GiESCO 2019 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 GiESCO 9 Application of a fluorescence-based method to evaluate the ripening process and quality of Pinot Blanc grape

Application of a fluorescence-based method to evaluate the ripening process and quality of Pinot Blanc grape

Abstract

Context and purpose of the study – The chemical composition of grape berries at harvest is one of the most important factors that should be considered to produce high quality wines. Among the different chemical classes which characterize the grape juice, the polyphenolic compound, such as flavonoids, contribute to the final taste and color of wines. Recently, an innovative non-destructive method, based on chlorophyll fluorescence, was developed to estimate the phenolic maturity of red grape varieties through the evaluation of anthocyanins accumulated in the berry skin. To date, only few data are available about the application of this method on white grape varieties. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the quality and the ripening process of Pinot blanc grape by a non-destructive fluorescence-based sensor.

Material and methods – The study was performed on two vineyards of cv. Pinot blanc located in the Adige Valley (South Tyrol, Bolzano), in two consecutive vintages. The vineyard differed in the row orientation, east-west or north-south, and then on the sun light exposure of the grape-bunches. The grape phenolic maturity was assessed on intact berries by six measurements from bunch closure to harvest time. In each vineyard, 25 grape-bunches per row sides were flashed by Multiplex® 3.6 (Force-A, Orsay, France), for a total of 3 rows and 150 grape-bunches/measurement. The instrument indices of chlorophyll (SFR_R) and flavonols (FLAV_UV) were considered. Standard grape maturity tests were performed to assess total soluble solids (TSS) and total acidity content of the grape juice by spectroscopic method. At maturity the grapes were processed with a standard vinification protocol for white wines. Total polyphenolic content of wines was determined by a spectrophotometric analysis.

Results – A linear decrease of SFR_R index in the berry-skin during the grape ripening period was recorded. Interestingly, SFR_R values negative correlated with the TTS accumulation in Pinot blanc berries. On the other side, positive correlations between SFR_R and titratable acidity, malic acid and tartaric acid content, were observed. The FLAV_UV index showed an increasing linear trend during the grape ripening period. At harvest, significant difference in FLAV_UV index between the two vineyards was observed. Looking more deeply inside the data, the berry-skin FLAV_UV index significantly differed among the four sun-light expositions, with greater values recorded for the grape-bunches located in south and east sides of the vineyard rows. These results are in accordance with the available literature on the role flavonols as sun-burn protection compounds. Interestingly, the total polyphenolic content of the produced wines showed a positive correlation with the final FLAV_UV values measured in the berry-skin. In conclusion, the Multiplex® indices could improve precision viticulture strategies, such as the implementation of precision harvest practices. Indeed, SFR_R index could be used to indirectly evaluate the whole ripening process of white grapes in term of grape sugar content and acidity, while FLAV_UV could provide useful indications to winemakers about taste of final product. Future studies will be necessary to better correlate the berry-skin FLAV_UV values and the flavours of white wine.

DOI:

Publication date: September 29, 2023

Issue: GiESCO 2019

Type: Poster

Authors

Selena TOMADA1*, Florian PICHLER1, Julia MARTINELLI1, Giovanni AGATI2, Valentina LAZAZZARA3, Martin ZEJFART4, Fenja HINZ3, Ulrich PEDRI4, Peter ROBATSCHER3, Florian HAAS1

1 Department of Viticulture, Laimburg Research Centre, BZ, Italy
2 Istituto di Fisica Applicata ‘Nello Carrara’, CNR, FI, Italy
3 Laboratory for Flavours and Metabolites, Laimburg Research Centre, BZ, Italy
4 Department of Enology, Laimburg Research Centre, BZ, Italy

Contact the author

Keywords

chlorophyll, flavonols, grape, Multiplex®, quality, Pinot blanc.

Tags

GiESCO | GiESCO 2019 | 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.

