Tannins release

Among polyphenolic compounds, two types of flavonoids, the anthocyanins and flavanols (i.e., catechins, proanthocyanidins, condensed tannins), are particularly relevant to the quality of red wines, as they are key compounds for color definition and astringency. Other flavonoids such as flavonols may have some influence on color and bitterness, although they are present in red wines in much lower amounts. Phenolic acids and hydrolysable tannins, released from barrel wood, may also have an influence on wine taste and color, and hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives from grape must are involved in the oxidative browning of white wines together with flavanols. Besides, some of these perceptions may be modified by other sensory characteristics (e.g. sourness, sweetness) related to other wine components (Preys et al. 2006). 

The platelet hist UIline release assay demonstrated that cotton mill dust extract, cotton bract extract, cotton leaf extract, dialyzed CMD extract, polyphenols, compound 48/80, rutin, trimethylamine HCl, quercetin, catechin, tannic acid, ellagic acid and sodium metasilicate all release histamine directly (48). Thus not only do tannin compounds induce histamine release, but they may also form higher molecular weight polymers and contain components that survive acid hydrolytic conditions (48). Tannins are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. 

Thiolysis also proved useful for the analysis of derived tannins. Methylmethine-linked tannin-like compounds resulting from acetaldehyde-mediated condensation of flavanols (see Section 5.5.S.2) yielded several adducts when submitted to acid-catalyzed cleavage in the presence of ethanethiol, providing information on the position of linkages in the original ethyl-linked compounds. " Thiolysis of red wine extracts released benzylthioether derivatives of several anthocyanin-flavanol adducts, indicating that such structures were initially linked to proanthocyanidins. However, some of the flavonoid derivatives present in wine (e.g., flavanol-anthocyanins ) are resistant to thiolysis, while others (e.g., flavanol-ethyl anthocyanins) were only partly cleaved. Thiolysis, thus, appears as a rather simple, sensitive, and powerful tool for quantification and characterization of proanthocyanidins, but provides mostly qualitative data for their reaction products. 

The astringency of wine tannin fractions appears to be correlated to the content of flavanol units released after thiolysis regardless of their environment in the original mol-ecules. Anthocyanins contributed neither bitterness nor astringency. Whether incorporation of anthocyanin moieties in tannin-derived structures affects their interactions with proteins and taste properties remains to be investigated. 

In the past decade, some North Coast wineries have experimented with a completely anaerobic fermentation technique known as carbonic maceration. In this system, whole grapes are placed in a vat and fermentation is allowed to start. Since there is no pumping over or aeration, the fermentation proceeds very slowly under a blanket of carbon dioxide. The fermentation relies upon the intercellular production of ethanol to kill the skin cells and release the color and tannins. The results are claimed to be wines with a special bouquet, earlier maturity, slightly more alcohol, and a softer taste. They are easily recognizable by their special bouquet. Although popular in France, where they are drunk very young, they have not gained widespread acceptance with the North Coast wineries. 

The lactic acid bacteria may cause polysaccharides to be released in a wine (Dols-Lafalgue et al. 2007). These compounds can increase the sensation of volume or body of wines, and can also be polymerized with the grape or wood tannins, reducing sensations of roughness or astringency, and producing more complex flavours. 

Flavanol oligomers and polymers are also called condensed tannins or proan-thocyanidins. The term tannin refers to their capacity to interact or react with proteins and precipitate them out. When heated under acidic conditions, these molecules release red anthocyanidin pigments, hence the term proanthocyanidins. The term leucoanthocyanidin, also referring to this particular property, is sometimes encountered in the literature. However, this should be restricted to another group of compounds, flavan 3,4-diols, which are intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway leading to flavanols and anthocyanins (Stafford and Lester 1984 Nakajima et al. 2001 Abrahams et al. 2003) but have never been isolated from grapes, presumably due to their instability. 

Fiavanols similarly exist as diversely hydroxylated and/or substituted monomeric species but also as oligomers and polymers, called condensed tannins or, because they release anthocyanidins when heated in acidic medium, proanthocyanidins. 

In our laboratory we have studied thermochemical treatment of biomass using hot compressed water and found solid-like biomass wastes were converted to liquidized materials by the release of water soluble compounds inside cells due to thermal rupture of cell around 175 C at 40 atm (4). Applying this liquidization process, we tried to extract radiata tannin from the bark. 

As plant tissues senesce and die, three processes may ensue almost simultaneously. First, enzymes within the dead but sterile and physically intact cells cause proteolysis and other autolytic degradations. The released amino acids, sugars, tannins, phenols, and quinones may be oxidized by chemical or enzymatic catalysis to produce humus-like pigments, or proto-humus as discussed by Stevenson in Chapter 2. This was well illustrated by Cohen (Given and Dickinson, 1975) who observed cellular material of partially polymerized eaco-anthocyanins in residues of Rhizophora mangle deposited in a mangrove swamp in Florida. The autolytic reactions may be prominent in situations where microbial decomposition is slow due to acidity, anaerobiosis, or lack of basic nutrients. 

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