Pomace (ultimately from Latin pomum 'apple') or marc is the solid remains of olives, grapes, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It is essentially the pulp, peel, seeds and stalks of the fruit after the oil, water, or other liquid has been pressed out. Grape pomace has traditionally been used to produce grape seed oil, a practice that continues to this day in small amounts, and Pomace brandy, such as grappa. Today, pomace is most commonly used as fodder or fertilizer. Another pomace by-product is the natural red dye and food coloring agent oenocyanin. However, some companies are also recovering tartrates (cream of tartar) as well as grape polyphenols.

History

The English were the first to widely use the term "pomace" to refer to the by product from cider production.

Wines & brandies

Apple pomace is often used to produce pectin, or can be used to make Ciderkin, a weak cider. While grape pomace is used to produce pomace wine and pomace brandy, such as grappa (in Italy), marc (in France), zivania (in Cyprus), lozovača or komovica (in Croatia), Raki (in Turkey and Albania), Orujo (in Spain), Tsikoudia (in Crete), Tsipouro in northern Greece or bagaço (in Portugal). There are many other local names and variants such as the English "press cake".

Studies have also shown that specific polyphenols in red wine pomace, may contain properties beneficial for dental hygiene. The study conducted at the Eastman Dental Center found that these polyphenols interferes with Streptococcus mutans, the bacteria in the mouth which causes tooth decay. Professor Hyun Koo, the lead researcher of the study, hopes to isolate these polyphenols to produce new mouthwashes that will help protect against cavities.

A 2004 Turkish study conducted by Erciyes University found that pomace can also act as a natural food preservative that could interfere with Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus bacterias. Scientist used the dried pomace from the white Turkish wine grape Emir Karasi and red Kalecik Karasi to produce a powder that was mixed ethyl acetate, methanol or water and exposed to 14 different types of food bacteria. The results showed that all 14 bacterias were inhibited to some degree by the pomace-depending on the grape variety and the concentration of the extract. The red wine grape Kalecik Karasi was shown to be the most effective due to what the study researchers believe is the higher concentration of polyphenols in red wine grape skins.

See also

• Biodegradable waste
• Ancient Greek cuisine
• Brös

References

External links

• Alison Crowe "The Pomace Predicament" WineMaker Magazine, August 2005
• Y. D. Hang and E. E. Woodams "Grape pomace: A novel substrate for microbial production of citric acid" Biotechnology Letters, Volume 7, Number 4 / April, 1985
• Definition of marc as synonym from winesoftheworld.com