Towards the definition of a detailed transcriptomic map of grape berry development

During postharvest management, the metabolism of fruits remains active and continuous physico-chemical changes occur. Ozone treatment has an elicitor effect on secondary metabolites and the treatment conditions can influence the grape response to the stress (Bellincontro et al., 2017; Botondi et al., 2015). Regarding volatile organic compounds (VOCs), previous studies showed that ozone treatment during postharvest dehydration induces the biosynthesis of terpenes in Moscato bianco grapes (Río Segade et al., 2017). It is well known that grape VOCs greatly influence the organoleptic properties of wines, particularly terpenes in aromatic varieties.

The application of irrigation in vineyard cultivation continues to be a highly debated aspect in terms of the quantity and distribution of water throughout the vegetative growth period.

Fruity notes play a key role in the consumer’s appreciation of Bordeaux red wines. If literature provides a lot of knowledge about the nature of volatile compounds involved in this fruity expression, the sensory phenomena involving these compounds in mixture still need to be explored. Considering previous sensory works about the impact of esters and some overripening compounds, the goal of this work was to study the implication of perceptual interactions involving red wine odorant compounds of diverse origins and described as potentially affecting fruity aromatic expression.

The soil plays a key role in viticulture since it defines the planting depth, development and aeration of the root system and also controls the absorption of mineral elements and water conditions of the plant

Amarone is an Italian red wine produced in the Valpolicella area, in north-eastern Italy. Due to its elaboration with withered grapes, Amarone is a rather unique example of dry red wine. However, there is very limited data so far concerning the volatile composition of commercial Amarone wines, which also undergo a cask aging of 2-4 years before release. The present work aims at characterizing the aroma composition of Amarone and to elucidate the relationships between chemical composition and sensory characters. The analysis of 17 Amarone commercial wines from the same vintage (2015) was carried out by means of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and extracted by Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) and Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME). In addition, the sampled wines were subjected to a sensory evaluation in the form of sorting task.RESULTS: 70 volatile compounds were successfully identified and quantified, 30 of which were present in concentrations above their odor thresholds in all the samples. Using the odor activity value (OAV), the compounds that potentially contribute to Amarone perceived aroma are b-damascenone, ethyl and isoamyl acetate, ethyl esters (hexanoate, octanoate, butanoate, 3-methybutanoate), 4-ethyl guaiacol, 3-methylbutanoic acid, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), eugenol, massoia lactone, 1,4-cineol, TDN, cis/trans-whisky lactone. In certain samples, high OAVs were also observed for 4-ethyl phenol and 1,8-cineole.Results from the sorting task sensory analysis showed three clusters formed.