Effective use of protease in winemaking
OwnerDaqing Sun, Jack N. Harrisinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of making wine which involves the use of a protease to eliminate heat-unstable proteins, which cause heat-induced haze or precipitate. The protease can be used at any stage of the wine making process, but it is more advantageous to used the protease at the beginning of fermentation before the generation of inhibitive factors. A wine treated with a protease under this condition can replace a substantial amount of bentonite that is normally required for heat stabilization of the wine. By hydrolyzing the fruit protein, protease can be used as an anti-foam agent in fruit juices and during fermentation of fruit juices.
Claims36
A method of rendering wine heat-stable which comprises:
- providing a fermentable material which is subsequently processed to produce wine;
- and
- adding to at least one of the fermentable material or wine produced therefrom, prior to bottling the wine, a protease that will hydrolyze proteins that cause heat-induced protein haze or precipitate.
A method of producing an alcohol beverage which comprises the steps of:
- a) providing a fermentable fruit material;
- b) fermenting the fermentable fruit material under conditions sufficient to produce an alcohol beverage;
- and
- c) adding protease to at least one of the fermentable fruit material before fermentation and the alcohol beverage after fermentation to hydrolyze proteins that cause heat-induced protein haze or precipitate.
A method of controlling foaming in a fermentation process which comprises the steps of:
- a) providing a fermentable material;
- b) fermenting the fermentable material under conditions sufficient to normally produce foam;
- and
- c) adding protease to the fermentable material before fermentation to control the production of foam.
A method of making wine which comprises the steps of:
- a) providing a fermentable fruit material;
- b) fermenting the fermentable fruit material under conditions sufficient to produce an alcohol beverage;
- c) removing solids from the fermented fermentable material;
- and
- d) adding protease to at least one of the fermentable fruit material before or during fermentation and the alcohol beverage after fermentation to hydrolyze proteins that cause heat-induced protein haze or precipitate.
In a winemaking process which includes the use of bentonite to adsorb the heat-unstable proteins, the improvement comprising substituting at least a portion of the bentonite with a protease that hydrolyzes the heat-unstable proteins.
A method of controlling foaming during the processing of a liquid fruit material which comprises the steps of:
- a) providing a liquid fruit material that is subjected to processing step that normally causes foaming of the liquid fruit material;
- and
- b) adding protease to the fruit material fermentation to control the production of foam during the processing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.