Grant: Engage Grants Program

Fruit wines become an important part of Canadian culture and economy. The market and production of fruitwines has grown significantly in the last decade. Rhubarb wine is a popular type of fruit wines in Canada thatoffers a crispy taste with slight tartness. Rhubarb wine has an ongoing issue of white precipitation that formsafter bottling. Although no toxic effects have been noticed for the white precipitate, it has significant visualimpact to consumers and reduces sales quantities and values. Fruit wineries are interested in finding a solutionto prevent precipitation. Understanding the chemistry of precipitation formation is the key in solving this issue.To address this specific problem, the chemical structure of the precipitate will be identified, the reason ofcrystallization will be discovered, and an innovative method to remove precipitation will be developed. Resultsand knowledge obtained in this research project can be applied to all wineries that produce rhubarb wines inCanada, resulting economic benefits.