terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 ANALYZING THE ROLE OF ELEMENTAL SULFUR IN GRAPE JUICE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLYFUNCTIONAL MERCAPTANS IN SAUVIGNON BLANC WINES

ANALYZING THE ROLE OF ELEMENTAL SULFUR IN GRAPE JUICE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLYFUNCTIONAL MERCAPTANS IN SAUVIGNON BLANC WINES

Abstract

Sauvignon blanc is characterized by distinctive aromas, both fruity and herbaceous. The “green” cha- racter has been attributed to the methoxypyrazines, while the “fruity” character is associated with polyfunctional mercaptans . Polyfunctional mercaptans are of great significance due to their high impact on wines and associated low perception thresholds.

Elemental sulfur (S⁰) is widely used to protect grapevines from powdery mildew. Machine harvesting can enhance the formation of C6-compounds from grape lipids, leading to desirable polyfunctional mer- captan formation in wines.

A missing piece of information in most past studies on the formation of polyfunctional thiols has been the concentration of elemental sulfur in grapes. In this research, we aimed first to develop an easy and applicable method for a winery setting to analyse elemental sulfur concentration in grape juice samples. With this method in place, trials were then established to examine the link between elemental sulfur in the juice and 3MH/3MHA formation in wines. The trials were undertaken during three consecutive harvests in New Zealand in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The study developed a sulfide sensor to measure elemental sulfur levels in grape juice samples and in- vestigated the correlation between S⁰ and polyfunctional mercaptan concentration in resulting wines. We reduced S⁰ to sulfide using dithiothreitol in acidic conditions and used an ion-selective electrode to measure sulfide concentrations. GC-MS was used to compare thiol concentration in wine with juice S⁰ levels from 2020 and 2021 samples. The investigation was expanded in 2022 by manually applying S⁰ to grapes at various intervals prior to harvesting and analyzing the relationship between residual S⁰ levels in juice and polyfunctional mercaptans in resulting wines.

The study established a dependable method based on ion-selective analysis and produced accurate ca- libration curves. The reduction process was found to be effective and the apparatus performed well with both standard and juice samples. Additionally, the results from the 2020 and 2021 trials revealed a cor- relation between increased juice elemental sulfur and a higher formation of 3MH/3MHA, supporting the theory that S⁰ contributes to the formation of 3MH in wine. This correlation was further confirmed in the 2022 trial, which saw a substantial increase in 3MH/3MHA in wines resulting from the manual application of S⁰ to the grapes through late spraying in the field.

 

1. Lund, C. M.; Thompson, M. K.; Benkwitz, F.; Wohler, M. W.; Triggs, C. M.; Gardner, R.; Heymann, H.; Nicolau, L. American Jour-nal of Enology and Viticulture 2009, 60, 1.
2. Harsch, M. J.; Benkwitz, F.; Frost, A.; Colonna-Ceccaldi, B.; Gardner, R. C.; Salmon, J.-M. Journal of agricultural and food che-mistry 2013, 61, 3703-3713.
3. Kwasniewski, M.T.; Sacks, G.L.; Wilcox, W.F. J. Enol. Vitic. 2014, 65, 453-462.
4. Lyu, X.; Dias Araujo, L.; Quek, S.-Y.; Kilmartin, P. A. Food Chemistry 2021, 346, 128914.
5. Araujo, L. D.; Vannevel, S.; Buica, A.; Callerot, S.; Fedrizzi, B.; Kilmartin, P. A.; du Toit, W. J. Food Research International 2017, 98, 79-86.

DOI:

Publication date: February 9, 2024

Issue: OENO Macrowine 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Bahareh Sarmadi¹, Paul A. Kilmartin¹, Leandro D. Araújo ², Brandt P. Bastow¹

1. School of Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
2. Department of Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand 

Contact the author*

Keywords

Sauvignon blanc, polyfunctional mercaptans, elemental sulfur, varietal thiols

Tags

IVES Conference Series | oeno macrowine 2023 | oeno-macrowine

Citation

Related articles…

OPTIMIZATION, VALIDATION AND APPLICATION OF THE EPR SPIN-TRAPPING TECHNIQUE TO THE DETECTION OF FREE RADICALS IN CHARDONNAY WINES

The aging potential of Burgundy chardonnay wines is considered as quality indicator. However, some of them exhibit higher oxidative sensitivity and premature oxidative aging symptoms, which are potentially induced by no-enzymatic oxidation such as Fenton-type reaction (Danilewicz, 2003). This chemical mechanism involves the action of transition metal, native phenolic compounds and oxygen which promote the generation of highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radicals (OH) or 1-hydroxyethyl radicals (1-HER) from oxidation of ethanol. Such mechanism is involved in the radical oxidation occurring during bottle aging. According to Elias et al.,(2009a), the 1-HER is the most abundant radical in forced oxidation treated wines. Consequently, understanding its evolution kinetic in dry white wines is of great importance.

LARGE SURVEY OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WINES RESULTING OF THE PRESSING OF RED WINE MARC. FIRST RESULTS

In the Bordeaux vineyards, press red wine represents about 15% of the volume of wines. Valuing this large volume of press wine is necessary from an economic point of view, of course, but also because of their organoleptic contribution to the blend. Nevertheless, there is a lack of recent knowledge on the composition of press wines. This work aims to establish an initial assessment of their composition (aromatic and polyphenolic) and to set up hypothesis on to the links with their sensorial identity.

CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF A POLYPHENOLIC EXTRACT OBTAINED BY GREEN SUPERCRITICAL CO₂ EXTRACTION FROM RED GRAPE POMACE

Upgrading wine industry solid wastes is considered as one of the main strategies to support the circular economy. Red grape pomaces constitute a rich source of polyphenols, which have been shown to possess antioxidant properties and to provide benefits for human and animal health. The objective of this work was to obtain and characterise polyphenolic extracts from red grape pomaces via green supercritical CO₂ extraction using ethanol as a co-solvent, and to evaluate their antibacterial activity against susceptible and multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli strains of animal intestinal origin.

INFLUENCE OF CHITOSAN, ABSCISIC ACID AND BENZOTHIADIAZOLE TREATMENTS ON SAVVATIANO (VITIS VINIFERA L.) WINES VOLATILE COMPOSITION PROFILE

In the last decades the use of bioestimulants in viticulture have been promoted as alternative to conven- tional pesticides. Moreover, as bioestimulants promote the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in grape berries, several studies had investigated their influence on the accumulation of phenolic com- pounds (Monteiro et al., 2022). However, few studies, so far, are focused on the accumulation of the vo- latile compounds and their impact on the produced wines (Giménez-Bañón et al., 2022; Gomez- Plaza et al., 2012; Ruiz Garcia et al., 2014).
This study was conducted in a single vineyard of white autochthonous grapevine variety Savvatia- no (Vitis vinifera L.) in Muses Valley (Askri, Viotia, Greece). Chitosan (CHT), Abscisic Acid (ABA) and Benzothiadiazole (BTH) were applied.

VOLATILE COMPOSITION OF WINES USING A GC/TOFMS: HS-SPME VS MICRO LLE AS SAMPLE PREPARATION METHODOLOGY

Wine aroma analysis can be done by sensorial or instrumental analysis, the latter involving several me-thodologies based on olfactometric detection, electronic noses or gas chromatography. Gas Chromatography has been widely used for the study of the volatile composition of wines and depending on the detection system coupled to the chromatographic system, quantification and identification of individual compounds can be achieved.