Eur Food Res Technol (2012) 234:231–244 DOI 10.1007/s00217-011-1633-3 123 ORIGINAL PAPER Interactions of phenolic and volatile compounds with yeast lees, commercial yeast derivatives and non toasted chips in model solutions and young red wines Rubén Del Barrio-Galán · Miriam Ortega-Heras · Montserrat Sánchez-Iglesias · Silvia Pérez-Magariño Received: 19 August 2011 / Revised: 9 November 2011 / Accepted: 12 November 2011 / Published online: 27 November 2011  Springer-Verlag 2011 Abstract Ageing of wines on lees, the use of commercial yeast derivative products and the addition of oak chips to wine permit the release of diVerent compounds such as mannoproteins and polysaccharides into wines during yeast autolysis. These compounds released can interact with phe- nolic compounds and/or aromatic compounds, also modify- ing wine sensory perception. For that reason, the aim of this work was to evaluate the interaction of phenolic and vola- tile compounds of wines with yeast lees, non-toasted oak wood chips and diVerent commercial yeast derivative prep- arations in model wine solutions and in a real red wine. The results found in this study have shown that most of the phe- nolic and volatile compounds studied are adsorbed by wood and bound by lees in model wine solutions. However, in the model wines in general, the commercial yeast derivative products studied only interacted with the volatile com- pounds but not with the phenolic compounds. The adsorp- tion of the phenolic compounds occurred in the Wrst 15 days of treatment, remaining constant for 2 months; however, in the case of volatile compounds, these compounds initially displayed a retention eVect, but after 30–60 days, the release of the previously bound compounds was instigated. The adsorption eVect on the phenolic and volatile com- pounds in the model wine solution was not always the same as in the red wine studied, which highlights the important presence of other wine compounds in these interactions. Keywords Lees · Commercial yeast derivatives · Chips · Phenolic and volatile compounds · Model wine solution · Red wine Introduction It is well known that wine is a complex matrix made up of several compounds which can interact among them- selves throughout the wine ageing process, thereby mod- ifying their sensorial characteristics. Besides, di Verent processes or techniques can also induce changes in the reactions that can take place between diVerent wine compounds. One of these techniques is the ageing of wines on lees, which permits the release of diVerent compounds such as mannoproteins and polysaccharides into wines during yeast autolysis. In addition, the compounds released during age- ing on lees can interact with phenolic compounds [1–4] and/or aromatic compounds, [5–7] also modifying wine sensory perception. The interactions of polysaccharides with phenolic com- pounds can reduce wine astringency [3, 4, 8]. Some authors have found that ageing on lees can also improve the colour stability of red wines [9–12]. However, other authors have not found this improvement in wine colour [3, 4, 8] either by using ageing on lees or adding products based on yeast [13]. The study of the eVect of the compounds released during yeast autolysis on wine aroma has focussed mainly on their capacity to interact with certain volatile compounds modi- fying their volatility [5, 7, 14–16]. However, it should also be taken into account that during these processes Xavour agents and precursors of many volatile compounds can be released into the medium [17, 18]. R. Del Barrio-Galán · M. Ortega-Heras (&) · M. Sánchez-Iglesias · S. Pérez-Magariño Consejería de Agricultura y Ganadería, Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León (ITACyL), Estación Enológica, C/Santísimo Cristo, 16, 47490 Rueda, Valladolid, Spain e-mail: orthermi@itacyl.es