Phenolic compounds determine the color quality of fruit wines. In this study, the phenolic compound content and composition, color characteristics and changes during 6 months of bottle aging were studied in wines fermented with bog bilberry syrup under three different pHs. The total anthocyanins and total phenols were around 15.12-16.23 mg/L and 475.82 to 486.50 mg GAE/L in fresh wines and declined 22%-31% and about 11% in bottle aged wines, respectively. In fresh wines, eight anthocyanins, six phenolic aids and 14 flavonols, but no flavon-3-ols were identified; Malvidin-3-O-glucoside, petunidin-3-O-glucoside and delphinium-3-O-glucoside were the predominant pigments; Chlorogentic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid, and quercetin-3-O-galactoside and myricetin-3-O-galactoside accounted for nearly 90% of the total flavonols. During 6 months of bottle storage, the amounts of all the monomeric anthocyanins and phenolic acids were reduced dramatically, while the glycosidyl flavonols remained constant or were less reduced and their corresponding aglycones increased a lot. The effects of aging on blueberry wine color were described as the loss of color intensity with a dramatic change in color hue, from initial red-purple up to final red-brick nuances, while the pH of the fermentation matrix was negatively related to the color stability of aged wine.
Keywords: bog bilberry syrup wine; bottle aging; chromatic characteristics; polyphenolic composition.