IVAS 2022 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 IVAS 9 IVAS 2022 9 UHPLC-HRMS analysis for the evaluation of formation and degradation of polysulfides in wine 

UHPLC-HRMS analysis for the evaluation of formation and degradation of polysulfides in wine 

Abstract

The contribution of sulfur compounds to wine aroma has been studied for several years, as their role can be either positive, contributing to the fruitiness and typicity of some white wines like Sauvignon blanc, or negative when related to off-flavours caused by H2S. Recently, H2S formation from degradation of polysulfides has gained interest in the wine sector as it could potentially lead to wine defects or quality reduction (1). It has been proposed that polysulfides can be formed upon oxidation of thiol compounds (for example glutathione and cysteine) with Cu2+ or elemental sulfur and could form a reservoir for H2S release post-bottling (2,3,4). Polysulfide formation has been demonstrated in several matrices including real wines (5,6,7), but the exact reaction mechanisms have not been proven yet. It has been suggested that both chemical and biochemical activities can play a role (8), which is a topic that is still under investigation.
In the present work we investigated the possible technological factors that could influence the formation of polysulfides. Furthermore, we proposed a new method using both liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and parallel ion chromatography in order to study the degradation of single polysulfides and the formation of H2S, respectively.

METHODS
For the study we used ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to hybrid quadrupole/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS, Q-Orbitrap) for the detection, characterisation and accumulation of polysulfides. For the study of polysulfide degradation UHPLC was used with an on-line fraction collector (UHPLC-FC) in order to isolate the single compounds. After collection the sampled compound was kept at 30°C to promote degradation and injections were performed until complete degradation. For the detection of H2S Ion Chromatography (IC) was used. For the technological studies, wines fortified with varietal thiols were treated with Cu2+ or Ag+ and subjected to accelerated aging and different musts were fermented with different oenological yeasts in single vinifications.

RESULTS
Using UHPLC-FC and subsequent UHPLC-HRMS it was possible to follow single polysulfide degradation in time. The technological studies revealed treatment effects of post-fermentation treatments with Cu2+ and Ag+ and significant differences were found in polysulfide profiles of wines fermented with different oenological yeasts. These studies gave new insides in the formation and degradation mechanisms of polysulfides, which is considered relevant with regard to potential alterations of wine quality

DOI:

Publication date: June 22, 2022

Issue: IVAS 2022

Type: Article

Authors

Dekker Susanne¹*, Nardin Tiziana¹, Fedrizzi Bruno², Van Leeuwen Katryna², Roman Tomas¹ and Larcher Roberto¹

¹FEM-IASMA Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach, 1, 38098 San Michele All’adige TN
²School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

Contact the author

Keywords

polysulfides, oxidation, UHPLC-HRMS, reductive odours

 

Tags

IVAS 2022 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

VINIoT: Precision viticulture service for SMEs based on IoT sensors network

The main innovation in the VINIoT service is the joint use of two technologies that are currently used separately: vineyard monitoring using multispectral imaging and deployed terrain sensors. One part of the system is based on the development of artificial intelligence algorithms that are feed on the images of the multispectral camera and IoT sensors, high-level information on water stress, grape ripening status and the presence of diseases. In order to obtain algorithms to determine the state of ripening of the grapes and avoid losing information due to the diversity of the grape berries, it was decided to work along the first year 2020 at berry scale in the laboratory, during the second year at the cluster scale and on the last year at plot scale. Different varieties of white and red grapes were used; in the case of Galicia we worked with the white grape variety Treixadura and the red variety Mencía. During the 2020 and 2021 campaigns, multispectral images were taken in the visible and infrared range of: 1) sets of 100 grapes classifying them by means of densimetric baths, 2) individual bunches. The images taken with the laboratory analysis of the ripening stage were correlated. Technological maturity, pH, probable degree, malic acid content, tartaric acid content and parameters for assessing phenolic maturity, IPT, anthocyanin content were determined. It has been calculated for each single image the mean value of each spectral band (only taking into account the pixels of interest) and a correlation study of these values with laboratory data has been carried out. These studies are still provisional and it will be necessary to continue with them, jointly with the training of the machine learning algorithms. Processed data will allow to determine the sensitivity of the multispectral images and select bands of interest in maturation.

Effect of fertigation strategies to adapt PGI Côtes de Gascogne production to hot vintage

The development of fertigation could be a possible solution to adapt PGI Côtes de Gascogne (south-western France) wine production to climate change. The goal would be to limit the negative effects of water stress on yield performance expectation (around 15 tons per hectare) and to make the use of fertilizers more efficient. This study aimed to compare the effects of three strategies of water and minerals supply on grapes and wines qualities. Two fertigation practices were compared to a rainfed control which is the current standard of the local grape growing production. The fertilizers (nitrogen and potassium) were (i) fully brought by irrigation pipe during the season, (ii) partially brought by irrigation pipe and partially on the soil or (iii) fully brought on the soil at the beginning of the season for the non-irrigated control (local standard). The trial was run on cv. Colombard trained on spur pruned with vertical shoot positioning system on a sandy-silty-clay soil over the 2020 vintage which was particularly hot for the region. Moderate to strong water deficit appeared during the growing period of the berries and held on after veraison. Irrigation strategies allowed for maintaining grapevine without water deficit and being significantly different from the control water status. Grapevine with fully or partial fertigation strategies produced 25% more yield mainly due to the increase of the bunch weight. Also, the fully fertigation showed the best ratio between yield and maturity and brought 30% less of fertilizers (both nitrogen and potassium) than the two other strategies. Finally, the analysis of aromatic compounds in Colombard wines, varietal thiols family, showed the same level of concentrations for the 3 treatments, confirming that the yield performance did not impact the aromatic potential in this trial.

