Abstract
Rain-shelter cultivation is an effective cultural method to prevent rainfall damage during grape harvest and widely applied in the Chinese rainy regions. In this study we investigated the effect of rain-shelter cultivation on grape diseases and phenolic composition in the skins of Vitis vinifera cv. Cabernet Gernischet grape berries through the comparison with open-field cultivation at two vintages (2010 and 2011). The results showed that rain-shelter cultivation reduced the incidence of grape diseases significantly and delayed the maturation of Cabernet Gernischet fruits. With regards to most of the phenolic compounds identified in this study, their content in grape samples under rain-shelter cultivation was decreased compared to those under open-field cultivation. However, rain-shelter cultivation stimulated the accumulation of dihydroquercetin-3-O-rhamnoside in grape skins during grape maturation. These were related with micrometeorological alterations in vineyards by using plastic covering under rain-shelter cultivation. It suggests the rain-shelter cultivation makes possible the cultivation of “Cabernet Gernischet” grapes in an organic production system, for providing a decrease in the incidence of diseases and the dependence on chemical pesticides in the grape and wine industry.
Highlights
Vitis is widely cultivated around the world
These grapevines cultured on the open field presented serious diseases and the severity increased to the forth grade
Leaf disease and fruit disease in these grapevines cultured using rain-shelter technology were far lower than those cultured on the open field during the fruit ripening process. These results are in agreement with those described previously by Detoni et al [6], who found that high incidence of diseases in plants without plastic covering caused lower production compared to those covered by plastic
Summary
Vitis is widely cultivated around the world. The grape planting area in China has increased rapidly in recent years, and it is forecast to reach 560 mha in 2011, ranking fourth in the World, according to the OIV statistical report on world vitiviniculture [1]. Located on the Pacific Ocean West bank, most of China enjoys a marked continental monsoonal climate, characterized by hot and rainy summer-autumns, cold and dry winter-springs. This is unfavorable for grape growth, sugar accumulation, organic acid degradation, and phenolic compound formation under such climatic conditions, which seriously hinders the development of the grape and wine industry in China, and improvement of China’s wine quality. Rain-shelter cultivation is a simple form of installation cultivation through building shelters to prevent the influence of rain on the crop. Grape rain-shelter cultivation developed from short pruning and arched shed cultivation of Campbell Early in western Japan and was widely applied in Japan in the
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