Pomace

Pomace (ˈpʌməs ), or marc (ˈmɑrk; from French marc maʁ), is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit. Grape pomace has traditionally been used to produce pomace brandy (such as grappa, orujo, törkölypálinka, zivania). Today, it is mostly used as fodder, as fertilizer, or for the extraction of bioactive compounds like polyphenols. The English word derives from Medieval Latin pomaceum ("cider") and pomaceus ("pomaceous, appley"), from Classical Latin ("fruit, apple"). The word was originally used for cider and only later applied to the apple mash before or after pressing, via various cognate terms in northern French dialects, before being used for such byproducts more generally. The ancient Greeks and Romans used grape pomace to create an inferior class of wine given to slaves and laborers. The grapes were first pressed twice and the resulting pomace was then soaked in water for another day and pressed a third time and fermented. The resulting liquid produced a thin, weak, and thirst-quenching wine with an alcohol content around 3 or 4%, now known as piquette in English and French and as graspia or vin piccolo in Italian. Piquette was also widely available during the Middle Ages. As medieval wines were not usually fermented to dryness, medieval piquette retained a degree of residual sugar. Pomace from various sourcesparticularly fish and castor beanswas also used in the early modern period for fertilizer. Apple pomace is often used to produce pectin and can be used to make ciderkin, a weak cider, as well as white cider, a strong and colourless alcoholic drink. Pomace brandy Grape pomace is used to produce pomace brandy and piquette. Most wine-producing cultures began making some type of pomace brandy after the principles of distillation were understood. Pomace in winemaking differs, depending upon whether white wine or red wine is being produced.