OENO IVAS 2019 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 OENO IVAS 9 OENO IVAS 2019 9 Chemical and Biochemical reactions, including grape and wines microorganisms impact 9 Are dicysteinyl polysulfanes responsible for post-bottling release of hydrogen sulfide?

Are dicysteinyl polysulfanes responsible for post-bottling release of hydrogen sulfide?

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has a significant impact on wine aroma attributes and wine quality when present at concentrations above its aroma threshold of 1.1 to 1.6 μg/L. Therefore, the management of H2S concentrations in wines, whether from fermentation or “other” origins, is an important consideration for winemakers. The main techniques used for H2S removal are oxidative handling and/or copper fining; however, the effectiveness of these treatments may be temporary, as H2S can often reappear post-bottling along with other volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) when reductive conditions are re-established. Moreover, it is proposed that oxidative treatments applied in the presence of copper may produce compounds such as disulfides and diorganopolysulfanes, which might initially appear stable but are susceptible to reductive cleavage, thereby potentially acting as latent sources of H2S. 

The aim of this study was to determine whether putative polysulfanes could act as latent sources of H2S during post-bottling storage. Experiments conducted in model wine enabled identification of four dicysteinyl polysulfanes when H2S was oxidised in the presence of cysteine, copper and iron. The stability of the dicysteinyl polysulfanes formed in-situ was evaluated and conditions impacting the release of H2S from the polysulfanes were also determined, which provided some understanding of the possible mechanisms of release. 

The results of this study showed that the stability of the dicysteinyl polysulfanes decreased as sulfur chain length increased, which accorded with the relative proportions of polysulfanes initially formed. 

Notably, H2S was released over time, with the greatest decline in polysulfane relative abundance and largest release of H2S (up to 212 μg/L) being associated with the addition of commonly used reducing agents, especially sulfur dioxide, to the model wines containing the polysulfanes. Desulfurisation of cysteine could account for only minor quantities of H2S. In addition, Cysteine-S-sulfonates were tentatively identified by mass spectrometry after six months of storage, and similarly to the parent polysulfanes, their relative concentrations decreased with increasing number of linking sulfur atoms. These results shed light on the potential pathways for reformation of VSCs in bottled wine and demonstrate that dicysteinyl polysulfanes may have the potential to act as latent sources of H2S in wine post-bottling, potentially via a sulfitolysis mechanism.

DOI:

Publication date: June 11, 2020

Issue: OENO IVAS 2019

Type: Article

Authors

Marlize Bekker , David Jeffery, Gal Kreitman, John Danilewicz

The Australian Wine Research Institute PO Box 197 – Glen Osmond SA 5064 – Australia

Contact the author

Keywords

Polysulfanes, S-sulfonate, Copper, Sulfur dioxide 

Tags

IVES Conference Series | OENO IVAS 2019

Citation

Related articles…

Influence of climatic conditions on grape composition of Tempranillo in La Mancha DO (Spain)

The aim of this work was to analyze the variability in grape composition of the Tempranillo cultivar related to climatic conditions, in La Mancha Designation of Origin. Grape composition (sugar content, total acidity, pH, malic acid, and total and extractable anthocyanins) recorded during ripening, were analysed for the period 2000-2019. The weather conditions at daily time scale, recorded during the same period, were also evaluated. The relationships between grape parameters with climatic variables related to temperature and to water deficits, referring different periods between phenological events along the growing cycle, were evaluated using regression analysis. High variability in grape composition was observed in the period analysed. Total acidity varied between 3.7 and 7.3 gL-1 while malic acid varied between 1.2 and 4 gL-1. The extractable anthocyanins ranged between 526 and 972 mgL-1, and total anthocyanins ranged between 922 and 1388 mgL-1, being the lowest values recorded in the hottest year (2017). Total acidity decreased 0.77 gL-1 for an increase of 100 GDD, while malic acid decrease in 0.42 gL-1 for the same GDD increase, being the period between veraison and harvest the one that seemed to have higher influence on acidity. In addition, it was confirmed that increasing water deficits decreased acidity. Total and extractable anthocyanins increased in about 210 and 105 mgL-1, respectively, with an increase of 100 GDD from veraison to harvest, and the increase in water deficits favour the increase of anthocyanins, both total and extractable anthocyanins. Total and extractable anthocyanins concentration increased in 35 and 22 mgL-1 per an increase of 10 mm in the water deficit. These results can be of interest to understand the potential changes that grapes composition may suffer under future warmer climates.

