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Cider Digest #0729
Subject: Cider Digest #729, 4 March 1998
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #729 4 March 1998
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
European cider statistics (Knut Riggert)
Cider tannin (Andrew Lea)
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Subject: European cider statistics
From: Knut.Riggert@t-online.de (Knut Riggert)
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 21:44:57 +0100
Hi there,
does anybody out there has some statistics on cider in Europe. I would
be especially interested in how cider consumption developed in the last years.
Is all of it artificially carbonized or is the natural stuff still high in
demand?
I am thankful for any useful hints, remarks or references.
Thanks a lot, Knut
Knut Riggert,38173 Gilzum, Kirchstr. 6
e-mail : Knut.Riggert@t-online.de
Telefon: +49-5333-90871
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Subject: Cider tannin
From: Andrew Lea <andrew_lea@compuserve.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 16:33:08 -0500
Can I put the record straight about cider tannin, please?
Typical 'tannin' levels in cider apples range from 0.05% up to 0.5% (at the
topmost level the apples are uneatably astringent or bitter), but could
never get to the 2.9% level mentioned in Digest 728. This has to be a
typing error! An ideal level for a well balanced traditional cider might
be around 0.1 - 0.2% (most modern ciders are well below this).
'Tanning' is strictly a process of chemical association between proteins
(e.g. in the mouth) and certain polyphenols from plants (e.g. in apples or
grape skins or oak bark). Not all polyphenols are tannins, though - they
may be phenolic (hydroxyl groups on benzene rings) but for reasons of size
or structure they may not be able to complex with proteins and hence don't
have tanning properties. In apples, only about half the polyphenols are
tannins. Those that are NOT are principally chlorogenic acid, phloridzin
and epicatechin. Those that ARE are the procyanidin polymers from 2 to 8
units in size - recent work in France has demonstrated much larger
procyanidins in apples but they are bound into the structure and are not
soluble.
The analytical methods for 'tannins' are unfortunately not specific and the
two traditional methods most commonly used (Lowenthal permanganate
titration and Folin-Ciocalteau colorimetric assay) give figures for ALL
polyphenols (often loosely but incorrectly referrred to as tannins). Hence
they overestimate by about two-fold the true tannin concentration. In most
cases this hardly matters since all the phenolic materials tend to keep in
step with other during biosynthesis in the apple.
Polyphenols in ciders are important because
1. The tannins give a 'bite' to the flavour and stop it being insipid
2. By oxidation during processing, they generate cider colour
3. They have weak anti-microbial properties which help cider not to
'spoil' as rapidly as it might otherwise.
Andrew Lea, nr Oxford, UK
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/andrew_lea
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End of Cider Digest #729
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