Influence of treatment with chelating-type ion exchange resins on the physical-chemical and sensory characteristics of aged wine vinegars

Abstract

The presence of metallic ions, mainly iron a copper, in wine derivatives, such as vinegar, can cause health problems for consumers when they are in high concentrations. In very old vinegars can reach concentrations of between 20 and 40 ppm of iron, so it is convenient to reduce them. In the present work, the reduction of the metal content in aged vinegars has been studied through its treatment with chelating-type ion exchange resins, under two modalities, column treatment and batch treatment. It has been proven that this process significantly reduces the metal content, and that it does not greatly affect its principal physical-chemical characteristics. The threated vinegars have been evaluated by the official tasting panel of the Denomination of Origin “Sherry Vinegar”, obtaining very positive results, only with small differences with the untreated ones. All of them were considered as suitable to be commercialized under the protection of that Denomination of Origin.