, which is a function of variety, cultivation factors as well as the winemaking techniques. Improving the extraction of these compounds in winemaking is one of the most important questions for the wine industry, especially in red wine elaboration. It is therefore important to investigate alternative techniques to traditional ones that are less time-consuming and more energy efficient, while maintaining, optimizing or improving the quality of extraction and the organoleptic properties of red wines. Actually, in red wines long macerations are carried out with the aim of extracting more anthocyanins and tannins from the skins. Pulsed electric fields (PEF) offer significant advantages in the extraction of compounds of red grape skins, including the previously cited compounds. In the last decade, a high number of papers have been published about this topic. However, the advantages in the extraction of the PEF treatment depends on the treatment applied, grape variety, and maturation state. The purpose of this review is to collect the results obtained during this time to know the best way to apply this technology to red wine elaboration. On the other hand, PEF could be a potential tool in microorganism inactivation. PEF is described as one of the most promising non-thermal methods for inactivating microorganisms in food and wine. The main difference with respect to PEF extraction processes is the largest energy needed to inactivate microorganisms and also the different responses between microorganisms. Research highlights in this field so far are still unclear. For this reason, one of the purposes of this review was to define the most relevant parameters of PEF treatment aimed to inactivation as the moment of application, and the sensitivity of the microorganisms. © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc