The effects of a moderate grape temperature increase on berry secondary metabolites

29Citations
Citations of this article
63Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Context and purpose of the study: Like in other wine producing regions around the world, Bordeaux vineyards already experience the effects of climate change. Recent trends as well as model outputs for the future strongly support an increase of average and extreme temperatures. For the maturation period, this increase will by far exceed mean atmospheric temperature increase, as the ripening period will occur earlier in hotter climatic conditions. Therefore, a detrimental secondary metabolism response is expected in grape berries, and of particular concern are the impacts on phenolics and aromas and aroma precursors. The effects of high temperatures on secondary metabolism control have been partly characterized for phenolics, however mostly in artificial growing conditions, while little is known with respect to aromas. A better understanding of how high temperatures influence grape berry secondary metabolites could help vineyard growers to adapt to climate change and maintain wine quality. Material and methods: A two-year field study was carried out in 2015 and 2016 in a vineyard in Bordeaux, France. Two treatments, heated (H) and control (C), were applied to two varieties, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Sauvignon blanc, from fruit-set to maturity. Field heating was achieved by a very local greenhouse effect applied to the bottom of the rows, by enclosing most of the underlying soil surface by polycarbonate shields. As the training system was vertically trellised, the heated volume surrounded most of the bunches but did not disturb most of the leaves in the canopy. This simple and robust setup allowed an increase of berry temperature by about +1.5°C in mean value, up to +5°C at times during clear sky days. This moderate increase of temperature was indicative of the predicted future climatic conditions for the mid-21st century. Berry samples were collected at 4 time points from bunch closure to maturity for each cultivar and treatment. Primary and secondary metabolites were measured in whole berries or skins. Results and conclusions: With this moderate temperature increase, primary metabolite content in berries did not change significantly. In H samples, anthocyanins were reduced and tannins increased before veraison, and both decreased thereafter. H samples also exhibited lower concentrations of some amino acids, especially alanine, serine and phenylalanine. IBMP (2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine) concentrations were also reduced in H samples of Cabernet-Sauvignon, in both seasons, especially at bunch closure stage, but the differences diminished at full maturity. For thiol 3-sulfanyl hexanol precursors, H samples again exhibited much lower concentrations for both varieties, with weak differences at early stages that increased at later stages (up to -70% decline at maturity in 2015 for Sauvignon blanc). These results demonstrate the potential negative impact of elevated temperature on polyphenols and aroma quality of grape berries.

References Powered by Scopus

Climate change and global wine quality

956Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Exploring the temperature-stress metabolome of Arabidopsis.

876Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Loss of anthocyanins in red-wine grape under high temperature

713Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Current viticultural techniques to mitigate the effects of global warming on grape and wine quality: A comprehensive review

149Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Grape Berry Secondary Metabolites and Their Modulation by Abiotic Factors in a Climate Change Scenario–A Review

131Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Recent advancements in understanding the terroir effect on aromas in grapes and wines

81Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wu, J., Drappier, J., Hilbert, G., Guillaumie, S., Dai, Z., Geny, L., … Pieri, P. (2019). The effects of a moderate grape temperature increase on berry secondary metabolites. In Oeno One (Vol. 53, pp. 321–333). Vigne et Vin Publications Internationales. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2019.53.2.2434

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 19

58%

Researcher 9

27%

Professor / Associate Prof. 4

12%

Lecturer / Post doc 1

3%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 23

74%

Environmental Science 4

13%

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Bi... 3

10%

Energy 1

3%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free