Wine Proteins and Peptides

Dear Colleagues,

Despite their irrelevance as nutrients, proteins play important roles in wines. They can affect wine stability, mouthfeel, aroma, the foaming of sparkling wines, and may also potentially be involved in allergic reactions.

Proteins in wine derive from the grapes and microorganisms, but can be also added as processing aids or additives. It is well known that grape pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are responsible for haze formation in white wines. This phenomenon, however, is only partially understood and further research is needed to fully elucidate the mechanism. Moreover, only scarce information is available on the nature of the proteins present in red wines, and almost nothing is known regarding their role and behavior in terms of red-wine quality and stability.

On the other hand, proteins of microbial origin can also play a role in wine quality. With the exception of the mannoproteins released by yeast, which have been investigated to some extent, these compounds also deserve to be studied in more depth to better understand their effects during winemaking.

Finally, wine fining and treatments with exogenous proteins of different natures can impact upon wine quality, as they can interact with several components in wine, but can also affect its potential allergenicity.

In addition to proteins, wine contains a variety of peptides, and these components seem to deserve better characterization regarding their nature, origin, impact on wine quality, and their biological effects.  

Original and review papers are welcome for inclusion in this Special Issue, which will focus on wine proteins and peptides, whether of grape origin, microbial origin, or added, their analysis, and their effects in white, red, and sparkling wines.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Curioni
Prof. Dr. Simone Vincenzi
Guest Editors

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