Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 An excessive leaf-fruit ratio reduces the yeast assimilable nitrogen in the must

An excessive leaf-fruit ratio reduces the yeast assimilable nitrogen in the must

Abstract

Yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) in the grape must is a key variable for wine quality as a source of aroma precursors. In a situation of YAN deficiency, a foliar urea application upon the vine at veraison enhances YAN concentration and facilitates must fermentation. In 2013, Agroscope investigated the impact of leaf-fruit ratio on the nitrogen (N) assimilation and partitioning in grapevine Vitis vinifera cv. Chasselas following foliar-urea application with the aim of improving its efficiency on the YAN concentration. Two factors, canopy height with two levels (90 and 140 cm), and crop load with two levels (§§5 and 10 clusters per vine), were combined in a split plot trial (5 vines per treatment). All treatments received 20 kg/ha of 15N-labelled foliar urea (10 atom% 15N) at veraison. An extra 5-vine control treatment (150-cm canopy and 5 bunches per vine) received no foliar urea. As a result, the leaf-fruit ratio had a strong impact on the grape maturity at harvest and on the labelled-N partitioning after urea application. The YAN varied from 143 ± 17 mg/L when the leaf-fruit ratio was 1.6 m2/kg (light-exposed leaf area / fruit quantity), up to 230 ± 25 mg/L when the leaf-fruit ratio was 0.4 m2/kg. The grapes were the strongest sink of all the vine organs, with more than 20 % of their total organic N originating from the urea treatment. Whereas a too small leaf-fruit ratio affected the grape maturity and the accumulation of labelled N in the reserve organs, a large canopy induced a diminution of the total N concentration (% dry weight) in all organs comparable to a “dilution” in the plant. Thus a balanced leaf-fruit ratio – between 1 and 1.5 m2/kg – should be maintained in order to guarantee the grape maturity, the accumulation of YAN in the must and the storage of N in the reserve organs. This study fosters further research at the isotopic molecular level to unravel other mechanisms controlling the source-sink relationship and the specific N partitioning between grapevine organs.

Publication date: April 4, 2024

Issue: Macrowine 2016

Type: Poster

Authors

Thibaut Verdenal* 

*Agroscope

Contact the author

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Macrowine | Macrowine 2016

Citation

Related articles…

Accumulation of polyphenols in Barbera and Nebbiolo leaves during the vegetative season

Grapevine berries produce thousands of secondary metabolites of diverse chemical nature that have been largely detailed in the past due to their importance for defining wine quality. The wide Vitis vinifera diversity, resulting in thousands of different varieties well detailed in many studies regarding berries, is still not investigated in vegetative organs, leaves in particular. Deepening knowledge related to this aspect could be of great interest for many reasons (for example the possibility of using leaf extract for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutrition purposes) but, above all, for understanding the susceptibility of different grapevine varieties to pathogens.

The influence of soil management practices on functional traits and biodiversity of weed communities in Swiss vineyards

Green cover in vine rows provides many ecological services, but can also negatively impact the crop, depending on the weed species. The composition of a vineyard weed community is influenced by many parameters. Ensuring an evolution of the vine row flora into a desired direction is therefore very complex. A key step towards this goal is to know which factors influence the establishment of the weed community and which types of communities are best suited for vineyards. In this study, we analysed the weed communities of several vineyards in the Lake Geneva region (379 botanical surveys on 117 plots), with the aim to highlight the links between soil management practices (chemical and mechanical weeding, mowing, mulching roll) and phytosociological profiles, biodiversity and selected functional traits (growth forms, life strategies, root depth). T

Update knowledge about the presence of condensed tannins in grapes and their contributions to astringency perception

Condensed tannin is a principle group of polyphenol compounds derived from grape, greatly contributing to the bioactivity and the sensory perception of wine. Condensed tannins present as a heterogeneous mixture in nature involving various degrees of both polymerization and galloylation. Even though multiple attempts focusing on fractionation of grape condensed tannins by solid-phase have been conducted over the past decades, few individual tannins have been purified and identified. Hence, our knowledge on grape and wine condensed tannin moleculars has to be limited at the several known monomeric, dimeric and trimeric proanthocyanidins

The effect of cropload on the volatile aroma characteristics of ‘Beihong’ and ‘Beimei’ red wine

Beihong and Beimei were bred as winemaking cultivars released by Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008. The cultivars are selected from the population of ‘Muscat Hamburg’ (Vitis vinifera) ×V. amurensis. They are extended to most provinces in North of China because they have strong resistance to cold and disease and need not be buried in soil in winter. To better understand the effect of cropload on volatile compounds during wine-making, we surveyed volatiles composition and content of different cropload level in 3-years-old ‘Beihong’ and ‘Beimei’ vines which planted in east foot of Helan mountain of Ningxia (EHN).

The commercial yeast strain as a significant source of variance for tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol in white wine

Tyrosol (TYR) and hydroxytyrosol (HYT) are bioactive phenols present in olive oil and wine, basic elements of the Mediterranean diet. TYR is reported in the literature for its interesting antioxidant, cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory properties. In wine, its concentration can reach values as high as about 40 mg/L
[Pour Nikfardjam et al. 2007] but, more frequently, this phenol – derived from yeast metabolism of tyrosine during fermentation – is present at lower levels, generally higher in red wines compared to whites. HYT was measured for the first time by Di Tommaso et al. [1998] in Italian wines – with maximum values of 4.20 mg/L and 1.92 mg/L for red and white wines, respectively – while definitely lower concentrations have been found later in Greek samples.