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Surface leaf metabolites of two seedlings of a Bulgarian winemaking cultivar Storgozia I(1) were analyzed in two seasons - summer (July) and autumn (October). The resistance towards some fungal pathogens of one of the plants was estimated as superior to the resistance of the other one. Significant seasonal variations in the chemical constituents of the two seedlings were observed. The main metabolites of the summer samples were sterols, terpenes, fatty acids and heterocyclic compounds. In autumn, sterol and fatty acid contents decreased, mono- and diterpenes and heterocyclic compounds disappeared and instead of them hydrocarbons and alcohols were detected. Some individual components - stearic acid, alpha-amyrin, lupeol and squalene - correlated with the estimated resistance and were therefore proposed as biomarkers for the fungal resistance in grape-vine leaves.

Four grapevine seedlings were propagated and planted both in a greenhouse and in an experimental field. Surface components of their fresh leaves were easily obtained and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In total, 21 surface metabolites were identified. Unlike the greenhouse samples, the field ones possessed semiochemicals and compounds contributing to their survival under environmental stress. This study shows that the leaf surface of the grapevine possesses compounds indicating the conditions of breeding.

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The surface metabolic composition of berries, collected from the Bulgarian grapevine variety Storgozia, and 12 of its seedlings were studied by GC/MS. Diverse surface metabolites were identified. The main components were long chain n-alkanes, terpenoids, and esterified long-chain fatty acids. Amongst them, the terpenoids were most abundant, including, as are typical for plants, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids and triterpenoids. Cyperene, a sesquiterpene hydrocarbon, was identified for the first time in grapes. This compound and most of the other identified metabolites are known to possess biological functions that most probably contribute to the quality of grape berries and their defences against biotic and abiotic stressors.