| Summary: |
The project CorkPlus aims to determine the impact of phenolic compounds of cork in chemical, sensory and biological properties of bottled wines. Furthermore, volatile and semivolatile compounds of cork will be also characterized in order to understand their impact on the organoleptic quality of bottled wines. Preliminary results suggest that the chemical phenolic contribution of cork stoppers, especially those that have natural parts in contact with the wine, can be variable, which limits the use of this contribution as an effective tool in the promotion of cork stoppers as wine closure.
Therefore, the project also aims to identify the different technological critical parameters that control the phenolic, volatile and non-volatile cork compounds for wine and which may be used in the formation of commercial grades of uniform chemical contribution. Thus, the application of non-destructive chemical characterization techniques (eg. Infra-Red, etc.) coupled with multivariate statistical techniques may be a very important industrial development tool for the identification and characterization of chemical contribution of cork for wine. The project is part of the effort to Amorim & Irmãos, S. A to strengthen its Research & Development in innovation of cork stoppers and improving knowledge of its performance in order to improve the quality and performance consistency of its products taking every physicochemical properties of cork stoppers in order to enhance their competitive positioning to alternative closures in the wine industry. |