Evaluation of physicochemical characteristics, color and volatile profile of low alcohol beverage based on concentrated white wine produced by NF and RO membranes

• NF and RO membranes were evaluated for their performance in ethanol removal from white wine. • NF-DK membrane excels with higher permeability and superior flux. • RO-SG had higher ethanol rejection than NF-DK. • Low-alcohol wine from RO showed deeper hues and higher color intensity. • RO-SG membrane exhibited superior aroma and flavor retention. Membrane-based technologies have emerged as vital methods for reducing or removing ethanol in winemaking. This study evaluates the efficacy of nanofiltration (NF-DK) and reverse osmosis (RO-SG) membranes in ethanol reduction for white wine, focusing on permeate flux behavior, fouling index, permeability, ethanol rejection rates, and retention of essential wine components. Experiments were conducted at 21 °C, achieving a weight reduction factor (WRF) of 4. The RO-SG membrane experienced a significant decline (78.2 %) in flux over 247 min to achieve WRF 4, whereas the NF-DK membrane exhibited a lesser flux decline of 49.2 %, reaching WRF 4 in just 40 min. Despite the higher ethanol rejection achieved by RO-SG (16.3 %) compared to NF-DK (1.8 %), RO-SG demonstrated greater retention of critical compounds, including citric acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid, total acidity, glycerol, dry extract, and key volatile compounds. The produced low-alcohol wines, RO(B) (3.07 % v/v) and NF(B) (2.50 % v/v), showed significant physicochemical changes. Colorimetric analysis revealed deeper red hues and greater color intensity in RO(B) (0.28) compared to NF(B) (0.19) and the original wine (0.23), with a ΔE of 3.26 for RO(B), indicating pronounced visual deviations. Moreover, the retention of volatile compounds was substantially higher in RO(B) (55 %) compared to NF(B) (28 %), highlighting substantial differences in aroma and flavor. These findings highlight the potential of membrane-based approaches for ethanol reduction while emphasizing their impact on key quality parameters, providing valuable insights for the scalable production of low-alcohol wines with controlled compositional attributes.