Understanding the Impact of Key Wine Components on the Use of a Non-Swelling Ion-Exchange Resin for Wine Protein Fining Treatment

The impact of key classes of compounds found in wine on protein removal by the ion-exchange resin, Macro-Prep^® High S, was examined by adsorption isotherm experiments. A model wine system, which contained a prototypical protein Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), was used. We systematically changed concentrations of individual chemical components to generate and compare adsorption isotherm plots and to quantify adsorption affinity or capacity parameters of Macro-Prep^® High S ion-exchange resin. The pH (hydronium ion concentration), ethanol concentration, and prototypical phenolics and polysaccharide compounds are known to impact interactions with proteins and thus could alter the adsorption affinity and capacity of Macro-Prep^® High S ion-exchange resin. At low equilibrium protein concentrations (< ~0.3 (g BSA)/L) and at high equilibrium protein concentrations in model wines at various pH, the adsorption behavior followed the Langmuir isotherm, most likely due to the resin acting as a monolayer adsorbent. The resulting range of BSA capacity was between 0.15–0.18 (g BSA)/(g Macro-Prep^® High S resin). With the addition of ethanol, catechin, caffeic acid, and polysaccharides, the protein adsorption behavior was observed to differ at higher equilibrium protein concentrations (> ~0.3 (g BSA)/L), likely as a result of Macro-Prep^® acting as an unrestricted multilayer adsorbent at these conditions. These data can be used to inform the design and scale-up of ion-exchange columns for removing proteins from wines.