VINIoT – Precision viticulture service

The project VINIoT pursues the creation of a new technological vineyard monitoring service, which will allow companies in the wine sector in the SUDOE space to monitor plantations in real time and remotely at various levels of precision. The system is based on spectral images and an IoT architecture that allows assessing parameters of interest viticulture and the collection of data at a precise scale (level of grape, plant, plot or vineyard) will be designed. In France, three subjects were specifically developed: evaluation of maturity, of water stress, and detection of flavescence dorée. For the evaluation of maturity, it has been decided first to work at the berry scale in the laboratory, then at the bunch scale and finally in the vineyard. The acquisition of the spectral hyperstal image as well as the reference analyzes to measure the maturity, were carried out in the laboratory after harvesting the berries in a maturity monitoring context. This work focuses on a case study to predict sugar content of three different grape varieties: Syrah, Fer Servadou and Mauzac. A robust method called Roboost-PLSR, developed in the framework of this work (Courand et al., 2022), to improve prediction model performance was applied on spectra after the acquirement of hyperspectral images. Regarding the evaluation of water stress, to work with a significant variability in terms of water status, it has been worked first with potted plants under 2 different water regimes. The facilities have allowed the supervision of irrigation and micro-climatic conditions. The regression models on agronomic variables (stomatal conductance, water potential, …) are studied. To detect flavescence dorée, the experimental plan has consisted of work at leaf scale in the laboratory first, and then in the field. To detect the disease from hyper-spectral imaging, a combination of multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was proposed. This strategy proved the potential towards the discrimination of healthy and infected leaves by flavescence dorée based on the use of hyperspectral images (Mas Garcia et al., 2021).

Phenological characterization of a wide range of Vitis Vinifera varieties

In order to study the impact of climate change on Bordeaux grape varieties and to assess the adaptation capacities of candidates to the grape varieties of this wine region to the new climatic conditions, an experimental block design composed of 52 grape varieties was set up in 2009 at the INRAE Bordeaux Aquitaine center. Among the many parameters studied, the three main phenological stages of the vine (budburst, flowering and veraison) have been closely monitored since 2012. Observations for each year, stage and variety were carried out on four independent replicates. Precocity indices have been calculated from the data obtained over the 2012-2021 period (Barbeau et al. 1998). This work allowed to group the phenological behaviour of the grapevine varieties, not only based on the timing of the subsequent developmental stages, but also on the overall precocity of the cycle and the total length of the cycle between budburst and veraison. Results regarding the variability observed among the different grape varieties for these phenological stages are presented as heat maps.

How distinctive are single vineyard Gewürztraminer musts and wines from Alto Adige (Italy) based on untargeted analysis, sensory profiling, and chemometric elaboration?

Vitis vinifera L. ‘Gewürztraminer’ is a historical grape variety of Alto Adige (Südtirol), Italy, which is widely grown in the area of Tramin an der Weinstraße, but is also grown globally. It produces highly aromatic wines that are strongly influenced by the terroir of the vineyard sites where they are grown. This study looked at musts and young wines from ‘Gewürztraminer’ grapes harvested in seven distinct vineyards near Tramin and then processed at Cantina di Termeno, minimizing winemaking protocol variability. Samples were profiled using bidimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography coupled to electrochemical detection, and near-IR spectrometry. The data were subjected to Principle Component Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering Analysis. Sensory discriminant testing was undertaken using the sorting method with a semi-trained panel, and the data were processed using Multidimensional Scaling. Seven must/wine pairs could be distinguished based on their untargeted volatilome profiles and on sensory evaluation. As expected, there were greater differences in the volatile compounds between the wines than between the musts. The wines from vineyards 4 and 5 were nonetheless quite homogenous in terms of chemical and sensory analyses, as were the wines from vineyards 1 and 3. For the phenolic profile, differences were noted between the musts and wines of vineyards 2, 3, and 4, but the musts from vineyards 5 and 7 were similar. Sensory analysis showed the wines from vineyards 6 and 7 to be distinct from the rest. These results reinforce that the composition of ‘Gewürztraminer’ musts and wines is strongly determined by vineyard site, even in a small geographic area with high variability of the terroir (soil and microclimate), and that these differences are apparent in the flavours and aromas of the finished wines. Further confirmation would require a larger sample of wines, preferably from several vintages.