Which potential for Near Infrared Spectroscopy to characterize rootstock effects on grapevines?

Polyphenols are common in human diets, primarily in plant-derived food and beverages. They influence multiple sensory properties such as aroma, flavour, colour, and taste, such as astringency and bitterness [1]. The major phenolic compounds in grapes and wines are anthocyanins and tannins (proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins).

In addition to aroma compounds also protein composition strongly influences the quality of wines. Proteins of wine derive mainly from the plant Vitis vinifera and may be influenced by abiotic stress as well as fermentation conditions or fining. Additionally, fungal infections can affect the protein content as well by introducing fungal proteins or affecting grape protein composition. An infection of the vine with the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis (B.) cinerea was shown to cause a degradation of proteins in the resulting wine. Moreover, it influences the foaming properties in sparkling wine.

One on three cases of cancer is associated with lifestyle and nutritional patterns, and the excessive intake of alcoholic beverages is a well established risk factor. Moderate drinking has been associated with reduced or increased risk of various types of cancer, but the clinical relevance of the risk rates has not been evaluated in ad hoc prospective investigations.

The Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization–Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technology is commonly used in food and medical sector to identify yeast or bacteria species isolated from a nutritive culture media. Since a decade, brewery and oenology industries have been attracted to this method which combines fast analysis times, reliability and low cost of analysis. Briefly, this method is based on the comparison of the MALDI-TOF/MS protein spectra of an isolated colony of yeast or bacteria with those contain in a manufacturer’s reference protein spectra database. Initiated in 2015, the creation of the first oenological mass spectra database has proved to be essential for increase quality of species identification.

Nowadays, it is well known that oxygen significantly impacts wine quality. The amount of oxygen wine consumes during the winemaking process depends on several factors, such as storage conditions, the number of rackings, the materials used for aging, and the type of closure chosen for bottling.