Glucose, fructose and sucrose increase the solubility of protein–tannin complexes and at high concentration, glucose and sucrose interfere with bisulphite bleaching of wine pigments

Wines were modified with increasing sugar concentrations and decreasing tannin concentrations and analysed by a combination of protein precipitation and bisulphite bleaching. Increasing sugar concentration decreased the precipitation of tannin and protein-precipitable polymeric pigments (PPP). The use of a hydrogen bond disruptor (urea) to reduce protein–tannin and protein–pigment complex formation showed that the effect of sugar concentration occurred by increasing the solubility of the tannin–protein complex, not by interfering with protein–tannin complex formation. By increasing the solubility of pigment–protein complexes, non-protein-precipitable polymeric pigments (nPPP) appeared to increase. There was also an increase in total polymeric pigments at each tannin concentration with increasing glucose and sucrose concentration, indicating that sugar concentration might also affect bisulphite bleaching of wine pigments. While a significant effect of sugar concentration on tannin–protein complex solubility was observed, these effects were greatest at sugar concentrations far in excess of normal wine making conditions. Under normal wine making conditions, sugar concentration will have a negligible effect on protein-precipitable tannin, PPP and nPPP concentrations.