Abscisic acid´s role in the modulation of compounds that contribute to the wine quality.

ALONSO R.; BERLI F.; FONTANA A.; PICCOLI P.; BOTTINI R.

PLANTS

MDPI Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

Año: 2021 vol. 10

2223-7747

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a crucial role in the plant responses to environmental signals, specially by triggering secondary metabolism. High-altitude vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina, are ex-posed to elevated solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) levels and moderate water deficits (WD), so pro-ducing grapevine berries with high enological quality for red winemaking. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and phenolic compounds (PCs) accumulate in the berry skins, possess anti-oxidant activity, and are important attributes for red wine. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of ABA in the modulation of these compounds in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Malbec wines by comparing the independent and interactive effects of UV-B, WD and ABA. Two UV-B treatments (ambient solar UV-B or reduced UV-B), two watering treatments (well-watered or moderate water deficit) and two ABA treatments (no ABA and sprayed ABA) were given in a factorial design, during one growing season. Sprayed ABA, alone and/or in combination with UV-B (specially) and WD (in lower degree) increased low molecular weight polyphenols (LMWP), anthocyanins, but most noticeably the stilbenes trans-resveratrol and piceid. Under these treatments, VOCs were scarcely affected, and the antioxidant capacity was influenced by the combination of UV-B and WD. From a technological point of view, ABA applications may be an effective vineyard management tool, considering that elicited a higher content of compounds beneficial for wine aging, as well compounds related to color.