The Wine Proteins and Peptides

In addition to their importance for white wine stability, proteins seems to be involved in other aspects of wine quality. For example, it is recognized that proteins can interact with aromatic compounds (Lubbers et al., 1994), influence the perception of wine body in the mouth, and, due to their surface properties, affect foam formation and stability in sparkling wines (Brissonet and Maujean, 1993). 

The presence of peptides can also have an effect on wine quality. In general, these compounds are known to have several biological (antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, etc.) and chemical-physical (surfactant) properties and also to affect the taste of some foods. However, peptides have received only a little attention, mainly because of the difficulties in their isolation from wines (Moreno-Arribas et al., 2002). 

Finally, it seems that part of the nitrogenous compounds, including proteins and peptides, can be transferred from the berry seeds and/or skin into the wine during maceration (Fukui et al., 2002), but their role in wine is not known. 

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