Evaluation of the Electrical Properties of Some Products Used in the Tartaric Stabilization of Wines

The tartaric stabilization of wines requires an understanding of the colloidal status of the system, especially for red wines. Given that the colloids naturally present in a wine make it difficult to estimate the tartaric stability and manage the industrial processes of tartaric stabilization, the present study was aimed at evaluating whether the products used for cold tartaric stabilization have electrical charges which could explain their affinity for colloids having a surface electrical charge. The experimental work demonstrated that potassium hydrogen tartrate, DL-potassium hydrogen tartrate, and metatartaric acid have different electrical characteristics which depend on several process variables. These data also confirm the considerable affinity of potassium hydrogen tartrate for the colloids in wine and could contribute to a more accurate estimation of the inhibitory effect of some colloidal fractions on tartaric precipitations.