Influence of fatty acids on foaming properties of cider

Seventy-seven ciders from four consecutive harvests, which were produced at industrial scale by cider-makers from the region of Asturias (northern Spain), were analyzed to evaluate their foam capacity. The Bikerman method for the evaluation of foaming characteristics was adapted to ciders. In foaming, there are two parameters, foam formation and foam stability, which are found to be related to each other. To determine the relationship between fatty acid content and foaming properties of cider, the multivariate analysis technique of canonical correlation analysis was applied. Foam stability is positively related to the content of caprylic acid. Foam height is positively related to linolenic, pentadecanoic, and palmitic acid and negatively related to stearic and linoleic acid.