Addition of Phenolic Acids on the Reduction of Methanol Content in Wine

Utilization of phenolic acids, including gallic acid, coumaric acid, caffic acid, cinnamic acid, and ferulic acid, for methanol reduction in wine was investigated. Enzyme activities of pectinesterase and pectin lyase decreased significantly when 0.1 mg/L of gallic acid, coumaric acid, caffic acid, cinnamic acid, or ferulic acid was added. However, no inhibition on polygalacturonase activity was observed when 0.5 mg/L of phenolic acid was added. Methanol content in commercial pectic enzyme (CPE) group increased from 11.53 +/- 1.34 to 56.67 +/- 3.75 ppm in the final products. Adding gallic acid or coumaric acid with CPE inhibited the increase of methanol production. In addition, when 0.2 mg/L of phenolic acid (gallic acid or coumaric acid) was added, the amount of total phenolic acid released from CPE + gallic acid or CPE + coumaric acid groups became higher than CPE group by approximately 466 and 539 mg/L, respectively. In conclusion, the values of lightness, red content, yellow content, total pigment, and total phenolic acid increased in the presence of gallic acid or coumaric acid with CPE, suggesting that adding gallic acid or coumaric acid into winemaking process is a potential method for reducing methanol content, improving wine quality, as well as increasing healthy compounds in wine production.