Antimicrobial lees
AssigneeShanbrom Technologies, LLC
InventorEdward Shanbrom
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The lees or “dregs” produced during wine making are rich sources of antioxidants. Unexpectedly, these materials show significant antibacterial properties as well as antioxidant properties. The lees of red wine which consist of tannins and plant pigments precipitated around crystals of potassium tartarate can advantageously be used directly as a tonic or demulcent. The material can also be used topically for disinfecting the skin, etc. In addition, it is possible to use organic polymers to bind the pigments and/or solubilize them from the tartaric salt to facilitate their use or to make a relatively pure pigment/tannin component.
Claims10
A topical antimicrobial material comprising lees formed during the vinification of grape juice.
A method of treating skin comprising application of an effective quantity of lees produced by vinification of grape juice, said quantity effective at killing skin bacteria.
A method for digestive system treatment comprising the ingestion of lees formed during the vinification of grape juice.
An antibacterial substance produced by separating pigmented materials from tartarate of lees formed during the vinification of grape juice wherein the antibacterial substance is present in the pigmented materials.
A method of producing an antibacterial substance from lees produced by vinification of grape juice comprising the steps of:
- separating pigmented solid material from a supernatant fraction;
- contacting the pigmented solid material with a binding material which binds pigments and tannins;
- and
- separating the binding material from the solid material whereby the antibacterial substance is transferred to the binding material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.