Abstract: Gliadin-free wheat protein isolate (GFWPI) was prepared from wheat flour and its efficacy in fining cherry wine was analyzed by measuring changes in physical and chemical properties and stability before and after clarification. The results indicated that the turbidity of fined cherry wine treated with 50 mg/L GFWPI was significantly declined by 71.64% when compared with unfined cherry wine. On the other hand, the contents of total phenols and flavonoids in cherry wine did not obviously differ between the two samples (P > 0.05). GFWPI provided the minimum turbidity of 2.07 NTU at 139 h prior to other three clarifying agents such as gelatin, polyvinylpyrrolidone and carboxymethyl cellulose, which remained stable later. The maximum reduction of total phenols of 35.37 mg/L was obtained by gelatin treatment. PVPP treatment resulted in the maximum loss of color value of 0.30. The maximum reduction of total phenols of 0.49 mg/L was observed for anthocyanins-treated wine. The optimal fining conditions with GFWPI were determined as GFWPI concentration of 50 mg/L, stirring rate of 800 r/min, and stirring time of 120 min. GFWPI had the advantages of good efficiency, high clarification rate, safety without toxicity and low cost. In conclusion, it is of great significance for the industrial production and shelf life prolongation cherry wine.

Key words: wheat protein, clarifying agent, cherry wine, cause of turbidity, fining