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Mechanical pruning and soil organic amending in two terroirs. Effects on wine chemical composition and sensory profile
Publication . Botelho, Manuel; Ribeiro, Henrique; Cruz, Amândio; Duarte, Daniel F.; Faria, Diana L.; Khairnar, Kaushal S.; Pardal, Rafaela; Susini, Marta; Correia, Carlos; Catarino, Sofia; Cadima, Jorge; Castro, Rogério; Ricardo-da-Silva, Jorge M.
The knowledge about the interaction between mechanical pruning and soil organic amending is still
scarce. This study aimed to examine the effects of the interaction between these two practices on wine quality. Syrah
grapes from two trial fields in Portugal subjected to two different pruning systems (mechanical pruning; hand spur
pruning) and five different organic amendment treatments (control, biochar, municipal solid waste compost, cattle
manure, and sewage sludge) were harvested and vinified for four years. Mechanical pruning significantly reduced
wine alcoholic strength, pH, and total anthocyanins. Mechanical pruning and organic amendments, tendentially
reduced wine total phenols and tannin power, known as an “estimation of the astringency potential of the wines”.
Tasters found low but significant differences in global appreciation with the pruning system. Sludge tended to reduce
wine global appreciation more than municipal solid waste compost and cattle manure, while biochar had no effect
on tasters’ preference when compared to the control. There was strong relation between yield and tasters’ preference
only above 6 kg/vine and 8 kg/vine depending on the terroir. Mechanical pruning tendentially has significant
effects on wine quality when yield raises above a certain level. Thus, with this pruning system, the choice of the
organic amendment and its amount must be done considering the destiny of the produced grapes. To the best of our
knowledge, effects of the interaction of mechanical pruning with soil organic amending on wine quality are a novelty
Influence of the Storage in Bottle on the Antioxidant Activities and Related Chemical Characteristics of Wine Spirits Aged with Chestnut Staves and Micro-Oxygenation
Publication . Oliveira-Alves, Sheila; Lourenço, Sílvia; Anjos, Ofélia; Fernandes, Tiago A.; Caldeira, Ilda; Catarino, Sofia; Canas, Sara
Different ageing technology of wine spirits (WSs) has been investigated, but little has
been published on the chemical evolution of aged WS during storage in bottle. The purpose of
this study was to examine how 12 months of storage in bottle affected the evolution of antioxidant
activity (DPPH, FRAP and ABTS assays), total phenolic index (TPI) and low molecular weight (LMW)
compounds content of the WSs aged through alternative technology using three micro-oxygenation
levels (MOX) and nitrogen control (N). Results revealed the ability of phenolic compounds from
aged WSs to scavenge free radicals during storage in bottle. Among the in vitro antioxidant-activity
methods, FRAP assay was the more effective to differentiate WSs according to the ageing technology.
Concerning the overall influence of storage in bottle on antioxidant activity, and TPI and LMW compounds
content, the higher results were obtained for the MOX modalities (O15, O30 and O60), which
showed a similar evolution. In summary, this study provides innovative information, demonstrating
that the differences between the aged WSs imparted throughout the ageing process (resulting from
different MOX levels) were mostly retained, and only slight modifications during storage in bottle
were found
Effect of barrel-to-barrel variation on color and phenolic composition of a red wine
Publication . Pfahl, Leonard; Catarino, Sofia; Fontes, Natacha; Graça, António; Ricardo-da-Silva, Jorge M.
Tangible variation of sensory characteristics is often observed in wine aged in similar
barrels. Barrel-to-barrel variation in barrel-aged wines was investigated in respect of the most
important phenolic compounds of oenological interest. A red wine was aged in 49 medium-toasted
oak (Quercus petraea) barrels, from four cooperages, for 12 months. The resulting wines were evaluated
for chromatic characteristics, anthocyanin-related parameters, total phenols, flavonoids and nonflavonoids
phenols, flavanol monomers, and oligomeric and polymeric proanthocyanidins. PCA and
ANOVA were applied to investigate the relationships between barrels and to assess cooperage and
individual barrel effect. Three cooperages influenced the wine similarly during aging. Anthocyaninrelated
parameters showed the highest variation, 25–37%, other phenolics varied 3–8.5%, and with
two exceptions, chromatic characteristics changed 1.7–3%. The relationship between the number
of barrels and the expected variation for each analytical parameter was calculated, as reference for
future measurements involving barrel lots, either in wine production or experimental design
PLS-R Calibration models for wine spirit volatile phenols pre-diction by near infrared spectroscopy
Publication . Anjos, O.; Caldeira, I.; Fernandes, T.A.; Pedro, S.I.; Vitória, C.; Oliveira-Alves, S.; Catarino, S.; Canas, S.
Near-infrared spectroscopic (NIR) technique was used, for the first time, to predict volatile
phenols content, namely guaiacol, 4-methyl-guaiacol, eugenol, syringol, 4-methyl-syringol and 4-
allyl-syringol, of aged wine spirits (AWS). This study aimed to develop calibration models for the
volatile phenol’s quantification in AWS, by NIR, faster and without sample preparation. Partial
least square regression (PLS-R) models were developed with NIR spectra in the near-IR region
(12,500–4000 cm1) and those obtained from GC-FID quantification after liquid-liquid extraction. In
the PLS-R developed method, cross-validation with 50% of the samples along a validation test set
with 50% of the remaining samples. The final calibration was performed with 100% of the data. PLS-R
models with a good accuracy were obtained for guaiacol (r2 = 96.34; RPD = 5.23), 4-methyl-guaiacol
(r2 = 96.1; RPD = 5.07), eugenol (r2 = 96.06; RPD = 5.04), syringol (r2 = 97.32; RPD = 6.11), 4-methylsyringol
(r2 = 95.79; RPD = 4.88) and 4-allyl-syringol (r2 = 95.97; RPD = 4.98). These results reveal that
NIR is a valuable technique for the quality control of wine spirits and to predict the volatile phenols
content, which contributes to the sensory quality of the spirit beverages
Shedding Light on Metals Release from ChestnutWood toWine Spirit Using ICP-MS
Publication . Catarino, Sofia; Thanasi, Vasiliki; Morin, Gael; Anjos, Ofélia; Fernandes, Tiago A.; Caldeira, Ilda; Fargeton, Laurent; Boissier, Benjamin; Canas, Sara
Possible effects caused by mineral elements during wine spirit ageing are diverse. In this
study, the evolution of the mineral composition of wine spirit during ageing with chestnut (Castanea
sativa Mill.) wood was investigated. A wine distillate was aged in 250 L wooden barrels (traditional
ageing) and in 50 L glass demijohns with wood staves and micro-oxygenation (alternative ageing).
Sampling was performed after 21, 60, 180, 270, and 365 days of ageing. The elemental composition
of the wine spirits, including alkaline, alkaline earth metals, and heavy metals, was assessed by
quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS). For most of the elements, no
significant differences between wine spirits from distinct ageing modalities were observed. Ageing
time had significant effect on most of them, with different trends and distinct magnitude of changes,
depending on each specific element. The concentrations of the mineral elements found in the wine
spirits were very low, especially those of heavy metals, which is quite positive in terms of quality and
food safety. Novel information on metals released from chestnut wood to wine spirits confirms its
appropriateness for ageing this beverage
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Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
DL 57/2016
Funding Award Number
DL 57/2016/CP1382/CT0025
