Red wine contains several components with health benefits. Research showns that moderate wine consumption has beneficial effects on coagulation, cardiovascular and immune system. Mechanisms responsible are attributed to antioxidant effect and are extremely complex. The problem with consuming wine is that we are quite limited in our daily intake due to its alcohol content. It is well known that excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages leads to an increased risk of developing various health problems.
In the experimental part we produced solid dispersions by spray drying under the same conditions. We used different sweet and dry wines in combination with different excipients. We were interested in the influence of the proportion and type of excipient on the formation of a powder product for different wines with the aim of formulating a food supplement. After comparing the organoleptic properties, we selected α-cyclodextrin as the most suitable excipient and proceeded to evaluate the properties of the solid dispersions prepared with α- cyclodextrin. We have observed that solid dispersions with the desired properties are obtained from a combination of dry wine with 5% α-cyclodextrin. Sweet wines have a higher sugar content, which may imply a higher hygroscopicity and consequently lead to the formation of an unprocessable product.
The narrowest particle size distributions were determined for solid dispersions of some dry wines with 4,8 % excipient content. These wines were Quercus – Cabarnet Sauvignon, Klet Brda; Jurka, Küzmič; Krasno – rdeče, Klet Brda ter domače vino “Žametno”. The highest D90 values were detected in the solid dispersions of the sweet wine Sladki refošk, Istenič & sinova, and in the solid dispersions of the Merlot wines (Vinakoper, Klet Brda and Zalatel). Higher D90 values could be connected with particle agglomeration. The particle size of the solid dispersion of the wine Sladki refošk, Vinakoper with 10,7 % excipient content is comparable to the solid dispersions of those dehydrated wines which had the smallest particle size and the narrowest size distribution. This size range shows the best stability of these solid dispersions.
Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that sweet wines have a higher solids content (9,9 %) than dry wines (2,9 %). We assume that the high solids content of sweet wines is related to the higher glycerol and sugar content, which could lead to high hygroscopicity of their solid dispersions.
The water activity of the solid dispersions of wines with 4,8 % excipient content was very low (0,18 or less). We found that the water activity of the solid dispersions decreases with increasing excipient content. The water activity values of all the solid dispersions analysed were well below the minimum limit for the growth of microorganisms (0,6).
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