Metabolomics of Vitis davidii Foëx. grapes from southern China: Flavonoids and volatiles reveal the flavor profiles of five spine grape varieties

Plant water stress affects grape (Vitis vinifera L.) berry composition and is variable in space due to variations in the physical environment at the growing site. Could we use water status maps as a sensitive tool to discriminate between harvest zones?

Grapevine is a plant that holds significant socioeconomic importance due to its production of grapes for fresh consumption, wines, and juices. However, climate changes and susceptibility to diseases pose a threat to the quality and yield of these products. The breeding of new genotypes that are resistant/tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses is essential to overcome the impact of climate changes. In this regard, Marker-assisted selection (MAS), which uses DNA markers, is a crucial tool in breeding programs. The efficiency and economy of this method depend on finding rapid DNA isolation methods.

The past three decades of terrestrial remote sensing research have delivered unprecedented insights into our fundamental ability to detect, quantify, and differentiate plant disease (Gold 2021). However, much of our fundamental knowledge in this domain has come from studies in non-agricultural systems and until recently, most agricultural studies, when extant, have focused on tree crops where canopy closure and large plot and plant size facilitate stress detection at low spatial resolution. Recent engineering innovations and advancements in constellation architecture design have refined the accuracy and scalability of airborne and spaceborne sensing platforms, enabling us to monitor diverse specialty crops, including grapevine, planted in smaller, spatially varied fields.

Climate change critically challenges viticulture. Among other threats, extreme and increasingly frequent heatwaves cause irreversible burns on leaves and bunches. A series of observations and experiments was conducted to better understand how leaf burns originate and whether genetics or management practices can mitigate them. In 2019, a panel of 279 potted cultivars of Vitis vinifera L. grown outdoors suffered a heat peak and a genetic origin of leaf burn variability was demonstrated. To deeper explore this variability, fourteen cultivars were selected for their contrasting responses to high temperatures, and detached leaves were submitted to a controlled increase in temperature up to 50 °C in a growth chamber.

Polyphenolic compounds are considered to have a major impact on the quality of red wines. Sensory impact, such as astringency and bitterness, stems directly from tannin composition. Thenceforth, quick analytical measurement of phenolic compounds appears to be a real challenge for winemaking monitoring and process control. Many methods were developed to analyzed polyphenols in wine, but they are time-consuming and require chemistry skills and equipment, not suitable for a rapid routine analysis. A reliable and rapid method to obtain this kind of measurement is Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.