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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Contribution to the molecular study of the oxidative stability of white wines of Burgundy

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In order to understand and control the aging of wines, particularly white wines, it is necessary to deepen our knowledge about the physico-chemical mechanisms of oxidation related to oxygenation processes. For this, it is important to have tools to quantify the antioxidant capacity of white wines, and to identify the compoiunds involved, in order to anticipate the aging ability of a wine.In this study, analyzes of the antioxidant capacity by DPPH and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) were carried out on a large number of wines during aging and from several vintages, in parallel with metabolomic analyzes, mainly carried out by Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) but also by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS).Optimization of the DPPH method for the analysis of white wines, showed a high reactivity of sulfur compounds with similar antioxidant capacities to those of phenolic compounds. The comparison of this optimized method with the laboratory reference method (EPR) on more than 106 wines, showed the complementarity of the information provided by these two different methods of measuring an antioxidant capacity.Combining antioxidant capacity measurements and metabolomic analyzes, it was possible to determine a list of molecular markers related to the antioxidant capacity of white wines. During this study, a focus on nucleophilic compounds present in wines has also been realized, these compounds being able to react with the quinones formed during oxidation and thus to play a role in the oxidation mechanisms of white wines. Besides sulfur compounds, we showed that several peptides with antioxidant properties could exhibit such nucleophilic behavior. In a second step, the study of different oenological practices (aging, hyperoxygenation or adding SO2 to must) allowed to determine their impacts on the antioxidant capacity of wines but also on the associated molecular markers. It thus appears a significant increase in the antioxidant capacity of the wines during aging. In addition, this increase in antioxidant capacity is associated with a consumption of peptides at the beginning of aging, but also with the appearance of compounds in wines, regardless of the vintage. The compounds that appear are potentially phenolic compounds which can come from wood or lees autolysis. Wines from protected musts with sulfites addition, have a higher antioxidant capacity compared to wines from hyperoxygenated musts. In addition, the protection of musts has a significant impact on the sulfur component found in wines. Thus, a much smaller amount of sulfur compounds (peptides or not) has been observed in wines derived from hyperoxygenated musts, showing a consumption of these compounds in the oxidation mechanisms. Overall, these results reveal for the first time the importance of sulfur compounds in the mechanisms of protection of white wines from Burgundy against oxidation, by radical scavenging capacity and quinone trapping.