Detection and prediction of Botrytis cinerea infection levels in wine grapes using volatile analysis

Liang Jiang; Yu Qiu; Morphy C Dumlao; William A Donald; Christopher C Steel; Leigh M Schmidtke

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136120

Detection and prediction of Botrytis cinerea infection levels in wine grapes using volatile analysis

Food Chem. 2023 Sep 30:421:136120. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136120. Epub 2023 Apr 11.

Authors

Liang Jiang¹, Yu Qiu², Morphy C Dumlao³, William A Donald⁴, Christopher C Steel¹, Leigh M Schmidtke⁵

Affiliations

¹ Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia; School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia.
² Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia.
³ Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia; The Australian Research Council Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production, University of Adelaide (Waite Campus), South Australia 5064, Australia; School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales (Sydney), New South Wales 2052, Australia.
⁴ School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales (Sydney), New South Wales 2052, Australia.
⁵ Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia; School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia. Electronic address: lschmidtke@csu.edu.au.

PMID: 37098308
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136120

Abstract

Infection of grape berries (Vitis vinifera) by the fungus Botrytis cinerea (grey mould) frequently occurs in vineyards, resulting in off-flavours and other odours in wine and potential yield losses. In this study, volatile profiles of four naturally infected grape cultivars, and laboratory-infected grapes were analysed to identify potential markers for B. cinerea infection. Selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were highly correlated with two independent measures of B. cinerea infection levels, demonstrating that ergosterol measurements provide accurate quantification of lab-inoculated samples, while B. cinerea antigen detection is more suitable for naturally infected grapes. Excellent predictive models of infection level were confirmed (Q²Y of 0.784-0.959) using selected VOCs. A time course experiment confirmed that selected VOCs 1,5-dimethyltetralin, 1,5-dimethylnaphthalene, phenylethyl alcohol and 3-octanol are good markers for B. cinerea quantification and 2-octen-1-ol could be considered as an early marker of the infection.

Keywords: Crop quality; Fungal detection; Grape disease; SPME-GC–MS; Viticulture; Wine quality.

MeSH terms

Botrytis
Fruit / chemistry
Vitis* / microbiology
Volatile Organic Compounds* / analysis
Wine* / analysis

Substances

Volatile Organic Compounds

Supplementary concepts

Botrytis cinerea