The winemaking process is an art that has been perfected over many years; quality has always been at the center of this process, but new technologies continue to help winemakers elevate their products. To ensure Excellence in Every Glass, winemakers need reliable high quality test results that show a clear picture of the status of the wine, and they need their tools to be adaptable to new challenges as the art of winemaking progresses.
Randox has been manufacturing reagents and test kits since 1982, and their experience enables them to manufacture reagents that are among the best in the industry. They also developed the RX misano, a versatile, compact, semi-automated analyzer for the wine market, which boasts increased accuracy compared to other methods, producing results within +/- 1% of UKAS accredited reference materials.
“The RX Misano is a great addition to any winery, providing high quality results coupled with a small footprint,” says Darryl Hamm, Business Development Manager for the Americas at Randox, “and the ease of use is one of the biggest advantages of using the RX misano, the user-friendly interface and touch screen navigation allows for effortless and quick use of the analyzer.”
Not only is the RX misano a cutting edge analyzer today, but it is highly adaptive to the winemaker’s needs. Randox currently offers 18 enzymatic test kits that test for a range of different compounds, and all of the tests are pre-programmed into the RX misano, but the machine is also built to allow for easy upload of new or third party test settings.
“The open channel system basically means that users can program tests onto the machine outside those which we have pre-programmed,” Darryl explains, “and having a range of up to 10 different wavelengths allows us to increase our test menu on the RX misano in the future.”
The RX misano uses spectrophotometery, measuring the absorbance of light in a solution in order to determine the concentration of a compound. The RX misano has a halogen bulb inside which emits light across one of the 10 wavelengths available in the analyzer: 340, 420, 520, 546, 578, 600, 620, 660 & 720nm with the additional 280nm available for the testing of phenols. This then goes through the test solution before hitting the detector and reading the results given off by it.
Though it is a cutting edge analyzer, the RX misano requires no previous laboratory experience to operate, and it has an onboard smart monitoring system that ensures that the analyzer is always ready to go whenever you need to test. The system checks the humidity, temperature, and other environmental conditions to ensure that it is at optimum condition in order to run tests accurately.
“Along with each test kit comes an Instructions for Use document giving the user a step by step guide that can be followed by anyone,” says Darryl, “and if your test is being run on the RX misano, you will select the test you are running on the screen, perform a water blank as your calibration, and then mix your sample and reagents and incubate for the required time. As soon as the incubation is done place the sample into the RX misano and wait for the results to be displayed on screen. It’s that easy.”
Using Randox Food Diagnostics world renowned wine reagents alongside the RX misano brings together reliability and quality to ensure Excellence in Every Glass. For more information and orders go to www.randoxfood.com, email at enquiries@randoxfood.com.
