In traditional wine-making practice sulphites are added to grape juice and wine for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. As under EU law, any wine containing more than 10 mg/L of sulphur dioxide must be labelled as 'containing sulphites', and consumers are more interested in food without additives, researchers are looking for alternative technologies.
This project aims to assess the effectiveness of ultraviolet light of the region C (UV-C) to inactivate contaminants of grape juices and wines and to define the practical protocols to treat also different matrixes.
The project is divided into consequential phases:
- identification of wineries from various regions;
- analysis of the UV-C treated samples from a microbiological, chemical, physical and sensorial point of view;
- assessment of the appropriate UV-C dosage to eliminate the most resistant microorganisms;
- analysis of the data and the definition of optimized procedures.
