Samuel Hoffman, Elizabeth Tomasino,* and Kim Phan
*Oregon State University, 3051 SW Campus Way, Corvallis, OR 97330 (Elizabeth.Tomasino@oregonstate.edu)

Mouthfeel is a critical aspect of the wine sensory experience, yet it is one of the least understood. While much is known about compounds such as phenolics, little work has addressed other wine compositional components such as oligosaccharides. Compared to other food and beverages, saccharides are in very low concentrations within wine and their mouthfeel impacts are currently unknown. This study used two oligosaccharides at two concentrations to investigate and quantify potential impacts to mouthfeel within a model wine system. The two oligosaccharides, fructo-oligo- saccharide (FOS) and glacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) were added at a rate of 450 or 900 ppm to a basic wine matrix. These concentrations are based off amounts previously measured in Pinot noir wines. Compounds were added to a simple model wine consisting of 12% ethanol with 4 g/L TA. The four treatments underwent triangle tests against an untreated control, then an additional triangle test was conducted between the low and high concentration of each oligosaccharide. After completion of the triangle tests, all treatments and the control underwent descriptive analysis (DA) using 100 mm line intensity scales. Before conducting DA, panelists underwent training on sweetness, bitterness, viscosity, astringency, and acidity standards. The tri- angle test showed a significant difference between the FOS 450 ppm sample and the FOS 900 ppm sample. Interestingly, both FOS samples, 450 and 900 ppm, were not found to be different from the control. Additionally, none of the GOS samples were significantly different. DA found no significant difference for any of the five attributes. This indicates that the difference between FOS samples may be above the detection threshold, but not the perception threshold. Future work will look at different levels of oligosaccharides, as well as implement more training.

Funding Support: No specific funding source used for this study.