Agrochemical characterisation of the solid by-products and residues from the winery and distillery industry

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Abstract

The winery and distillery industry produces a great quantity of residues, whose management and disposal are environmental problems due to their seasonal character and some polluting characteristics. The main solid by-products and residues generated are grape stalk, grape pomace or marc, wine lee, exhausted grape marc and winery sludge. In this study, 87 samples of winery and distillery residues were collected from different Spanish wineries and distilleries. Electrical conductivity, pH, total organic matter, organic carbon, polyphenols and contents of plant nutrients and heavy metals were determined. The purpose of this research was to study the composition of these wastes and to find relationships in order to use easily analysable parameters to estimate their composition. In general, the winery and distillery residues showed low pH (mean values ranged from 3.8 to 6.8) and electrical conductivity values (1.62–6.15 dS m−1) and high organic matter (669–920 g kg−1) and macronutrient contents, especially in K (11.9–72.8 g kg−1). However, a notable polyphenol concentration (1.2–19.0 g kg−1) and low micronutrient and heavy metal contents were also observed, some of these properties being incompatible with agricultural requirements. Therefore, conditioning treatments are necessary prior to possible use of these wastes. In all wastes, significant correlations were found between easily determined parameters, such as pH, electrical conductivity and total organic matter, and most of the parameters studied. The regression models obtained are also discussed.

Introduction

Grape is one of the most important fruit crops of the world, with more than 60 million metric tons produced annually, and is cultivated mainly as Vitis vinifera for wine production, Spain being one of the greatest producers of wine (from 30.9 to 50.0 million Hl per year for the 2000–2005 period) (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2006).

The main solid by-products and wastes produced during winemaking are grape stalk (GS), grape pomace or marc (GM) and wine lee (WL). According to the European Council Regulation (EC) 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the wine market, GM and WL must be sent to alcohol distilleries, producing exhausted grape marc (EG) and a liquid waste (vinasse). However, the small wine-producing industries do not follow this law, generating GM and WL together with GS as organic wastes. On the other hand, the aerobic depuration of the winery effluents, vinasse and winery wastewater, generates another solid waste, winery-sludge (WS).

One of the main environmental problems related to the management of the winery and distillery residues is the generation of large amounts during a short period of the year (August–October) (281 × 103 ton of GS; 787 × 103 ton of GM; 337 × 103 ton of WL and 24 × 106 m3 of wastewater in Spain in 2005 (Vogt et al., 1986, KEPOS, 2000, Seóanez et al., 2000, Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2006)), as well as some polluting characteristics of these residues, such as low pH and a high content of phytotoxic and antibacterial phenolic substances, which resist biological degradation (Rodrigo Señer and Pascual Vidal, 2001). In order to minimise the environmental impact and recycle these residues, several alternatives have been proposed, apart from producing alcohol and tartrates in the distilleries from GM and WL, such as the use of EG and vinasse for feedstuff production (Vaccarino et al., 1993). Other methods for the recovery and reuse of the by-products from winemaking, especially GM, have been reported, such as yeast production (Lo Curto and Tripodo, 2001), the extraction and recovery of phenolic compounds (Louli et al., 2004), the production of grape seed oil (Molero et al., 1995a, Molero et al., 1995b) or energy (Rodrigo Señer and Pascual Vidal, 2001) and the use of GS for the decontamination of metal-containing effluents (Villaescusa et al., 2004). However, the potential uses of the winery and distillery wastes as raw materials for the production of different substances depend on the market value of the obtained products related to the management of the waste from the winemaking process. Other studies have focused on the composting of some of these residues, such as GS (Ranalli et al., 2001, Bertrán et al., 2004), but especially GM (Wallach et al., 1992, Madejón et al., 2001, Madejón et al., 2002, Díaz et al., 2002). Other alternatives for recycling these residues, especially GM and WS, could be their use as organic fertilisers, by direct addition into soils or after composting, or as growing media. Most authors have reported positive effects on plant growth when WS or GM compost has been used as a soil fertiliser (Mariotti et al., 2000, Masoni et al., 2000, Ferrer et al., 2001). Also, Chen et al., 1988, Baran et al., 2001 observed that composted GM was a high-quality substitute for peat as a plant growth medium. On the other hand, other authors have observed negative effects on soil when these wastes are used as an organic fertiliser. Such negative effects are associated with an initial net immobilisation of nitrogen after the application of GM compost into soil (Bustamante et al., 2004, Flavel et al., 2005) or with an increase of nitrogen leaching in soils amended with WS (Masoni et al., 2000). However, not enough data are currently available about agricultural uses of the remaining winery and distillery solid wastes. Therefore, prior to a proper and safe use of winery and distillery wastes, they should be characterised completely. The aims of this work were twofold: to carry out a complete characterisation of the solid residues from wineries and distilleries in Spain, in order to evaluate their potential fertilising capacity as well as the limitations for possible agricultural use, and to find correlations in order to estimate the composition of these wastes using easily determined analytical parameters.

Section snippets

Sampling of the winery and distillery residues

Eighty-seven samples (13 GS, 45 GM, 12 WL, 13 EG and 4 WS) were collected from 14 wineries and 6 distilleries throughout Spain, which were selected according to the wine production (>100,000 Hl) during the campaign 2002–2003. In most of the wineries, a sample of GS, GM and WL was collected, whereas WS samples were only collected in the wineries with aerobic depuration of their effluents. Also, from each distillery, were collected proportionally the samples of EG (two samples from each

Characteristics of the solid winery and distillery residues

The results of the analyses carried out on the waste samples from the winery and distillery industry are shown in Table 1, Table 2. In general, all wastes showed similar acidic pH values, except for the EG and WS samples, the latter having higher pH values probably due to the use of lime in the flocculation treatments carried out at the wastewater treatment plant (Metcalf-Eddy, 2002). Only the WL samples showed significant differences in the pH values depending on the origin, possibly because

Conclusions

The winery and distillery residues were characterised by a low pH, similar EC values and high P, K and organic matter contents, as well as by low micronutrient and heavy metal contents compared with wastes usually used as organic fertilisers (manures and urban wastes). Despite the richness of these residues in organic matter and macronutrients, such as K, important factors in soil fertility, the presence of polyphenols, compounds related to phytotoxic and antimicrobial effects, makes

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an FPU Grant from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain and was financed by the CICYT Project AGL2002-00296. The authors thank Dr. D.J. Walker for the English revision.

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