Aroma compound sorption by oak wood in a model wine

Oak wood used for wine barrels was immersed into a model wine containing ei ght aroma compounds (e.g., aromatic and terpene alcohols, ethyl esters, and aldehyde), for which activity coefficients in water and model wine were de termined using the mutual solubility measurement. A mass balance of these v olatiles considering their reactivity in model wine was established. For mo st of the studied aroma compounds, and mainly for linalool and ethyl octano ate, a sorption behavior into wood was reported for the first time. This ph enomenon was selective and could not be related to the solubilities in mode l wine and hydrophobicities of the studied aroma compounds, suggesting that acid-base and polar characteristics of wood were more involved in this sor ption mechanism. This study has also shown that the level of sorption is a function of the ratio of wood surface area/solution volume.