Grapevine berry shrivelling, water loss and cell death: an increasing challenge for growers in the context of climate change

Alain Deloire,Xiao Zeyu,Guillaume Antalick,Anne Pellegrino,Suzy Rogiers,Katja Šuklje

doi:10.20870/ives-tr.2021.4615

Abstract

Late ripening berry dehydration is an important phenomenon that occurs through grape berry water loss due to the alteration of the fruit water budget when transpiration and potential water back ﬂow to the plant exceed the import of water into the berry through the phloem and xylem. Berry shrivelling can have a signiﬁcant economic impact, reducing yields by ≥25 % with consequences on berry composition and the resulting wine. Its occurrence and consequences are expected to increase due to predicted climate change, shifting grape development and ripening into warmer periods (i.e., heat waves and drought events).

Highlights

>>> Late ripening berry dehydration is an important phenomenon that occurs through grape berry water loss due to the alteration of the fruit water budget when transpiration and potential water back flow to the plant exceed the import of water into the berry through the phloem and xylem
Four types of berry shrivelling are reported in the literature; 1/ Sun burn either before or after veraison, resulting in poor colour development in red varieties on severe occasions; 2/ Late season fruit dehydration (LSD), characterized by berry mesocarp cell death and water loss that leads to an increase in total soluble solids (TSS) concentration; 3/ Bunch stem necrosis characterized by necrotic rachis tissue affecting bunch tips, shoulders or even the entire clusters
Berry sugar concentration is an equation between the total amount of sugar that has been deposited into the berry and berry volume

Summary

Introduction

>>> Late ripening berry dehydration is an important phenomenon that occurs through grape berry water loss due to the alteration of the fruit water budget when transpiration and potential water back flow to the plant exceed the import of water into the berry through the phloem and xylem. Four types of berry shrivelling are reported in the literature; 1/ Sun burn either before or after veraison, resulting in poor colour development in red varieties on severe occasions; 2/ Late season fruit dehydration (LSD), characterized by berry mesocarp cell death and water loss that leads to an increase in total soluble solids (TSS) concentration; 3/ Bunch stem necrosis characterized by necrotic rachis tissue affecting bunch tips, shoulders or even the entire clusters.

Results

Conclusion