Zeolita mineral como agente clarificante en los procesos productivos de vino en Santiago de Cuba.

Transparency is one of the main quality requirements for wines, it is achieved mainly from the clarification process. Calcium bentonite is the most widely used clarifying agent to date and one of the most efficient in winemaking. Due to the economic situation that our country presents, it is not possible to import all the raw materials necessary for the production of wines, such is the case of bentonite. This research evaluates the use of nationally produced mineral zeolite as a clarifier in wine production processes. Turbidity was used as the response variable of the clarification process and was measured using a TURBIQUANT® 3000 IR/T Turbidimeter. In this process, mixtures with different proportions of imported calcium bentonite and national mineral zeolite were used, to evaluate the potential of the latter as a clarifier for wines produced in Santiago de Cuba. The best results were achieved using mixtures of imported bentonite and natural zeolite, sedimentation for ten days, and then filtration with filter paper with a pore size of 10 to 13 μm. The turbidity of the control ferment decreased by 92, 9 % from 60 NTU to 4,3 NTU with the pure zeolite and by 95,45% to 2,7 NTU using 75 % bentonite and 25 % zeolite. The results of this research show that it is possible to use the Cuban natural zeolite as a clarifier in the wine production processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]