Influence of agronomic practices in soil water content in mid-mountain vineyards

In the context of LIFE project MIDMACC (LIFE18 CCA/ES/001099), several pilots have been installed in vineyards in mid mountain areas of Catalonia (NE Spain) to test well stablished agronomic practices to increase the adaptation of Mediterranean mid mountain to climate change. Soil water content (SWC) at three different depths (15, 30 and 45cm) was measured in continuum from August 2020. One pilot (WC) included a well-established green cover (GC), a new GC (NC) and a conventional soil management (CM, tilling+herbicides). NC presented an intermediate state between WC and CM, responding similarly to CM in autumn but quickly reaching similar SWC to WC, then following the same evolution till next spring, with CM presenting lower values along autumn and winter. Then vegetation activation decreased SWC in all plots, (much slower in CM, lacking GC). Sensibility to spring rains is again intermediate for NC, which joins SWC evolution of CM by the end of spring till next autumn. It is expected that NC will resemble WC more and more as its GC develops. In the pilot combining vine training (VSP vs Gobelet) and hillside management (slope vs terrace), no clear pattern could be related with these conditions. However, both terraces seem to be more sensitive to spring rains. A third pilot included new vineyards (7 and 1 year old). In the new vineyard (N), higher canopy development, a spontaneous green cover and row straw resulted in a slower SWC dynamic, not so sensitive to rains but conserving more soil water in spring and most of summer, even with presumably a higher water extraction by vines. In the newest vineyard (VN) the deepest sensor is still sensitive to rain events all over the year and SWC is always highest at this depth, revealing small water capture by vines.

Effect of vigour and number of clusters on eonological parameters and metabolic profile of Cabernet Sauvignon red wines

Vegetative growth and yield are reported to affect grape and wine quality. They can be controlled through different techniques linked to vine management. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of vine vigour and number of clusters per vine on physicochemical composition and phenolic profile of red wines. The experiment was carried out during two vegetative cycles, with cv. Cabernet Sauvignon grafted onto Paulsen 1103. Three vine vigour were defined, according to shoot weight at previous harvests, being low, medium and high. Five treatments of number of clusters were used for each vigour, with 15, 22, 29, 36, and 45 clusters per vine. Grapes from all treatments were harvested in the same day from Brix and total acidity criteria. Thirty days after bottling, classical analyzes and phenolic compounds were performed. As results, different responses were obtained from each vintage. In 2020, a dry season from veraison to harvest, grapes and wines obtained from low vigour treatment and 45 clusters per vine was the highest in sugar and alcohol content respectively, while grapes and wines from high vigour and 15 clusters presented the lowest sugar and alcohol content. Total anthocyanins were higher in treatment with low vigour and 15 clusters, while the lowest amounts were found in low vigour with 45 clusters, as well as medium and high vigour with 36 clusters per vine. Total tannins were higher in high vigour with 22 clusters and medium vigour with 29 clusters, while were lower in low vigour with 36 clusters. In 2021, a wet season at harvest, responses were different, and great variations were observed between treatments. As conclusions, yield and vine vigour had strong influence on grape and wine quality, promoting different enological potentials on which can be indicated/used for aging strategies of red and even rosé wines.

Comparison of imputation methods in long and varied phenological series. Application to the Conegliano dataset, including observations from 1964 over 400 grape varieties

A large varietal collection including over 1700 varieties was maintained in Conegliano, ITA, since the 1950s. Phenological data on a subset of 400 grape varieties including wine grapes, table grapes, and raisins were acquired at bud break, flowering, veraison, and ripening since 1964. Despite the efforts in maintaining and acquiring data over such an extensive collection, the data set has varying degrees of missing cases depending on the variety and the year. This is ubiquitous in phenology datasets with significant size and length. In this work, we evaluated four state-of-the-art methods to estimate missing values in this phenological series: k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN), Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (mice), MissForest, and Bidirectional Recurrent Imputation for Time Series (BRITS). For each phenological stage, we evaluated the performance of the methods in two ways. 1) On the full dataset, we randomly hold-out 10% of the true values for use as a test set and repeated the process 1000 times (Monte Carlo cross-validation). 2) On a reduced and almost complete subset of varieties, we varied the percentage of missing values from 10% to 70% by random deletion. In all cases, we evaluated the performance on the original values using normalized root mean squared error. For the full dataset we also obtained performance statistics by variety and by year. MissForest provided average errors of 17% (3 days) at budbreak, 14% (4 days) at flowering, 14.5% (7 days) at veraison, and 17% (3 days) at maturity. We completed the imputations of the Conegliano dataset, one of the world’s most extensive and varied phenological time series and a steppingstone for future climate change studies in grapes. The dataset is now ready for further analysis, and a rigorous evaluation of imputation errors is included.

A predictive model of spatial Eca variability in the vineyard to support the monitoring of plant status

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...