Continuous pulsed electric field treatments’ impact on the microbiota of red Tempranillo wines aged in oak barrels

The effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) technology on the microbiota of wines aging in oak barrels without additional chemical preservatives were studied. Two differently aged wines without sensory deviations, naturally having Brettanomyces/Dekkera, were PEF-treated. Results showed that the PEF treatment in continuous flow inactivated the most abundant spoilage microbial population of each wine. However, the recovery of some microorganisms after treatment was also observed. Therefore, to determine PEF as an alternative to the use of SO, additional studied are needed with a wider sampling set.This work has been supported by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria project RTA2011-00070-00-00 and the Navarra Government project IIQ14037.RI1 and by a pre-doctoral grant (Boletín Oficial del Estado 12th May 2012).Peer reviewe