Role of cell wall deconstructing enzymes in the proanthocyanidin–cell wall adsorption–desorption phenomena

• A strong interaction exists between proanthocyanidins and cell walls in model solutions.
• Cell wall degradation by enzymes may limit the interaction with proanthocyanidins.
• The effect of maceration enzymes during vinification is revisited.

The transference of proanthocyanidins from grapes to wine is quite low. This could be due, among other causes, to proanthocyanidins being bound to grape cell wall polysaccharides, which are present in high concentrations in the must. Therefore, the effective extraction of proanthocyanidins from grapes will depend on the ability to disrupt these associations, and, in this respect, enzymes that degrade these polysaccharides could play an important role. The main objective of this work was to test the behavior of proanthocyanidin–cell wall interactions when commercial maceration enzymes are present in the solution. The results showed that cell wall polysaccharides adsorbed a high amount of proanthocyanidins and only a limited quantity of proanthocyanidins could be desorbed from the cell walls after washing with a model solution. The presence of enzymes in the solution reduced the proanthocyanidin–cell wall interaction, probably through the elimination of pectins from the cell wall network.