Pomace

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Pomace 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. For example, pressing 100 kg of grapes will produce about 25 kg of pomace. 50 percent of grape pomace consists of skins, 25 percent of stalks and the remaining 25 percent of seeds.

Grape pomace has traditionally been used to produce grape seed oil, a practice that continues to this day in small amounts, and grappa. Today, pomace is most commonly used as fodder or fertilizer. Perhaps the most ubiquitous 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.

Apple pomace is often used to produce pectin, while grape pomace is used to produce pomace wine and pomace brandy, such as grappa (in Italy), marc (in France), zivania (in Cyprus), Raki (in Turkey), Orujo (in Spain), Tsikoudia (in Crete) or bagaço (in Portugal). There are many other local names and variants. Essentially all wine producing cultures started making some form of pomace brandy once the principles of distillation were understood.

In the Middle Ages, pomace wines with a low alcohol content of three to four percent were widely available. These faux-wines were made by rehydrating and refermenting the pomace after pressing. Generally, medieval wines were not fermented to dryness so the pomace contained a small amount of fermentable sugars.

Pomace

See also