Evaluating the effect of plasma treatment on wine without added sulfites

MINIATURA 6

Funding Organization: National Science Centre

Project title: Evaluating the effect of plasma treatment on wine without added sulfites

Agreement number: DEC-2022/06/X/ST8/01346

Project implementation period: 23.11.2022 - 22.05.2024

Principal Investigator: dr inż. Piotr Terebun

Project value: 48 851,00 PLN

Funds granted for Lublin University of Technology: 48 851,00 PLN

Abstract: One application of electrotechnological solutions such as receiving increasing attention low-temperature plasma, is the use of plasma processing in food technology. By initiating physicochemical reactions involving reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and charged plasma particles, plasma can be used, among others, to improve the nutritional value or extend the shelf life of raw and processed products.
The purpose of the scientific proposed preliminary research conducted within the discipline of "automation, electronics, electrical engineering and space technologies" is to evaluate the effect of plasma treatment carried out at atmospheric pressure on the properties of organic wine without the addition of sulfites. The planned treatment is intended to increase the microbiological stability of the wine, as an alternative to the use of the addition of synthetic sulfur compounds, which can have a negative impact on wine quality and human health. Physical and chemical tests of the wine will include determination of pH (active acidity), total acidity by potentiometric titration, measurement of viscosity, conductivity, oxidation and reduction potential, imaging using an optical microscope and organoleptic evaluation. Additionally, the electrical properties of plasma reactor, the concentration of oxygen and nitrogen compounds in the vicinity of the discharge will be measured, and the process will be recorded using a high-speed camera and Schlieren imaging. The evaluation of microbiological properties (selected nutritional values, determination of yeast and mold counts and malic acid concentration) was planned as a commissioned study. The analysis will be carried out for different values of the flow and composition of the working gas (with particular emphasis on atmospheric air) and different distances between the material and the discharge. In order to adapt plasma treatment to a liquid-flow system, which according to literature studies (Lukić et al., 2019; Sainz-García et al., 2019) may be the most efficient, a system will be developed in which the test material flows directly under the discharge. Due to the very important role of time in the processing of biological materials, repetitions for several selected processing times will be performed for each of the conditions. The obtained results will be compared with the process of sulphurization of the same wine with the use of potassium disulfite.