Accelerated aging of a Sherry wine vinegar on an industrial scale employing microoxygenation and oak chips

A study of accelerated aging on an industrial scale, employing both microoxygenation and oak chips, of a Sherry wine vinegar has been carried out. The effect of these two factors, microoxygenation and oak chips, on polyphenolic and volatile compounds, and sensorial parameters has been evaluated. The dose of oxygen applied to the vinegar and the use of chips provoke important changes in its content in polyphenols and volatile compounds and make it similar to the profile obtained using traditional aging. An alternative method of aging is proposed, using 5 g/L of chips and a dose of oxygen around 70 mL/L month. With the proposed method, and according to the sensorial and analytical results obtained, vinegars similar to those traditionally aged can be obtained by accelerated aging with microoxygenation and chips in shorter periods of time. In our case, a final reduction of 86% of time is achieved with the proposed method.