Electrochemical diversity of italian white wines

Abstract

Analysis of phenolic compounds typically involve spectrophotometric methods as well as liquid chromatography combined with DAD, fluorimetric, or MS detection. However, the complexity of wine phenolic composition generated, in recent years, attention towards other analytical approaches, including those allowing rapid and inexpensive operations. Voltametric AIM Oxidation of white wine phenolics occurs at different stages during winemaking and storage and can have important implications for wine sensory quality. Phenolic compounds, in particular those with a ortho-diphenol moiety, are main target of oxidation in wine. Strategies for the methods are particularly suited for the analysis of oxidizable compounds such as phenolics. The redox-active species can be oxidized and reduced at the electrode, therefore, applications of electrochemistry have been developed both to quantify such species, and to probe wine maturation processes.3 The project on the diversity of Italian wines aims at collecting and analysing large-scale compositional dataset related to Italian white wines.

METHODS: The electrochemical properties of wine phenolics, and relative reducing strengths, have been examined using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). Methods based upon disposable electrodes have been used, including carbon paste electrodes with undiluted wines.4 Cyclic voltammograms of more than 50 Italian white wines belonging to different appellations were collected and their features were analysed in conjunction with other parameters such as total phenolics, free and total SO2, acetaldehyde, and ascorbic acid. The wines were collected in the framework of the activities of the D-Wines (Diversity of Italian wines) project.

RESULTS: The results obtained indicated a great diversity of voltametric responses, although the ability to identify electrochemical features that were typical of wine types was rather limited with raw data. To obtain a higher number of discriminant features, derivative voltammograms were built and studied by multivariate statistical analysis. The region of the voltammograms comprised between 0-700 mV was found to contain several highly discriminating features across the entire dataset. Some of key features were identified and wines were classified accordingly.

CONCLUSIONS:

It is expected that these results will help developing rapid novel tools for phenolics analysis in the wine industry, where results from chemistry methods, or chromatographic procedures, take some time to obtain. Further research using electrochemical tools to probe ageing processes also has considerable prospects for shedding light on how to enhance quality characteristics in wine.

DOI:

Publication date: September 15, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Diletta, Invincibile 

University of Verona,Davide, SLAGHENAUFI, University of Verona Giovanni, Luzzini, University of Verona Marangon, Matteo, University of Padua Mattivi, Fulvio, University of Trento Moio, Luigi, University of Naples ‘Federico II’ Versari, Andrea, University of Bologna Rio Segade, Susana, University of Turin Maurizio, UGLIANO, University of Verona

Contact the author

Keywords

white wine, carbon paste electrodes, phenolic compounds, cyclic voltammetry

Citation

Related articles…

Characterization of different clone candidates of xinomavro according to their phenolic composition

Context and purpose of the study ‐ The aim of this study is the examination of wines of 9 different clones of a Greek grape variety Xinomavro, (ΧE1, X19, X22, X28, ΧE2 X30, X31, X35, X36, X37), with regards to their phenolic and anthocyanin content and chemical composition.

Wine labelling with the list of ingredients: context, consumer’s perception and future challenges

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2024, Stéphane La Guerche (Œnoppia, Paris, France) speaks about wine labelling with the list of ingredients: context, consumer’s perception and future challenges. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on IVES Technical Reviews.

The international Internet site of the geoviticulture MCC system

The “Geoviticulture Multicriteria Climatic Classification (MCC) System” was developed to characterize the climate of the wine producing regions of the world.

Teran grape quality influenced by different irrigation treatments

Teran is an important native variety grown in Istria known for its high level of polyphenols and intensive fruity character of wines. Teran’s yield and wine typicity have recently decreased due to climate changes (increased temperature and severe drought). Four drip irrigation treatments (25%, 50%, 75%, 100% of total evapotranspiration) and control were investigated for the influence on Teran yield and quality, where focus was given to the content and composition of main polyphenolic and volatile compounds in grapes. Irrigation positively influenced yield since the berry weight also increased with increased irrigation. This resulted in the highest yield for 100% ETc. The highest concentration of polyphenols had control, while the irrigation treatments did not differ significantly. However, there was a tendency to decrease concentration with increased irrigation probably due to the increased berry size, which led to a dilution effect. Regarding the volatile compounds, the most abundant group was alcohols, followed by acids.

Evidence for terroir effect associated with botrytisation relatively to compounds implicated in typical aromas of noble rot sweet wines

Recent studies have demonstrated the role of certain lactones, particularly 2-nonen-4-olide, and volatile thiols (3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol) in the over ripped aromas of noble rot sweet wines (Stamatopoulos et al. 2014ab). These compounds are partly formed during the maturation and under the activity of B. cinerea on grapes. This research was carried out in the vineyard of Sauternes with aim to better understand their genesis depending on the grape over-ripening on two different soil types during 3 vintages. Thus, the study was conducted, with the Sémillon grape, during vintages 2012, 2014 & 2015, at 4 stages of over-maturation of the grapes (healthy, pourri plein, pourri roti, pourri roti + 15 days) considering two vineyard plots with different soil characteristics (calcosol & peyrosol) planted with the 315 Sémillon clone and grafted on 101-14 rootstock respectively in 1981 and 1980 and cultivated with the same vineyard management. Volatile lactones were assayed by liquid-liquid extraction followed by GC/MS analysis and the precursors of 3-sulfanylhexanol by an adaptation of the method by Capone et al. 2010 (SPE-
UPLC/FTMS).