Quality and aroma characteristics of honey peach wines as influenced by different maturity

Abstract

Nowadays, consumers demand honey peach wines with a certain amount of bioactive ingredients, typical color, soft tannins, and fruit scents, but these wines can only be obtained from honey peaches with the optimal maturity. The goal of this study was to determine the differences between quality indexes and aroma characteristics of honey peach wines produced from different mature fruits. Honey peaches at harvest were divided according to maturity into four groups to investigate the physicochemical properties, bioactive ingredients, color, transmittance, volatile flavor component, and sensory acceptability of four groups of wine samples. The results showed that the higher the maturity of the honey peaches, the higher the color intensity, tannin content, and ester content, the lower the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), and transmittance of wines. When the maturity of honey peaches increased, the balance between the flavor and mouthfeel sensation was improved, whereas the unpleasant taste of wine occurred because of some spoilage acid produced by excessive-ripened honey peaches. In conclusion, the optimal harvest period of honey peaches to produce honey peach wines was between 90% and100% maturity stage. These results suggest that honey peaches maturity may influence the final wine composition and quality, and should be considered at harvest.