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Changes in color parameters and phenolic compounds during the sun-drying grape raisining of cv. Pedro Ximenez to obtain sweet wines are studied. Browning increases during the process as a result of the contribution to a greater extent of the low and medium molecular size polymers than the high molecular size polymers. Raisining decreases hue and lightness and increases chroma, all measured as CIELab parameters, indicating a color change to dark reddish hues that is also preferentially due to low and medium molecular size polymers. Most of the phenols studied increase in concentration during raisining, essentially through the concentration effect resulting from the loss of water in the grapes. The concentration changes, however, are comparatively small for hydroxycinnamic esters and flavan-3-ol derivatives, suggesting that these phenolic fractions undergo predominantly oxidative degradation reactions by enzymatic pathways, contributing strongly to the browning of grapes.

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In recent years many studies have been carried out on new pigments derived from anthocyanins that appear in wine during processing and aging. This paper aims to summarize the latest research on these compounds, focusing on the structure and the formation process. The main pyranoanthocyanins are formed from the reaction between the anthocyanins and some metabolites released during the yeast fermentation: carboxypyranoanthocyanins or type A vitisins, formed upon the reaction between the enol form of the pyruvic acid and the anthocyanins; type B vitisins, formed by the cycloaddition of an acetaldehyde molecule on an anthocyanin; methylpyranoanthocyanins, resulted from the reaction between acetone and anthocyanins; pinotins resulted from the covalent reaction between the hydroxycinnamic acids and anthocyanins; and finally flavanyl-pyranoanthocyanins. On the other hand, the second generation of compounds has also been reviewed, where the initial compound is a pyranoanthocyanin. This family includes oxovitisins, vinylpyranoanthocyanins, pyranoanthocyanins linked through a butadienylidene bridge, and pyranoanthocyanin dimers.

Sherry wines are consumed worldwide and are principally produced in the Jerez and Montilla-Moriles regions of southern Spain. Acetaldehyde is a relevant carbonyl compound in wines and one of the main responsible for the particular personality of Sherry wines with a ripe apple odor descriptor. Aldehyde dehydrogenase plays an important role in yeast acetaldehyde metabolism. Acetaldehyde contents in Sherry wines subjected to biological aging strongly depend on yeast populations, and the formation of velum depends on specific amino acids, oxygen availability, and the composition of the wine. Both biological and oxidative aging processes increase the acetaldehyde content in Sherry, although some of the acetaldehyde is oxidized to acetic acid and subsequently transformed into acetyl-CoA. In sensory terms, 1,1-diethoxyethane and other acetals, acetoin, and sotolon are the main compounds formed from acetaldehyde in Sherry wines. The chemical browning pathway of wine by the condensation between phenols and acetaldehyde is especially important in Sherry wines. Acetaldehyde can inhibit the velum formation at higher concentration than its threshold tolerance; also, it could be responsible for the high mitochondrial DNA polymorphism observed in flor yeasts. Usually, acetaldehyde is used to control the biological aging of Fino Sherry. A faster production of acetaldehyde could be considered to shorten the aging process of Sherry. In recent years, the acetaldehyde formed during ethanol metabolism in alcoholic beverages has been associated with carcinogenic processes; however, no systematic data are available about this statement.

Dehydrated yeast cells at variable concentrations were used as fining agents to decrease the color of white wines with two different degrees of browning (0.153 and 0.177 au, measured at 420 nm). Both wines showed a linear decrease of browning with increasing yeast concentration. However, in terms of efficiency, the yeasts exhibited a higher color lightening at greater concentrations acting on the darker wine. This suggests a preferential retention of some types of yellow-brown compounds that could increase their concentrations at the higher degree of browning. To confirm the role of yeast cell walls in the retention of browning compounds and to evaluate their potential use as fining agents, they were applied at variable concentrations to a browned wine (0.175 au). The cell walls were found to be the active support for the adsorption of browning compounds, but their efficiency was much lower than that of an equivalent amount of the yeast cells from which they were obtained. Finally, HPLC determinations of low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds showed flavan-3-ol derivatives to be significantly retained by both yeasts and their cell walls.

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White wine was subjected to several fining treatments using baker's yeast at concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/L. At all these concentration levels, the yeasts decreased the color of the wine in different degrees. The wine samples treated with the higher yeast concentration were subjected to analysis of phenolic compounds by HPLC and found to exhibit significantly decreased contents of vanillic, syringic and c-coutaric acids, and procyanidins B2 and B4, and colored compounds eluted at high retention times. The efficiency of the yeast-based fining treatment (1 g/L) was compared with traditional treatments such as those involving the use of activated charcoal or PVPP, which were employed at the usual concentrations in Sherry winemaking. This yeast treatment was found to provide results similar to those of the activated charcoal treatment in terms of A(420). Likewise, significant differences in the degree of retention of various phenols were observed among the three treatments compared. Finally, the wine samples obtained with the different treatments were subjected to a sensory panel. All the wines were found to exhibit improved color, aroma, and flavor with respect to the untreated samples, although the treatment using yeast at 1 g/L provided the best results in terms of aroma.