THE PARTICULARITIES OF THE CLARIFICATION PROCESS WITH BENTONITE OF WHITE WINE VINEGAR

In this study, the physicochemical properties of Italian and German bentonites were evaluated, including the physicochemical characteristics of white wine vinegar. Once established, the optimal clarification regime and its physical parameters were determined. After establishing the optimized sedimentation parameters, the influence of different doses of bentonite on the physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics of the analyzed vinegar was investigated. With this was determined the influence of the different contact periods of vinegar with bentonite, on the physicochemical parameters of clarified wine vinegar. Thus, for the Italian bentonite, the optimal conditions for the clarification process were: dose of bentonite — 2.03 g · 25L-1, time — 45 min, temperature — 20 ± 1 °C, stirring time — 60 s, centrifugation time — 3 min and spin speed of 300 min-1. Moreover, when using the German bentonite, the optimal parameters were: bentonite dose — 1.96 g · L-1, contact time — 45 min, temperature — 20 ± 1 °C, stirring time — 300 s, centrifugation time — 3 min and spin speed of 300 min-1. Finally, the sensory analysis of wine vinegar was performed and it was established, from the data, which of the analyzed bentonites has properties that are more efficient on the clarification process.