Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) for Mimosa tannin removal

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When I have tried the egg tek, it has worked right and it was helpful to make the Mimosa brew more palatable and less upsetting for the stomach. However, I like to make a large-ish batch and store the brew for the long term, and I don't think it would be good to do that with a brew that still contains egg proteins. Also, it can be tricky to do right, and sometimes the egg white forms an almost impossible to filter emulsion.

I have recently found that in wine-making they use PVPP to remove tannins. PVPP seems to work in a similar way to the egg protein, by forming peptidic bonds with tannins and precipitating (this is better than the egg, that floats instead of precipitating). It's an approved food additive (E1202) and can be found at a good price. So I think it makes sense to see if it could help removing the tannins in Mimosa brews.

However, my knowledge of chemistry is very limited, and I don't know if PVPP is likely to bind to DMT and other alkaloids or not. I know the way to know for sure is to try it, but if some more knowledgeable user thinks that there are chemical reasons to think it likely will remove DMT, it probably wouldn't be worth it for me to try.

Also, can anyone think of any possible drawback or potential dangers of using this compound? Based on its use in wine I don't see any, but again my knowledge in this area is quite limited.

If there's no apparent danger and no clear reason to think it would remove DMT, I will try it and report back.

 

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In case it helps: PVPP seems to not bind caffeine nor theobromine. I'm not sure how relevant that is to deduce whether it will bind DMT, but as they all are alkaloids, I'm guessing it's a good sign. Apparently PVPP has been used to remove polyphenols from tea and coffee:

One can remove polyphenols by pre-treating the samples with the PVPP (polyvinylpyrrolidone). This is a polymer material which binds polyphenols but not caffeine.
After pretreatment, we now have a coffee solution that does not contain polyphenols. However, theobromine is still in the solution which is chemically and physically very similar to caffeine. The only difference between the two molecules is an additional methyl group residing on caffeine, but not theobromine. This makes theobromine much less soluble in water than caffeine. Therefore, the two are separated in the FIA system mixing coil by using the appropriate solvent - though only after the polyphenols are removed with PVPP.

Determination of caffeine content - Labster

Theory pages

theory.labster.com

Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) has a high affinity towards polyphenols. This method involves the use of PVPP column to remove polyphenols under centrifugal force. Standards of gallic acid, epigallocatechin gallate, vanillin, and tea extracts (Camellia sinensis) were used in this study. PVPP powder was packed in a syringe with different quantities. The test samples were layered over the PVPP column and subjected to centrifugation. Supernatant was tested for the total phenol content. The presence of phenolic compounds and caffeine was screened by HPLC and measuring the absorbance at 280. The antioxidant capacity of standards and tea extracts was compared with the polyphenol removed fractions using DPPH scavenging assay. No polyphenols were found in polyphenolic standards or tea extracts after PVPP treatment. The method described in the present study to remove polyphenols is simple, inexpensive, rapid, and efficient and can be employed to investigate the contribution of polyphenols present in natural products to their biological activity.

Development of a Rapid and Simple Method to Remove Polyphenols from Plant Extracts - PMC

Polyphenols are secondary metabolites of plants, which are responsible for prevention of many diseases. Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) has a high affinity towards polyphenols. This method involves the use of PVPP column to remove polyphenols under ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov