 IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Macrowine 9 Macrowine 2021 9 Grapevine diversity and viticultural practices for sustainable grape growing 9 Effect of soil particle size on vine water status, leaf abscisic acid content and berry quality in nebbiolo grapes

Effect of soil particle size on vine water status, leaf abscisic acid content and berry quality in nebbiolo grapes

Abstract

AIM: We investigated the effect of soil texture on grapevine response to water stress, leaf abscisic acid concentration and berry quality, in two adjacent vineyards located in the renewed Cannubi hill of Barolo (Langhe area, CN, North-West Italy).

METHODS: The distance as the crow flies between the two Nebbiolo vineyards was about 250 m; cultural practices, rain, rootstocks (V. berlandieri x V. riparia), vine age were similar. The main difference between the two vineyards was the soil texture, one vineyard displaying a silty-loam soil where small dimension particles (69.4 %, clay + loam) were prevalent, with clay accounting for 18.3 % (high clay, HC), the other displaying a loam-soil, where small dimension particles were 48.2 % with clay at 14.4 % (low clay, LC). Photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance (gs) were assessed at three time points during the season by ADC Lc pro+ Photosynthesis System (Huddestone, UK) on 10 fully expanded mature leaf per plot. A Scholander pressure bomb was used for the Ψstem determination on 8 leaves. The free-ABA concentration was quantified in 3 mature and healthy leaves per plot (HPLC-DAD). On berries, we measured total soluble solids, anthocyanin concentration and profiles (HPLC-DAD), total flavonoids (Di Stefano and Cravero, 1991; Corona et al., 2015) and total proanthocyanidins, spectrophotometrically (Harbertson et al., 2015). The berry volatiles were assessed by SBSE-GC/MS (Ferrandino et al., 2012).

RESULTS: The two vineyard soils showed different rates of drying speed, higher in LC respect to HC. Nebbiolo vines grown in HC soil tended to reduce the Nebbiolo cultivar anhisohydric behaviour, closing stomata at lower values of stomatal conductance, in line with the higher leaf ABA concentration respect to LC, after moderate water stress conditions (Ferrandino and Lovisolo, 2014; Tramontini et al., 2014). At the berry level, this resulted in a significantly higher anthocyanin concentration since 15 days after véraison and in a higher percentage incidence of acylated anthocyanins. No major differences were found in total flavonoid and in total proanthocyanidin concentrations. However, as to these two last classes of compounds, further studies would be necessary as the spectrophotometric method used could have been not enough sensitive to allow the appreciation of differences. At harvest the concentration of non-C6 free-volatiles, particularly terpenes, was significantly higher in the grapes of the HC vineyard.

CONCLUSIONS:

Soil particle size significantly influenced grapevine physiological performances and, consequently, berry quality. At a zonal scale, it is well known that soils with more clay, as the silty-loam HC vineyard, produce grapes giving high-structured wines, whereas sands (or the reduction of clay, such as the LC vineyard) produce less complex wines.

DOI:

Publication date: September 2, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Alessandra Ferrandino, Antonio CARLOMAGNO, Giorgio IVALDI, Marco VITALI, Olga KEDRINA, Davide PATONO, Vittorino NOVELLO, Claudio LOVISOLO

University of Turin, Agriproject Group srl, Rutigliano (BA), formerly DISAFA, University of Turin, formerly DISAFA, University of Turin, DISAFA

Contact the author

Keywords

Soil texture, stomatal conductance, anthocyanins, volatiles

Citation

Pharmacological basis of the J-shaped curve in biological effects of wine

The classical pharmacological model assumes that the effect of a drug is proportional to the fraction of receptors occupied by the drug. In the simplest circumstances, the relationship between dose of a drug and response, when plotted on a logarithmic scale for drug concentration, is described by a sigmoidal curve. It presumes the existence of a threshold dose, below which no biological effect appears, and a maximal response in the form of a plateau, when a further increase in the dose of drug has no effect.

Coping with extreme climatic events: some lessons from recent work on grapevine under heat peak

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.

Modeling island and coastal vineyards potential in the context of climate change

Climate change impacts regional and local climates, which in turn affects the world’s wine regions. In the short term, these modifications rises issues about maintaining quality and style of wine, and in a longer term about the suitability of grape varieties and the sustainability of traditional wine regions. Thus, adaptation to climate change represents a major challenge for viticulture. In this context, island and coastal vineyards could become coveted areas due to their specific climatic conditions. In regions subject to warming, the proximity of the sea can moderate extremes temperatures, which could be an advantage for wine. However, coastal and island areas are particular prized spaces and subject to multiple pressures that make the establishment or extension of viticulture complex.
In this perspective, it seems relevant to assess the potentialities of coastal and island areas for viticulture. This contribution will present a spatial optimization model that tends to characterize most suitable agroclimatic patterns in historical or emerging vineyards according to different scenarios. Thanks to an in-depth bibliography a global inventory of coastal and insular vineyards on a worldwide scale has been realized. Relevant criteria have been identified to describe the specificities of these vineyards. They are used as input data in the optimization process, which will optimize some objectives and spatial aspects. According to a predefined scenario, the objectives are set in three main categories associated with climatic characteristics, vineyards characteristics and management strategies. At the end of this optimization process, a series of maps presents the different spatial configurations that maximize the scenario objectives.

Plant nitrogen assimilation and partitioning as a function of crop load

Aims: The optimization of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE, i.e. uptake, assimilation and partitioning) is a solution towards the sustainable production of premium wines, while reducing fertilization and environmental impact. The influence of crop load on the accumulation of N compounds in fruits is still poorly understood. The present study assesses the impacts of bunch thinning on NUE and the consequences on the free amino N (FAN) profile in fruits.

Research on the origin and the side effects of chitosan stabilizing properties in wine

Fungal chitosan is a polysaccharide made up of glucosamine and N-acetyl-glucosamine and derived from chitin-glucan of Aspergillus niger or Agaricus bisporus. Fungal chitosan has been authorized as an antiseptic agent in wine since 2009 (OIV) and in organic wine in 2018. At the maximum dose of 10g/hl, it was shown to eliminate Brettanomyces bruxellensis, the main spoilage agent in red wines. Fungal chitosan is highly renewable, biocompatible (ADI equivalent to sucrose) and non-allergenic. However, winemakers often prefer to use sulfites (SO2), though sulfites are classified as priority food allergens, than chitosan. Indeed, many conflicting reports exist regarding its efficiency and its side effects towards beneficial wine microorganisms or wine taste. These contradictions could be explained by the heterogeneity of the fungal chitosan lots traded, the diversity of the wines (chemical composition, winemaking process), but also, by the recently highlighted huge genetic diversity prevailing in wine microbial species.