Optimization and Validation of a Taste Dilution Analysis to Characterize Wine Taste

Abstract

A procedure for the general taste dilution analysis (TDA) of wine has been optimized and applied to characterize the tastants of 5 different wines. Samples are concentrated first by vacuum distillation at 20 °C to obtain a dearomatized concentrate. Such concentrate is redissolved in water and injected in a semipreparative C18-high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column. The effluent is separated in fractions that are collected and concentrated by vacuum distillation. Sequential dilutions of the fractions are further evaluated by a sensory panel to assess the intensity of the basic tastes and in-mouth sensations. Fractions were also submitted to HPLC-mass spectrometry (MS) analysis to screen for known tastants of wines. The Taste Dilution chromatograms showed that taste differences between wines are mainly located in fractions 1, 2, and 6, and are mainly related to bitterness and astringency. Different aspects of the method setup and of its reliability are evaluated and discussed.