Phenolic profile of seasoned cherry heartwood staves

Abstract

During aging in the presence of wood, beverages undergo a series of processes leading to important changes in aroma, color, taste and astringency because of the interaction between compounds present in the wood and beverages. Although oak heartwood is the most used material in cooperage, other species such as chestnut, cherry, acacia and mulberry can also be considered. The objective of this research was the characterization of seasoned cherry staves by HPLC-MS method and spectrofluorometry. The results showed that cherry wood originating from Serbia was rich in phenolic compounds. Spectrofluorometric results indicate the difference between cherry wood and its extract comparing with other wood species due to the presence of specific flavonoids in this wood. The most abundant investigated compound was taxifolin. Also, significant amounts of pinocembrin, naringenin, chrysin, apigenin, quercetin, kaempferol, ellagic acid, genistein were also found, in concentration higher than 10 mg/L.