NIR spectroscopy was used as a non-destructive technique for the assessment of chemical changes in the main internal quality properties of wine grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) during on-vine ripening and at harvest. A total of 363 samples from 25 white and red grape varieties were used to construct quality-prediction models based on reference data and on NIR spectral data obtained using a commercially-available diode-array spectrophotometer (380-1,700 nm). The feasibility of testing bunches of intact grapes was investigated and compared with the more traditional must-based method. Two regression approaches (MPLS and LOCAL algorithms) were tested for the quantification of changes in soluble solid content (SSC), reducing sugar content, pH-value, titratable acidity, tartaric acid, malic acid and potassium content. Cross-validation results indicated that NIRS technology provided excellent precision for sugar-related parameters (r(2) = 0.94 for SSC and reducing sugar content) and good precision for acidity-related parameters (r(2) ranging between 0.73 and 0.87) for the bunch-analysis mode assayed using MPLS regression. At validation level, comparison of LOCAL and MPLS algorithms showed that the non-linear strategy improved the predictive capacity of the models for all study parameters, with particularly good results for acidity-related parameters and potassium content.
Keywords: NIR spectroscopy; bunch analysis; on-vine; quality parameters.