The Combined Effects of Storage Temperature and Packaging
on the Sensory, Chemical, and Physical Properties of a Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine
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Abstract
A Californian
Cabernet Sauvignon was stored for 6 months at three different constant
temperatures to study the combined effects of storage temperature
and packaging configuration. Glass bottles with natural cork, synthetic
cork, and screw cap closure, as well as two Bag-in-Box treatments,
were used in the experiment. A trained sensory panel was able to detect
significant changes in aroma, flavor, taste, mouthfeel, and color
attributes among the samples, differences that were found also with
various chemical and physical measurements (volatile profile, polyphenol
pattern, enological parameters, color space). Additionally, two commonly
used polyphenol assays were compared to each other in terms of their
ability to detect the changes in the polyphenol profile. Generally,
sample changes were more pronounced due to the different storage temperatures,
with 30 sensory attributes differing significantly among the three
different storage temperatures, while only 17 sensory attributes showed
a significant packaging effect. With increasing storage temperature
the packaging effect became more pronounced, resulting in the largest
changes in the Bag-in-Box samples stored at the highest temperature
of 40 °C. At the highest storage temperature, all wines showed
oxidized characters, independent of the wine packaging configurations,
but to a varying degree. Generally, wines that received highest oxygen
amounts and storage temperatures were much lighter, less red, and more
brown-yellow at the end of the 6-month storage period, compared to
their counterparts stored at 10 °C. These changes in color and
polyphenols, respectively, were also detected with the two spectrophotometric
assays. With increasing storage temperature both assays measured reduced
concentrations in total phenols and total anthocyanins, while total
tannins, degree of ionized anthocyanins, and color density increased.
Various volatile compounds differed significantly among the samples,
with largest relative concentration changes in acetates, organic acids,
and alcohols, in good agreement with previous literature reports,
with some being well correlated to specific sensory attributes too;
for example, various acetates correlated to cherry and fruit aromas
and flavors. The study shows that storage at elevated temperatures
could be a valuable tool for wine packaging screening and testing
new and improved wine packaging types under the worst conditions,
which are unfortunately not unrealistic