There are known beverages, particularly wines, which are characterized in that they contain as preserving and protecting agents various chemical products and which are obtained by fermentation in the presence of these products. (Auslageschrift RFG 1 292 613, FR-1 033 111, FR-1 299 886, US-3 048 488). All these beverages and also the processes for obtaining the same have disadvantages. Thus, the sorbic acid, in the required concentrations to have an antiseptic effect confers an unpleasant taste to the baverage and is toxic. It also has the disadvantage of not being an antioxidant The ethylic ester of pyrocarbonic acid proposed to be used as a preservative, is suffocating and decomposes easily. The ascorbic acid which is a good antioxidant is not an antiseptic and can easily be degraded. The antioxidizing and preservative sulphur dioxide. the derivatives thereof respectively, is a powerful nucleophilic reactant.

Due to the high reactivity of sulphur dioxide, this can react with a lot of compounds from the fermentation medium leading to sulphonic derivatives which change both their natural flavour and biological properties. Therefore, in technology, more particularly in the wine-making technology, maceration is avoided in order to obviate the impurification of the final product with sulphur compounds, or there are used processes of high purification of the liquid resulting by the elimination of solid components. Thus there are eliminated from the product the easily oxidizable compounds, but also valuable biologically active components. The researches carried out in the last years confirm that the sulphur dioxide and the sulphites decompose entirely the vitamin B,; there are diminished the vitamins B2 and B12, folic acid and other components of the vegetal product with biologically active properties, more particularly the organic complexes of the microelements. There are inhibited enzymes such as the hepatic suiphitoxidase, the gastric mucous is irritated. The sulphates formed by oxidizing the sulphur dioxide give the feeling of thurst, this being a cause of the alcoholism and of the people's preference for other drinks, particularly strong drinks, this being another cause of alcoholism.

The problem solved by the invention consists in the preparation of beverages which use for conservation and settling high efficiency natural products. Another problem solved by the invention consists in elaborating a process for producing such beverages.

The beverages with ecologicai-bioiogical properties according to the invention obviate the disadvantages mentioned before and solve the technical problem by the fact that they have a content of 0.1... 2g/1 of natural polyphenolic type antioxidants.

In the beverages according to the invention the natural polyphenolic type antioxidants are contained in the alimentary tannin, but also in other galo-respectively elagotannins which are added prior to the maceration process.

The process of obtaining beverages with ecological-biological properties, according to the invention consists in that the vegetal material selected from grapes, fruit, vegetables or mixtures thereof is squashed in the presence of natural polyphenolic type antioxidants contained in 0.1... 0.5 kg alimentary tannin, galo-and respectively elago-tannin per ton of vegetal material, followed by maceration for 10-200 hours, drawing the must, fermentation or pasteurization and usual conditioning.

The conditions of carrying out the process according to the invention are those generally known for such processes. Thus, for instance, in white grapes the maceration on husks of pressed grapes is preferably carried out for 10-100 hours, while 10-200 hours for coloured or flavoured grapes. Maceration takes place in open space in the presence of air, or by introducing the same in the fermentation-maceration tank at the beginning of the process.

Examples of fruit for beverages according to the invention include apples, sour cherries, black currant, bilbenies, raspberry. The fruit juice is processed similarly with the grape must, with the difference that preferably the maceration process lasts 10-20 hours, then the resulting must is not fermente but pasteurized or sugar is added in sufficient quantity to cease fermentation.

Similady with he fruit juice there can be obtained, for example, the sweet reserve must, with the difference that grapes are used instead of fruit. There is obtained the sweet reserve must which is used as such or for making sweet or semi-sweet wines.

The process for obtaining the beverages is simple, can be carried out in any industrial plant and leads to obtaining ecological and bioiogical products, due to the purification of the medium by the yeasts in the process of maceration and fermentation carried out by a redox buffer system favorable to the activity thereof.

The polyphenolic-type antioxidizing compounds used in the present invention are esters of the gallic acid and of the hexaoxydiphenic acid with the glucose, such as the galotannins and elagotannins, esters and ethers of flavonic compounds, as for instance, epigalocathehingalate, cathehins such as galocathehin and their cyclization compounds as teaflavine, leucoantocyanes, flavones, phenolic acids such as the gallic acid, caffeic acid, ferrulic acid, etc and the derivatives thereof, purpurogaline and other similar benzotropolones.

The process according to the invention further has the advantage that in the maceration-fermenation process there takes place the enzymatic hydrolysis on the vegetal substrate components of a lot of biologically active compounds which the plant synthetized and kept in reserve fixed on the cell components. Thus, the resulting product, for instance the wine is rich in vitamins such as vitamins P and other vitamins and organic complexes of the microelements which the human body needs for maintaining the homeostasis. Due to the great number of compounds with antiradicalic action, introduced or formed in the maceration-fermentation process, as well as of many vitamins, phenolic acids and other biologically active components elaborated or formed, as well as due to the purification of the fermentation medium by the yeasts, the products obtained have biological-ecological properties and revitalizing, tonic and curative qualities, they delay the aging processes and the occurrence of degenerative diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and others. The fact that they are free from pesticides, more particularly from those organo-chlorinated and organo-phosphoric confers them ecological properties.

