A project will determine the systemic effect of aged wine from toasted barrels developed by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-FPRDI), a DOST news release said.
The project, dubbed “Safety Assessment and Determination of Wine-Property Enhancing Compounds of Wines Aged in FPRDI Toasted Wine Barrel,” is led by DOST-FPRDI Science Research Specialist Kim Wilmer M. Balagot and funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD).
The project is linked to an ongoing pilot testing of wine barrels made from locally available wood species, which hopes to help local winemakers improve the quality and taste of their wines.
The wine barrels were developed to find cheaper but quality substitutes to white oak (Quercus alba), which is known worldwide to be the most ideal material for fermenting and ageing wine.
FPRDI will assess the safe use and determine the wine property-enhancing compounds present in wine aged in toasted barrels made from locally available, senile and unproductive santol (Sandoricum koijape), and tree plantation species like big-leafed mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King), mangium (Acacia mangium), and river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis).
The project will also determine the antioxidant activity of wine samples before and after ageing process.
A collaboration between the institute and the private sector, the project team partnered with a local fabricator to produce the toasted barrels and a local apiary and meadery for the food safety analysis of the aged wine.
The project guidelines and requirements and level-off expectations among project implementers and evaluators were discussed in a virtual inception meeting on April 28. FPRDI researchers and staff attended the meeting organized by the Technology Transfer of Promotion Division of DOST-PCAARRD.
Alexander Paul Z. Batalon and Kariza M. Geminiano/S&T Media Services