Volatile and phenolic composition of a Chardonnay wine treated with antimicrobial plant extracts before malolactic fermentation

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.Previous studies have proven the potential of antimicrobial plant extracts to delay malolactic fermentation (MLF) in red wines. With the final end of extending their applicability in oenology, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the addition of antimicrobial extracts (from eucalyptus leaves and almond skins) to white wines (i.e., Chardonnay wine), as a way to control MLF, would affect wine organoleptic properties, in particular those related to their volatile and phenolic composition. Although addition of both extracts led to statistically significant changes (p<0.05) in the concentration of several volatile and phenolic compounds, only few of them showed contents higher than their sensory thresholds, meaning that the changes observed in their concentration could slightly affect the final wine aroma and astringency. However, use of the extracts in the elaboration of white wines needs to be assessed in future experiments at winery scale, including wine sensorial analysis.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (AGL2006-04514, AGL2009-13361-C02-00 and CSD2007-00063 Consolider Ingenio 2010 FUN-C-FOOD Projects), and the Comunidad de Madrid (ALIBIRD P2009/AGR-1469 Project). JJRB and AGR are the recipients of a fellowship from the JAE-Doc Program (CSIC) and DANONE Institute, respectively.Peer Reviewe