Sustainable fertilisation of the vineyard in Galicia (Spain)

Excessive fertilization of the vineyard leads to low quality grapes, increased costs and a negative impact on the environment. In order to establish an integrated management system aimed at a sustainable fertilization of the vineyards, nutritional reference levels were established. For this purpose, 30 representative vineyards of the Albariño variety were studied, in which soil and petiole analyses were carried out for two years and grape yield and quality at harvest were measured. In both years of study, soil pH, calcium, sodium and cation exchange capacity were positively correlated with calcium content and negatively correlated with manganese in grapes. Irrigated vineyards had higher levels of aluminium in soil and lower levels of calcium in petiole. Climatic conditions were very different in the years of the study. The year 2019 was colder than usual, in 2020 there was a marked water stress with high summer temperatures. This resulted in medium-high acidity in grapes in 2019 and low acidity in 2020, with sugar levels being similar both years. A very marked decrease in must amino nitrogen was observed in 2020, with ammonia nitrogen remaining stable. The correlation of acidity and sugar values in grapes with soil and petiole analysis data made it possible to establish reference levels for the nutritional diagnosis of the Albariño variety in this region. Based on these results, an easy-to-use TIC application is currently being created for grapegrowers, aimed at improving the sustainability of the vineyard through reasoned fertilization. This study has now been extended to other Galician vine varieties.

Influence of weather and climatic conditions on the viticultural production in Croatia

The research includes an analysis of the impact of weather conditions on phenological development of the vine and grape quality, through monitoring of four experimental cultivars (Chardonnay, Graševina, Merlot and Plavac mali) over two production years. In each experimental vineyard, which were evenly distributed throughout the regions of Slavonia and The Croatian Danube, Croatian Uplands,

Using δ13C and hydroscapes as a tool for discriminating cultivar specific drought response

Measurement of carbon isotope discrimination in berry juice sugars at maturity (δ13C) provides an integrated assessment of water use efficiency (WUE) during the period of berry ripening, and when collected over multiple seasons can be used as an indication of drought stress response. Berry juice δ13C measurements were carried out on 48 different varieties planted in a common garden experiment in Bordeaux, France from 2014 through 2021 and were paired with midday and predawn leaf water potential measurements on the same vines in a subset of six varieties. The aim was to discriminate a large panel of varieties based on their stomatal behaviour and potentially identify hydraulic traits characterizing drought tolerance by comparing δ13C and hydroscapes (the visualisation of plant stomatal behaviour as a response to predawn water potential). Cluster analysis found that δ13C values are likely affected by the differing phenology of each variety, resulting in berry ripening of different varieties taking place under different stress conditions within the same year. We accounted for these phenological differences and found that cluster analysis based on specific δ13C metrics created a classification of varieties that corresponds well to our current empirical understanding of their relative drought tolerances. In addition, we analysed the water potential regulation of the subset of six varieties (using the hydroscape approach) and found that it was well correlated with some δ13C metrics. Surprisingly, a variety’s water potential regulation (specifically its minimum critical leaf water potential under water deficit) was strongly correlated to δ13C values under well-watered conditions, suggesting that base WUE may have a stronger impact on drought tolerance than WUE under water deficit. These results give strong insights on the innate WUE of a very large panel of varieties and suggest that studies of drought tolerance should include traits expressed under non-limiting conditions.

Impact of climate change on the viticultural climate of the Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (SE Spain)

Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (PDO Jumilla) is located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete and Murcia, in the South-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, where most of the models predict a severe impact of climate change in next decades. PDO Jumilla covers an area of 247,054 hectares, of which more than 22,000 hectares