Enhancement of aromatic quality of Muscat wine by the use of immobilized beta-glucosidase

Candida molischiana 35M5N beta-glucosidase was immobilized to Duolite A-568 resin with high immobilization efficiency (86%). The immobilized beta-glucosidase was used to improve the aromatic quality of Muscat wine with two types of reactor. After the enzymatic treatment, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis indicated a significant increase in flavor compounds: nerol, geraniol, linalool, gamma-terpinene, 2-phenylethanol and benzyl alcohol. The comparison of the two reactors showed that with the same amount of immobilized beta-glucosidase, the hydrolysis was complete (100%) after 6 h 15 min of treatment with the fluidized bed reactor. With the packed bed reactor, similar results (90%) were obtained after 16 h 40 min of treatment. The immobilized beta-glucosidase was found to be very stable during the two treatments. The system described is an example of the use of a biocatalyst for the flavor enrichment of beverages that could be employed in industry. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.