A review of the state of the art, limitations, and perspectives of infrared spectroscopy for the analysis of wine grapes, must, and grapevine tissue

Abstract

As a fast and easy-to-operate technique, infrared (IR) spectroscopy has gained wide industrial acceptance for routine wine analysis. Considering the continuing improvements in hardware and software design and the analytical requirements of real-time or multiparametric analysis by the modern grape and wine industry, it is anticipated that in the near future IR spectroscopy will progressively become a routine method for process monitoring and process control in different stages of grape and wine production. This review highlights recent developments and applications of IR spectroscopy (near- and mid-infrared) to measure compositional parameters in wine grapes, grape juice, and grapevine tissues (e.g., leaves, stems, grapevine wood). In addition, some critical aspects and limitations in instrument availability, type of application, and overall understanding of the technology, which can be barriers for adoption of IR technologies by the grape and wine industry, will be discussed.