Abstract
In the last few decades, the accumulation of sugar in grape berries and hence the alcohol degree of wines has been affected by increasing global temperatures. In order to limit plant photosynthetic activity, it is possible to apply anti-transpirant on field, reducing sugar accumulation in berries. In this contest, our aim was to evaluate the efficiency of the application of a di-1-p-menthene-based natural anti-transpirant (Vapor Gard®, VG) on Falanghina vines during 2013 and 2014. Plants were treated at veraison stage with VG and compared with water-sprayed ones for control. The experimental design included also bunch thinned (BT) plants treated with VG or water. The effect of VG and/or BT on grapes was evaluated through physiological measurements on vines and chemical analyses on berries and wines. Moreover, wine sensory profiles were produced. The results we obtained show that by applying anti-transpirant it is possible to induce a significant reduction of net photosynthesis rate (25%–40%) and stomatal conductance (40%–60%) on leaves, a lower sugar accumulation in berries (2 °Brix) and a consequent reduction of alcohol in the obtained wine (0.9%–1.6% vol.). These results suggest that anti-transpirant sprays could be a useful tool in reducing cost of yield manipulation, improving ripeness and reducing wine alcohol, without affecting the wine sensory profile.
Highlights
The wine industry is more and more engaged in research that aims to decrease the content of alcohol in wine, both because it has been part of the question about responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages, and because of the heightened sensitivity of customers about health issues including increased calories intake and risk from alcohol-related illness and disease [1]
A moderate alcohol content is generally defined as 8.5%–12% v/v alcohol and wines with this content can be obtained through several methods applied at different steps of the process, such as canopy management during grape plant life cycle to reduce fermentable sugar concentration in grape [2,3,4,5,6], non-Saccharomyces yeast starters usage during vinification to reduce alcoholic fermentation efficiency [7] and dealcoholisation of wine [8,9,10]
The objective of the second group is to artificially change the environmental conditions for the photosynthesis, which is possible, for example, by arranging shading nets so that the active radiation of the photosynthesis will be decreased, or with the help of anti-transpirant that will be applied to the canopy in order to reduce the gas exchange rate, the ultimate aim being to slow down and diminish the amount of sugar in berries [2,13,14]
Summary
The wine industry is more and more engaged in research that aims to decrease the content of alcohol in wine, both because it has been part of the question about responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages, and because of the heightened sensitivity of customers about health issues including increased calories intake and risk from alcohol-related illness and disease [1]. The objective of the second group is to artificially change the environmental conditions for the photosynthesis, which is possible, for example, by arranging shading nets so that the active radiation of the photosynthesis will be decreased, or with the help of anti-transpirant that will be applied to the canopy in order to reduce the gas exchange rate, the ultimate aim being to slow down and diminish the amount of sugar in berries [2,13,14]. An inert clay mineral, the result was an effective control of the heat stress in various species, increasing canopy reflectance of infrared and ultraviolet radiations it was possible to obtain a lower temperature of both the leaf and the fruit tissues [13,17]
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