After grape processing, large amounts of seeds are produced as a side product. Grape seeds are rich in proteins that could be extracted and revalorized by the wine industry due to their high techno-functional value for modulating quality features of red wines or as an alternative to the use of other stabilizers, which are also proteins but submitted to legal restrictions. Box–Behnken design and response surface methodology were used to optimize the protein extraction from defatted grape seed meal to maximize the protein purity of the isolate under practical operating conditions of pH, temperature, meal/water ratio and extraction time. The most significant factor was pH, both in the linear and quadratic forms. Additionally, the interaction between pH and temperature exhibited a significant effect on protein content. The removal of phenolic compounds from grapeseed meal, before optimizing protein extraction, led to a significant increase of 7.70% in the protein purity of grape seed protein concentrate. Therefore, grape seeds can be used as a sustainable way for protein production in the oenological sector due to the availability of grape seeds, their low cost as a grape-processing by-product, and the protein purity reached thanks to the described procedure for optimization of protein extraction.

Hyperspectral images of intact grapes were recorded at harvest time using a near infrared hyperspectral imaging system (900-1700 nm). Spectral data have been correlated with red grape skin extractable polyphenols (total phenolic, anthocyanins and flavanols) by modified partial least squares regression (MPLS) using a number of spectral pretreatments. The obtained results (coefficient of determination (RSQ) and standard error of prediction (SEP), respectively) for the developed models were: 0.82 and 0.92 mg g(-1) of grape skin for extractable total phenolic content, 0.79 and 0.63 mg g(-1) of grape skin for extractable anthocyanin content, 0.82 and 0.45 mg g(-1) of grape skin for extractable flavanol content. The obtained results present a good potential for a fast and reasonably inexpensive screening of the extractable polyphenolic compounds in intact grapes. Moreover, the heterogeneity of extractable polyphenols within the ripeness stage has been also evaluated using the proposed method.

Polysaccharides are the main macromolecules of colloidal nature in wines. These compounds play a critical role in stabilizing other molecules in solution and thus modifying the wine processing and organoleptic properties. Different analytical techniques have been proposed for their determination. However, most of them are complicated and time-consuming. To overcome these drawbacks, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has been evaluated in this study for the estimation of wine polysaccharides in a fast and non-destructive way. Spectral data have been correlated with wine polysaccharide contents by modified partial least squares regression (MPLS) using different spectral pretreatments. MPLS models developed have revealed the potential of FTIR analysis for the routine screening of polysaccharides rich in arabinose and galactose (PRAG), rhamnogalacturonans types II (RG-II), mannoproteins (MP) and total soluble polysaccharides (TSP) in wine samples, obtaining standard errors of prediction from 6.07 to 8.44%. Monitoring the wine polysaccharides can assist in the elaboration of the wines according to their requirements and improving quality to satisfy consumer preferences.