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Chitosan is a natural derivative of biological origin, which is obtained starting from the partial deacetylation of chitin (a polysaccharide composed of N-acetyl-D glucosamine units) in an alkaline environment. To date, the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) allows the usage of the use of chitosan in oenology for wine processing, or to boost the activity of fining agents in both wines and musts. However only chitosan of fungal origin, and specifically from Aspergillus niger may be used in winemaking.
Research conducted in laboratory on the potential of chitosan is constantly evolving and shows surprising results. Indeed, chitosan is an agent which, in addition to having proven efficacy and versatility of use, also stands out because it is easily available and biodegradable.
Use and action of chitosan in musts and wines
Chitosan is a valuable support to facilitate the racking and clarification of musts. It also has an important antiseptic action by inhibiting microbiological activity. Used in wines, chitosan promotes clarification and inhibits unwanted fermentations. Furthermore, it prevents the development of acetic bacteria, which are responsible for raising volatile acidity, or unwanted malolactic fermentations.
Another important function of chitosan is the removal of metal cations from the solution which, reduces the content of heavy metals such as iron, lead, cadmium and copper. On the one hand, this type of action allows avoiding copper and iron instabilities, on the other, it further destabilizes the microbial cell wall by removing structural cations.
In addition, it reduces any unwanted compounds such as ochratoxin A, a fungal toxin that can be found following microbial alterations in grapes. But what makes chitosan the polysaccharide of choice in oenology is its ability to inhibit Brettanomyces: against these contaminating yeasts, in fact, chitosan serves as an indispensable adjuvant and its use allows achieving incomparable results compared to other products.
The antiseptic action of chitosan against Brettanomyces
The most important and widespread use of chitosan in oenology relates to the inhibition of Brettanomyces, where no other adjuvant is able to perform such an effective action. Brettanomyces is a contaminating yeast, which is particularly resistant to high levels of ethanol and can catalyze the reduction of vinylphenols through the enzyme vinylphenol reductase. This type of biocatalytic activity is responsible for the onset of olfactory defects such as the scents of “stable”, “leather” and “horse sweat”.
We need to examine the structure of chitosan in order to explain how it acts against the onset of Brettanomyces. Chitosan is obtained from the partial deacetylation of chitin, during which the release of the primary amino groups occurs, which in an acid environment are protonated, and thus yield a positive charge.
This particular type of charged structure is functional to the disintegration of the membranes of bacteria and yeasts. In fact, one of the mechanisms by which chitosan acts results from the fact that the outside of the cell wall for bacteria is negatively charged, and therefore being positively charged, acts by complementary charge. On the other hand, yeasts do not have an obvious negative charge, but it is thought that they incorporate chitosan into their own wall during growth, thus leading to wall disintegration. An alternative mechanism of action can be traced back to the binding of chitosan to microbial DNA, which would effectively block DNA transcription and replication.
Chitocel, the chitosan-based AEB solution
CHITOCEL is a chitosan-based product, a natural polysaccharide of fungal origin (Aspergillus niger) which allows reducing, and eliminating, any unwanted microbial load in wine. It is active against acetic and lactic bacteria, yeasts in general and Brettanomyces. The special and balanced formulation with yeast hulls allows Chitocel to exert a broad-spectrum antimicrobial action, thus contributing to aromatic and olfactory cleansing. It is widely used in wines to be aged in wood: indeed, the porosity of wood is the ideal environment for the development and growth of microorganisms (and Brettanomyces in particular), which, although present in modest quantities, in the long-medium term can increase volatile acidity and often generate unpleasant odors.CHITOCEL has the advantage of not belonging to a group of allergens like other similar products that exert an antimicrobial activity only on some families of bacteria. These allergen producing products can also contribute to developing protein instability in wines and musts.
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