PRESS RELEASE
The Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM) has developed the world’s first metabolomic map of grapevine varieties. The achievement represents an important contribution to grapevine and wine research and is the result of extensive research and analysis carried out within the “Grape Metabolome” project, whose findings have been featured on the cover of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Based on the analysis of 126 grapevine varieties from around the world, researchers have constructed a map showing the relationships between varieties not on the basis of their DNA – as in a genetic map – but according to their metabolic composition. In other words, it provides a detailed picture of the molecules that make up the grape berry.
This new perspective complements genetic information with metabolomic data, creating a bridge between genotype and phenotype.
The atlas will soon be made available to winemakers worldwide, providing them with new knowledge and information about grape varieties and their oenological potential.
“This is the first holistic approach to detecting all the compounds present in a product, in this case the grape,” explains FEM Director General Riccardo Velasco. “It allows us to identify both similarities and differences between the elements being compared – in this case, grape varieties – while also identifying new compounds that were previously unknown.”
The metabolome is the complete set of compounds and chemical substances produced by the plant and contained in the grape berry, including sugars, acids, polyphenols and aroma precursors. FEM has state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise in this field of research.
The study shows that grapevine varieties differ not only in their DNA, leaf shape or berry appearance, but also in their own distinctive varietal metabolomic fingerprint.
For example, the study found similar metabolomic profiles in Teroldego, Lagrein and Marzemino, as well as among Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and between Vermentino and Xarello, or Manzoni and Riesling.
Panagiotis Arapitsas, Head of the Metabolomics Unit at the Research and Innovation Centre, explains that the results show that this fingerprint is sufficiently strong to identify groups of grapevine varieties based solely on their chemical composition.
“From an oenological perspective, each variety arrives at the winery with a distinctive chemical profile, representing the raw material from which the wine will be produced. The map therefore provides a new way of investigating why some grape varieties share similar characteristics while others are chemically very different. It also contributes to a better understanding of the history and evolution of grapevine and the origins of modern varieties, while providing winegrowers with a tool for identifying alternative varieties without losing the identity of the wine produced.”
The study also revealed that aromatic varieties – including different Muscat and Malvasia varieties and Gewürztraminer – have such a distinctive metabolomic profile that they form a clearly recognisable group, regardless of berry colour. White-, pink- and red-berried aromatic varieties can therefore occupy the same space in the metabolomic map.
Their common feature is not berry colour, but a specific biochemical identity, characterised by metabolites associated with aroma and its precursors.
Link to the Journal article:
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.6c04648
