1. What does sulfide mean?
The so-called sulfide mainly refers to sulfur dioxide (so Ω) in wine. Sulfur dioxide is a commonly used food preservative, which is widely used in wine brewing and most food manufacturing processes. It can play the role of antisepsis, oxidation resistance and antibacterial. During the process of transporting grape fruits to the winemaking workshop and before fermentation, the winemaker may add an appropriate amount of sulfur dioxide to grape raw materials to achieve the following effects. Tyco cellar
(1) Antibacterial and antiseptic: sulfur dioxide can effectively inhibit microbial activities, thus delaying the micro oxidation reaction, but will not affect the activities of artificially selected effective yeast.
(2) Oxidation resistance: before oxygen invades the liquor and comes into contact with other oxidizable substances, sulfur dioxide will first act with oxygen to prevent the invasion of excessive oxygen to a certain extent.
(3) Inhibit the activity of oxidase.
(4) As an acid gas, it can be combined with aldehydes generated by oxidation.
In addition, sulfide will be produced in wine during fermentation.
2. Why should sulfur-containing components be marked?
The history of adding sulfides to wine brewing has begun in the 17th century, and it has been tested by generations since this morning. That is, although sulfides are contained in wine under normal circumstances, they will not cause harm to human health. However, there may be a very small number of people who are allergic to such substances. Therefore, the winery has been trying to reduce the use of sulfur dioxide just in case, and has marked the sulfur information on the wine label with a very civilized and friendly attitude, so as to make this group pay attention to the possible potential irritation.
3. How much sulfide is there in wine?
The European Union requires that the sulfur dioxide content in dry red wine be limited to less than 150mg/l, dry white, dry pink and sweet red wine to less than 200mg/l, and sweet white and sweet pink wine to less than 250mg / L. Other countries in the world, such as the United States and Australia, have very similar restrictions on the sulfur dioxide content of wine. We can see that the sulfur dioxide content of dry red wine is actually lower than that of white wine and sweet wine. The reason is that red wine is rich in tannin. Tannin itself is an antioxidant and stabilizer, so red wine can be stored for a long time with only a small amount of sulfur dioxide. In addition, wines that value the natural aroma brought by fruits need more sulfur dioxide to keep fresh. Grape raw materials that are slightly infected during the harvest season also need to appropriately increase the dose of sulfur dioxide. Wines with low pH need to add more sulfur dioxide to adjust the pH value.
4. Is there really no sulfur dioxide in natural wine?
Wine is easy to decay and oxidize. Therefore, sulfur dioxide, a powerful preservative and antioxidant, is particularly important, especially for white wine that contains almost no tannins. Even organic wine and natural wine can only be reduced in terms of artificially added sulfur dioxide. The European Union stipulates that the sulfur concentration of organic wine is less than 100mg/l for dry red, and less than 150mg/l for dry white and dry pink. Although natural wine is not artificially added with sulfur dioxide, it cannot completely eliminate the occurrence of sulfide in the process of alcohol fermentation, and the practice of completely not adding sulfur dioxide makes the preservation of natural wine extremely difficult or cumbersome, which is not conducive to improving economic benefits.
In short, like other foods that can be added with preservatives, all sulfur-containing foods that have undergone risk assessment and strict quality inspection can be safely ingested without causing damage to health. In addition, with the continuous innovation of technology, wine producers are also constantly reducing the dosage of sulfur-containing substances, so consumers can be more assured.
