Electrical Pulses Could Make Better Wine
The wine industry has come a long way, from exclusively small-scale operations to a multi-million dollar industry that’s booming. As the demand for quality wine grows, so does the thirst for a better way to make it.
To help satiate the palates of thirsty oenophiles, researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles are developing a way to extract juice from grapes more efficiently and effectively.
The technique, developed by Martin A. Gundersen, an electrical engineer at USC, and his team, is called “pulsed power.”
Pulsed power uses short but intense electrical pulses to break down the cells of the fruit to free more juice. In lab tests, the technique was able to extract up to 30 percent more juice than traditional methods of extraction.
“You can get more juice with less press, and what that does is it actually changes what you’re getting out of the grape; you get less residue,” explained Gundersen.
Early tests show the pulses also speed up the aging process of red wine, making it taste more mature, sooner.
“It appears to produce a better quality juice,” said Gundersen.
What’s the word from wine lovers? In a taste test, most people found the treated grapes produced a better glass of wine.
This technology is also being used to extract better quality oil from olives and liquid from sugar beets.
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