#  Chestnut Flowers as an Alternative to Sulphites in Wine and Craft Beer: From Science to Industry  

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **March 6, 2025** 

 11:00AM - 12:00PM EST 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Virtual event**  



 

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The main economic revenue from chestnut trees (*Castanea sativa*) are its fruits, widely appreciated for culinary properties across European cuisines. The chestnut flowers, which after pollination fall to the ground, are considered a residue. In 2014 Bragança Polytechnic University (BPU) started studying these flowers in terms of potential bioactivities, namely antioxidant and antimicrobial, as well as studying their individual compounds (polyphenols and tocopherols). After successfully using the flower extracts in cheese and pastry, its application was tested in wine.

Alcoholic beverages use sulphites as preservatives to reduce oxidation and microbial development, and while they are widespread in foods, many consumers have been interested in natural wines, without sulphites. Adding to this, sulphites are also known allergens.

In 2016 BPU filed a Portuguese patent, and subsequent international ones protecting the use of chestnut flowers extracts in wine as preservatives, having leased that patent to the startup company Tree Flowers Solutions (TFS), which has expanded its use in craft beers. This presentation will focus on the academic research behind the chestnut flower extract, how TFS scaled up its production and improved extraction yields, as well as all the struggle to implement a biotech startup.

 ![castano](/sites/g/files/omnuum986/files/2025-02/castaneasativa_1080x.jpg)

 

**Speaker: Márcio Carocho** *(Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), Bragança Polytechnic University, Portugal; Associate Laboratory in Sustainability and Technology in Mountain Regions (SUSTec), Bragança Polytechnic University, Portugal).*

**Sponsors:** RCCHU; Harvard University; Bragança Polytechnic University, Portugal.



 

 



 

 

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