Microwave irradiation: impacts on physicochemical properties of red wine

Abstract

Microwave irradiation is considered as a potential alternative technology for promoting the progress of wine aging. The effects of microwave irradiation on some important physicochemical properties of young Cabernet Sauvignon dry red wine were studied. The results indicated that there were significant changes in total phenolic compounds (TPC), total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA), titratable acidity (TA), and DPPH-free radical scavenging activity (DFRSA), while pH and electrical conductivity (EC) hardly changed. DFRSA was correlated to TPC, TMA, and TA during microwave treatment. The changing trend of chromatic characteristics (CC), which induced by microwave irradiation, was consistent with that of aging red wine. The results of principal component analysis showed that there was a big difference between the untreated red wine and the treated red wine under different microwave conditions. The results suggested that microwave technology could change some physicochemical properties of red wine and promote the aging of red wine.

Keywords

• red wine
• microwave irradiation
• physicochemical properties
• principal component analysis (pca)
• aging