Peptidomics in the wine industry: literature perspectives on functional importance and analytical methods

Abstract

Winemaking is a globally significant industry in the field of food technology (218 mhL of wine estimated for 2024 harvest) [1], which activity produces tons of by-products annually, including pomace (pulp, stems, seeds, skins), lees, organic acids, CO₂, and water [2]. Wine lees represent between 2% and 6% of the produced wine volume and between 14% and 25% of all winery by-products and, if utilized, could contribute to improving the economic and environmental sustainability of winemaking activities [3]. Therefore, there is a great need and interest in the management and further utilization of these by-products towards pollution reduction and the design of novel bioresources. At the same time, these by-products are mainly composed of value-added compounds, such as vitamins, complex polysaccharides, polyphenolic compounds, proteins, and peptides.

Peptides are the least known nitrogen-containing compounds of the wine industry, despite their diverse properties. Nonetheless, peptides are implicated in several important functions, ranging from defending grapevines against pathogens and shaping wine flavor, and acting as nutrients for yeasts and bacteria [4] during fermentation. Some peptides, particularly those recovered from winemaking by-products, have been linked to health-related properties like lowering blood pressure, slowing skin aging, and even antimicrobial activity against Oenococcus oeni and other wine-associated bacteria.

Peptidomics is a promising discipline that draws inspiration from proteomics and exploits separation, analytical, and computational technological advances. It involves a comprehensive, qualitative, and quantitative examination of all peptides present in a given biological sample. Peptidomics enables a comprehensive analysis of endogenous peptides, representing a relatively novel area of research distinct from its predecessor, proteomics, to progress our comprehension of signalling pathways and introduce a fresh layer of analysis in the realm of systems biology.

This work aimed to study the strategies to analyze different grape-derived and yeast-derived peptides to have a better understanding of their different functionalities.

Aknowledgements

The research project entitled «reLees» is implemented in the framework of H.F.R.I. call “Basic research Financing (Horizontal support of all Sciences)” under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (H.F.R.I. Project Number:15100).

References

[1] OIV (2024). World Wine Production Outlook. Retread from: https://www.oiv.int/sites/default/files/2024-11/OIV_2024_World_Wine_Production_Outlook.pdf.

[2] Maicas S, Mateo JJ.(2020). Sustainability of Wine Production. Sustainability. 12(2):559. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020559

[3] Moreira LPD, Corich V, Jørgensen EG, Devold TG, Nadai C, Giacomini A, Porcellato D. (2024) Potential bioactive peptides obtained after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion of wine lees from sequential fermentations. Food Res Int. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113833.

[4] Moreno-Arribas V., Pueyo, E., Polo, M.C. (1996). Peptides in Musts and Wines. Changes during the Manufacture of Cavas (Sparkling Wines). J. Agric. Food Chem., 44, 12, 3783–3788. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf960307a