In the process according to the invention, the preservatives proposed have antioxidizing and antiseptic action conferred by the redox system: simiiar to that of vitamin C, and the preservative action is given more particularly by the hydroxyl phenolic groups as well as by the hydroxyl and carbonyl system, similar to a carboxyl group from the tropolonic nucleus. The redox system of these compounds has the property to catch the molecular, peroxidic and hydroperoxidic oxygen, oxidizing itself and regenerating itself on the basis of the hydrogen from the chemical compounds of the substrate (aminoacids, hydroxyacids, acetales, alcools, etc.) Thus, it functions together with other reducing agents from the medium as a redox buffer, maintaining the substrate to a low oxido-reducing potential, favorable to the maturation processes and consequently to the formation of buquet and flavour of the food products, more particularly of wine.

The beverages and the process according to the invention have the following advantages: -substitutes the antiseptic and antioxidizing agents with harmful action upon the human body and with high efficiency only in large doses, such as the sulphur dioxide; -the antiseptic and antioxidizing protection is achieved with products similar to those used by the plants. The precursors of these antioxidants are combinations extracted from the vegetal material and the controlled or uncontrolled synthesis thereof can be achieved by means of the oxidative ferments from the alimentary substrate to be preseved; -lowers the oxido-reducing potential of the substrate, making thus impossible the activity or the multiplication of harmful microorganisms and permits the substrate evolution towards maturation, namely to the formation of flavours and buquet; -by lowering the oxido-reducing potential of the substrate there is favoured the formation or preservation of other natural agents with reducing action known under the general name of reductone such as: cathehins, flavones, dioxifumaric acid, etc, which form in the must or wine from the polyphenolic precursors, in the presence of the enzymes proper to the material to be fermented ; -the tropolonic nucleus compounds unlike the great majority of known antioxidizing and antiseptic agents have the advantage of not conferring an unpleasant or astringent taste to the food products ; -by using the compounds with tropolonic nucleus or the precursors thereof there are no longer necessary the operations used in the practice, as for instance, the detartration. The tartric acid from wine is tranformed, under the influence of the tropolonic nucleus compounds and under the conditions of low oxido-reducing potential, into dioxifumaric acid, which is a powerful reductone with an important rote in the processes of maturation and aging, more particularly of wine; -the tropolonic nucleus compounds due to the capacity to form 1,2-dicetones, take part to the oxidative deamination processes of the aminoacids. Thus, there are formed aldehydes, acetales, esters, upper alcools, etc, which confer flavour, buquet, high gustative properties to the substrate.

The ecological properties of the beverages, such as the wine, are determined more particularly by the action of yeasts, which in the conditions of maceration according to the invention purify the fermentation medium of pesticides, more particularly organochlorurate and organophosphoric, according to the analyses G C/MS. In the analyses performed there was ascertained that the ecological-biological wines obtained according to the invention, do not contain pesticides, though it is known the fact that after fermentation the wine obtained by the classical wine-making technology contains about 10 % of the pesticides existing in the grapes.

There are given hereinafter 7 embodiments of the invention : Exemple 1 Obtaining the wine with ecological-biological properties.

In an industrial plant of squashing the grapes, there are introduced 1000 kg of white grapes, then there are added 0.2 kg alimentary type tannin dissolve in warm water which contains about 50 % total polyphenols expressed in gallic acid. Maceration on husks of pressed grapes for 72 hours. Maceration is performed in the open in the presence of air. The must fermenting on the husks of pressed grapes is drawn and fermentation continues and the wine is conditioned thereafter according to the known technological processes. There is obtained a wine with an alcoholic concentration of about 10 % vol. at 20° C, total acidity of about 5 gel tartric acid, maximum volatile acidity of 1 gel acetic acid, quality flavour, good taste.

Examples 2-6 Obtaining the cooling beverages from fruit (apples, sour cherries, black currant, bilberies, raspberry).

Proceed the same as in example 1, except that instead of wines there are used apples, sour cherries, black currant, bilberries and raspberry and the maceration process lasts 15 hours, then the resulting must is not fermented but pasteurized, or there is added sugar in an amount of 40-60 grams at 100 grams to stop the fermentation thereof. The preparation conditions are centralized in Table 1.

Table 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Example 5 Example 6 Fruit Apples Sour Black Bilberries Raspberry cherries currant Quantity of fruit processed, kg 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 Quantity of tannin introduced, kg 0.2 0.2 0.2 Maceration time, hours 15 15 15 12 10 Example 7. Obtaining the sweet reserve must Proceed as in the examples 2-6 except that grapes are used. There is obtained sweet reserve must which is used as such or for the preparation of sweet and semi- sweet wines.