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IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 THE EFFECT OF COPPER ON THE PRODUCTION OF VARIETAL THIOLS DURING THE ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION OF COLOMBARD AND GROS MANSENG GRAPE JUICES

THE EFFECT OF COPPER ON THE PRODUCTION OF VARIETAL THIOLS DURING THE ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION OF COLOMBARD AND GROS MANSENG GRAPE JUICES

Abstract

Nowadays, the rapid growth of vineyards with organic practices and the use of copper as the only fungicide against downy mildew raises again the question of the effect of copper on varietal thiols in wine, especially 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) and its acetate (3SHA). A few decades ago, several works indicated that the use of copper in the vineyard had a negative effect on the content of varietal thiols in Sauvignon blanc wines [1, 2]. However, these studies only considered the concentration of the reduced form (RSH) of varietal thiols, without quantifying the oxidised ones. For this purpose, we proposed to monitor both reduced and oxidised forms of varietal thiols in wine under copper stress during alcoholic fermentation to have a more complete picture of the biological and chemical mechanisms. In the present work, Colombard and Gros Manseng grape juices were fermented under different copper levels (from 0.2 to 3.88 mg/L) to mimic the consequences of organic practices on grape and must. The consumption of thiol precursors and the release of varietal thiols (both free and oxidised forms of 3SH and 3SHA) were monitored by LC-MS/MS according to previously published methods [3, 4]. It was found that the highest copper content (3.6 and 3.88 mg/L for Colombard and Gros Manseng, respectively) significantly increased yeast consumption of precursors (by 9.0 and 7.6% for Colombard and Gros Manseng, respectively). Surprisingly, this higher consumption of precursors was not associated to higher thiol concentrations. Indeed, for both varieties, the content of free thiols in the wine decreased significantly (by 84 and 47% for Colombard and Gros Manseng, respectively) with the increase of copper in the starting must, as already described in the literature [1, 2]. However, the sum “reduced+oxidized” forms of 3SH produced during fermentation was constant for the Colombard must regardless of the copper conditions, which means that the effect of copper was only oxidative for this variety. In Gros Manseng, on the other hand, the sum “reduced+oxidized” forms of 3SH increased with the copper content, up to 90%. This last result suggests that copper probably modifies the regulation of the production pathways of varietal thiols and has also a key role of oxidation. These results complement our knowledge on the effect of copper during thiol-oriented fermentation and the importance of considering both “reduced+oxidized” forms to distinguish chemical from biological effects.

 

1. Darriet, P., et al., Effects of copper fungicide spraying on volatile thiols of the varietal aroma of Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines. VITIS-GEILWEILERHOF-, 2001. 40(2): p. 93-100.
2. Hatzidimitriou, E., et al., Incidence d’une protection viticole anticryptogamique utilisant une formulation cuprique sur le niveau de maturité des raisins et l’arôme variétal des vins de Sauvignon:(Bilan de trois années d’expérimentation). Journal International des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin, 1996. 30(3): p. 133-150.
3. Roland, A., et al., Innovative analysis of 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol, 3-mercaptohexylacetate and their corresponding disulfides in wine by Stable Isotope Dilution Assay and nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A, 2016. 1468: p. 154-163.
4. Bonnaffoux, H., et al., First identification and quantification of S-3-(hexan-1-ol)-γ-glutamyl-cysteine in grape must as a potential thiol precursor, using UPLC-MS/MS analysis and stable isotope dilution assay. Food Chemistry, 2017. 237: p. 877-886

DOI:

Publication date: February 9, 2024

Issue: OENO Macrowine 2023

Type: Poster

Authors

G. Dournes1, T. Dufourcq², L. Suc1, J.-R. Mouret1 and A. Roland1*

1. SPO, Université de Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France
2. Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin, Pôle Sud-Ouest, Caussens, France

Contact the author*

Keywords

3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, copper, alcoholic fermentation, yeast

Tags

IVES Conference Series | oeno macrowine 2023 | oeno-macrowine

Citation

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