Coinciding with the grape harvest, three Galician companies, the wood industry Betanzos HB and the Coanga and Mercantia companies, are finishing the development of non-alcoholic wines with traditional flavors of the crianzas with wood and the maceration on lees of albariño.
The R&D project, called Demadera, has found novel value-added applications for eucalyptus, oak, chestnut and other woods from Galicia, based on extracts obtained from its processing. The use of wood extracts as antioxidants and natural preservatives has been developed.
Specifically, it deals with the development of red, white and sparkling non-alcoholic wines and different soft drinks related to wines that will soon be introduced on the market.
The products are elaborated combining the tradition in the methods of harvest, manual selection of the grape and care in the handling of the product, with innovative methods to add organoleptic improvements from processes of dealcoholization, maceration and use of wood extracts.
The development of the new natural extracts allows to substitute chemical additives used in food. If we add that the extracts come from the activity of the companies involved in the project, it is a circular economy process.
The R & D department of Betanzos HB has been researching applications of wood processing extracts for years. These products are 100% natural and contain high added value compounds such as tannins, polyphenols and sugars derived from wood.
Betanzos HB proposes to use wood, the material of the future, and maintains its commitment to the bioeconomy of Galicia. In a society with growing awareness in saving resources and improving people’s health, the interest in products of natural origin is booming. The greater use of wood leads the importance of forests as suppliers of renewable raw materials and assume an important carbon sink function that protect the environment. Betanzos HB is a leading supplier of renewable solutions for packaging, construction and furniture manufacturing, exporting 80% of its production.
Demadera has been jointly financed by the plan Coneta Peme, sponsored by the Galician Agency for Innovation (Gain) and supported by the Economy, Work and Industry Ministry in the Galician Government, to encourage the cooperation between Pymes and other agents in the Galician R&D System (throughout the support to research and innovation projects oriented towards the market and focusing its challenges and priorities as specified in the RIS3 for Galicia) jointly financed by the FEDER in the FEDER Operational Programme for Galicia 2014-2020.