Peptides in musts and wines. Changes during the manufacture of cavas (Sparkling wines)

The aim of this work was to increase the knowledge of the peptide fraction in musts and wines, of which there are very few publications in literature. For this purpose, the peptides in four varietal sparkling wines manufactured industrially following the Champenoise method were analyzed by HPLC. Samples of the musts, base wines, and sparkling wines were taken after 9, 12, 15, and 18 months of aging on yeast lees. The peptides of the fractions with molecular weights higher and lower than 700, obtained by fractionation on Sephadex G-10, were separated by reversed-phase HPLC. The chromatographic profiles of the peptides in the wines were similar. During the manufacture of the base wines, there was an increase in the peptides studied. During aging, peptides were released and then degraded by the yeast enzymes.