Influence of Winemaking Practices on the Characteristics of Winery Wastewater and Water Usage of Wineries

The winemaking industry produces large volumes of wastewater that pose an environmental threat ifnot treated correctly. The increasing numbers of wineries and the demand for wine around the worldare adding to the growing problem. The vinification process includes all steps of the winemakingprocess, from the receipt of grapes to the final packaged product in the bottle. To fully understand allthe aspects of winery wastewater it is important to know the winemaking processes before consideringpossible treatments. Winemaking is seen as an art and all wineries are individual, hence treatmentsolutions should be different. Furthermore, wastewater also differs from one winery to anotherregarding its volume and composition and therefore is it vital for a detailed characterisation of thewastewater to fully understand the problem before managing it. However, prevention is better thancure. There are a number of winemaking practices that can help lower the volume of the wastewaterproduced to decrease the work load of the treatment system and increase the efficiency of treatment

Investigating the Effect of Ozone on the Biodegradability of Distillery Wastewater

The effect of ozonation on wine distillery wastewater was investigated firstly by monitoring the effect of ozonationon the composition of the wastewater and, secondly, by investigating its effect on the biodegradability of thewastewater. An average COD reduction of 271 mg COD.g O3-1 was found for wastewater from a distillery pondsystem. Stable microbial populations, which are found in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) granules, wereused to determine the toxic effect of wastewater on microbial activity. Granule activity was measured in terms ofthe rate of biogas and methane production, as well as cumulative biogas volume. Low ozone doses (200 to 400 mgO3.L-1) increased granule activity in terms of biogas, methane production, and cumulative gas volumes. Distillerywastewater reduced the activity of granules, most likely due to the presence of polyphenols and other recalcitrantcompounds in the distillery wastewater

UASB treatment of a highly alkaline fruit-cannery lye-peeling wastewater

Anaerobic treatment of a highly alkaline fruit-cannery lye-peeling wastewater was investigated, using an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. Only a short initialisation period was required before COD reduction and OLR had stabilised at 85 to 90% and 2.40 kgCOD·m -3·d-1, respectively. With subsequent increases in OLR to 8.1 kgCOD·m-3·d-1, the COD reduction remained between 85 and 93% and biogas production peaked at 4.1 ℓ·d-1 (63% methane). COD and reactor pH started to decrease after 111 d. Decreases in gas production were observed by Day 102, decreasing to 2.48 ℓ·d-1 by Day 111 and 0.93 ℓ·d-1 after 129 d. Subsequent reductions in the OLR, by reducing influent COD, had no effect on reactor stability. Loss of reactor performance was ascribed to the accumulation of sodium (potentially > 20 000 mg·ℓ-1) within the reactor biomass, leading to inhibition of methanogenesis.Articl

Proximate composition of carob cultivars growing in South Africa

Five carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) cultivars grown in South Africa were analysed for proximate and polyphenol composition as well as for mineral, amino and fatty acid content. Carob pods from the five cultivars were obtained from two locations in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The average proximate composition (determined using standardised methods) range of raw carob pods was: 8.17-9.56% moisture; 40.69-54.74% sugars; 29.88-36.07% dietary fibre; 3.07-4.42% protein; 2.58-3.08% polyphenols; 0.45-0.86% fat; and 2.13-2.69% ash. A total of 17 amino acids were detected, including the seven essential amino acids. All cultivars analysed were found to be of good nutritional quality in terms of long-chain fatty acid proportions, i.e. PUFA: SFA and n-6: n-3 ratios. Slight, but statistically significant, compositional variations were found among cultivars. The results obtained in this study suggest that the locally grown carob cultivars are highly nutritious and can thus be considered as an alternative food source in South Africa.Articl

Investigating the effect of ozone on the biodegradability of distillery wastewater

The effect of ozonation on wine distillery wastewater was investigated firstly by monitoring the effect of ozonation on the composition of the wastewater and, secondly, by investigating its effect on the biodegradability of the wastewater. An average COD reduction of 271 mg COD.g O3-1 was found for wastewater from a distillery pond system. Stable microbial populations, which are found in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) granules, were used to determine the toxic effect of wastewater on microbial activity. Granule activity was measured in terms of the rate of biogas and methane production, as well as cumulative biogas volume. Low ozone doses (200 to 400 mg O3-1) increased granule activity in terms of biogas, methane production, and cumulative gas volumes. Distillery wastewater reduced the activity of granules, most likely due to the presence of polyphenols and other recalcitrant compounds in the distillery wastewater.Articl

Simultaneous prediction of acidity parameters (pH and titratable acidity) in Kefir using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy.

Acidity in terms of pH and titratable acids influences the texture and flavour of fermented dairy products, such as Kefir. However, the methods for determining pH and titratable acidity (TA) are time consuming. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a non-destructive method, which simultaneously predicts multiple traits from a single scan and can be used to predict pH and TA. The best pH NIR calibration model was obtained with no spectral pre-treatment applied, whereas smoothing was found to be the best pre-treatment to develop the TA calibration model. Using cross-validation, the prediction results were found acceptable for both pH and TA. With external validation, similar results were found for pH and TA, and both models were found to be acceptable for screening purposes

Erratum to " Kinetic optimisation of the reversed phase liquid chromatographic separation of rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) phenolics on conventional high performance liquid chromatographic instrumentation" [J. Chromatogr. A 1219 (2012) 128-139]

[No abstract available