Enhancement of Chardonnay antioxidant activity and sensory perception through maceration technique

- Cell wall disruption caused by cryogenic maceration increases phenolic extraction.
- Cryogenic maceration provides a protective airspace free of reactive oxygen species.
- Increased phenolic compounds correlates to increased antioxidant activity.
- Cryogenic maceration enhances aromatic sensory attributes.
- Phenolic compounds alter perceived aroma attribute threshold limits.

Chardonnay is a versatile white grape variety, lending itself to wines of fuller body, or to light and fruity styles. Phenolic compounds influence the perceived body and flavor of the wines. Chardonnay was chosen to evaluate three maceration techniques on phenolic profiles and sensory attributes; namely carbonic, cryogenic and extended skin contact. Cryogenic maceration and on-skin fermentation resulted in significantly increased phenolic compounds and corresponding increases in Folin-Ciocalteu total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavenging over control wines, while the carbonic maceration changed these values very little. At the same time, the cryogenically treated wines resulted in sensory attributes closely related to the controls. The ability of the cryogenic maceration to increase phenolics, antioxidant activity and maintain sensory characteristics indicates the viability of the technique to produce an antioxidant-enhanced Chardonnay wine.