Date of Award


Degree Name

MS in Agriculture - Food Science and Nutrition


Food Science and Nutrition


Gour Choudhury


Tartrate stabilization is the process that removes components that contribute to the crystallization of potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHT) and calcium tartrate (CaT) which is an undesirable outcome for wine quality. There are a variety of current tartrate stabilization techniques such as cold stabilization, chemical additives, ion exchange resins, and electrodialysis that stabilize wine, but the most popular being cold stabilization. Cold stabilization requires high amounts of energy and resources to stabilize wine. With the ever increasing demand for more efficient processing, an alternative tartrate stabilization technology based on an electrolytic method was developed and its viability to stabilize wine was determined. Twelve treatments involving different combinations of time and current were replicated three times each on different batches of Chardonnay wine. Several different variables were analyzed for stability and quality purposes. Tartaric acid, potassium, calcium, and conductivity differences were the most important factors for tartrate stability. Temperature, titratable acidity, pH, color (hue and intensity), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were indicators of sensory quality characteristics of the wine. The concentrations of potassium, calcium, and tartaric acid were reduced by the electrolytic method at satisfactory process parameters, inherently making the wine more stable. The temperature and hue were significantly affected by the electrolytic method and accelerated the oxidative browning process. Electrolytic treatment of Chardonnay is a viable alternative stabilization technology. The technology can be further developed to become a great option in terms of water and energy consumption, process time, and price.