Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Influence of deficit irrigation on grapevine cv. “Touriga Nacional” in Douro region: A metabolomic approach

Influence of deficit irrigation on grapevine cv. “Touriga Nacional” in Douro region: A metabolomic approach

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate whether irrigation of Touriga Nacional in Douro Demarcated Region (DDR) can partly mitigate the negative impacts of ongoing climate change on grapevine yield and quality and its impact on plant metabolism.

Methods and results: Water status was determined by performing pre-dawn leaf water potential (ΨPd) using a pressure chamber throughout the growing season. Although from the end of July till the end of August of 2018 both R30 and R70 significantly prevented a decay of ΨPd under extreme drought conditions, R30 promoted only a relatively small increase of yield at harvest, but this increase was not observed at R70. In 2019, drought conditions were not so harsh than in 2018 and differences in cluster weights were not observed among irrigation treatments at harvest. A UPLC-MS-based targeted metabolomic analysis from the vintage 2018 identified 44 compounds in grapes from non-irrigated (R0), irrigated at 30% of evapotranspiration (ETc; R30) and 70% ETc (R70), corresponding to eight classes: amino acids; phenolic acids; stilbenoid DP1; stilbenoid DP2; flavonols; flavan-3-ols; di-OH anthocyanins and tri-OH anthocyanins. PCA analysis showed that irrigation influenced the composition of the different classes of grape berry compounds e.g. amino acids, phenolic acids, stilbenoids, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, and anthocyanins.

Conclusions:

In the two consecutive seasons of 2018 and 2019 in DDR irrigation at R30 and R70 failed to bring Touriga Nacional vines to hydric comfort at veraison, when drought stress was more pronounced, and did not substantially affect yield and berry quality traits at harvest. However, UPLC-MS-base metabolomics analyses highlighted that berry metabolism was tuned under different irrigation regimes, but more water did not traduce in higher contents of key metabolites like anthocyanins

Significance and Impact of the Study: Douro Demarcated Region (DDR) has a Mediterranean climate with low rainfall values during summer, high temperatures and high levels of radiation. The introduction of irrigation in this region is still a matter of debate due to the limited number of available studies.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: March 25, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type : Video

Authors

Inês Cabral1*, António  Teixeira2, Arnaud  Lanoue3, Marianne  Unlubayir3, Thibaut  Munsch3, Joana  Valente4, Fernando  Alves4, Pedro  Costa4, Frank  Rogerson4, Susana  Carvalho1, Hernâni  Gerós2,5,6, Anabela  Carneiro1, Jorge  Queiroz1

1GreenUPorto – Research Centre for Sustainable Agrifood Production & DGAOT, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal
2Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Gualtar, Portugal
3Université de Tours, EA2106 Biomolécules et Biotechnologie Végétales, Tours, France
4Symington Family Estates, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
5Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
6Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), Department of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Gualtar, Portugal

Contact the author

Keywords

Deficit irrigation, metabolomics, leaf water potential, grape quality

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

Membrane contactor: a sustainable technology to remove dissolved oxygen from wine and preserve wine aroma

Oxygen management in wine is one of the most significant challenging issues for winemakers.

Read More

Come proteggere un territorio viticolo: il punto di vista del giurista

La valanga di fango che si è abbattuta nel Salemitano e nell’Avellinese, provocando decine di vittime, è stata causata in larga misura dalle insufficienti opere idrauliche e dalla manca­ta manutenzione di antiquati canali idrici.

Read More

Identification of aroma markers in amarone wines

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.

Read More

Morphological image analysis for determining bunch grape characteristics: A case study on bunch weight in Cabernet-Sauvignon

Morphological image analysis is a powerful technique used in various fields, including agriculture, to quantitatively assess the physical characteristics of objects. In viticulture, the accurate assessment of grapevine characteristics is essential for optimizing crop management and improving the quality of wine production.

Read More

Comparison of the effects of hormone- and natural-based elicitors on key metabolic pathways in cv. Tempranillo

One of the most important effects of climate change in wine-growing areas is the advance of phenological stages, especially concerning early berry ripening. In the hottest seasons, this results in a lack of synchrony between sugar and phenolic ripeness. In order to cope with this fact, a general effort is being made by researchers and growers aiming at delaying ripening through different strategies. One of the proposed approaches is the application of elicitors. This study aims to assess the effect at the transcriptomic level of application of three elicitors (Vitalfit, Fruitel, and Protone) in Tempranillo.

Read More