Reduced product loss associated with inline bentonite treatment of white wine by simultaneous centrifugation with yeast lees

•Bentonite treatment of wine to prevent protein haze is costly to the wine sector.•Continuous inline bentonite dosing of wine is a viable alternative to batch treatment.•Bentonite separation by centrifugation has previously been inefficient.•Separation efficiency drastically improved by concurrent separation with yeast.•Economic modelling suggests substantial process cost savings are possible. Removal of residual grape protein from white wine is a routine winemaking practice for prevention of protein heat instability that can otherwise result in haze formation and consumer product rejection. Protein removal is typically achieved by batch treatment with bentonite, however considerable costs ($0.5–1.0 billion per annum worldwide) are experienced through product loss within the bentonite sediment. Continuous inline bentonite dosing followed by centrifugation is an alternative contacting approach, however previous attempts have resulted in significant carryover of bentonite into the clarified stream. This issue is addressed in the present work, whereby an 84% reduction in carryover was achieved by undertaking bentonite inline dosing in conjunction the simultaneous centrifugal removal of yeast lees following primary alcoholic fermentation. Economic modelling suggests the cost of wine losses associated with bentonite treatment may be decreased by up to 82.5% using this protocol, representing significant opportunity to reduce processing costs of industrial-scale wine production.