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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Production and Genetic Improvement Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409265
Research Project: Improved Fruit, Grape and Wine Products through Precision Agriculture and Quality Component Evaluation

Location: Horticultural Crops Production and Genetic Improvement Research Unit

Title: Comparative assessment of Riesling wine fault development by the electronic tongue and a sensory panel

Author
item POTTER, RACHEL - Washington State University
item WARREN, CLAIRE - Washington State University
item Lee, Jungmin
item ROSS, CAROLYN - Washington State University

Submitted to: Journal of Food Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2024
Publication Date: 5/18/2024
Citation: Potter, R.I., Warren, C.A., Lee, J., Ross, C.F. 2024. Comparative assessment of Riesling wine fault development by the electronic tongue and a sensory panel. Journal of Food Science. 89:3006-3018. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.17036.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.17036

Interpretive Summary: Tools permitting early detection of wine faults are important for winemakers, and allow corrections to products before releasing them to consumers. Many wine problems are traditionally discovered by continuous tasting throughout production, though this can be subjective and cause palate fatigue. Electronic tongue (e-tongue) is a relatively new device that has not yet been applied to white wine fault monitoring. This work was carried out to determine if white wine spoilage organism faults can be picked up by e-tongue alongside a human sensory panel. E-tongue was able to sense a change three weeks before the human sensory panel was able to notice it. Study results indicate e-tongue is a potentially effective tool for monitoring white wine quality.

Technical Abstract: Wine faults threaten brand recognition and consumer brand loyalty. The objective of this study was to compare the acuteness of e-tongue and human sensory evaluation of wine fault development in Riesling wine over 42 days of storage. Riesling wines uninoculated (control) or inoculated with 10^4 CFU/mL cultures of Acetobacter aceti, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Lactobacillus brevis, or Pediococcus parvalus were assessed every seven days with the e-tongue and a Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) sensory panel. After every seven day timepoint, the e-tongue detected differences in all four wine spoilage microorganism treatments, compared to control wine, with discrimination indices over 86%. The RATA sensory panel detected significant differences beginning on day 35 of storage, 28 days after the e-tongue detected differences. This study showed that the e-tongue was more sensitive than the human panel as a detection tool, without sensory fatigue.