Abscisic acid and ethephon treatments applied to ‘Verdejo’ white grapes affect the quality of wine in different ways

Abstract

Exogenous ethephon and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments are used worldwide to improve the coloring of red table grapes, but there is little information about their impact on the quality of white grapes and wines. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of exogenous ethephon and ABA applications at veraison on the composition of 'Verdejo' white grapes, and on the quality of their wines. To attain this objective, a field trial was carried out in a 'Verdejo'/110 Richter vineyard located in north-central Spain. Two levels of ethephon (0 and 1500 mg L −1) and ABA (0 and 800 mg L −1) were sprayed on clusters at veraison, in a factorial design for three consecutive seasons. Ethephon and ABA had additive effects, decreasing titratable acidity and increasing pH of the must, which could be exploited by accelerating the grape ripening process in cold-climate zones. Nevertheless, each growth regulator affected the composition and sensory analysis of the wines differently. Ethephon treatments produced wines with lower concentration of acids and better flavor quality than those made from untreated plants, while wines with ABA applications tended to have a higher ethanol concentration and poorer aroma quality than controls. The wines submitted to treatments with ethephon obtained the best overall evaluation in the sensory analysis throughout the trial.

Unraveling the pathways influencing the berry color and firmness of grapevine cv. Flame Seedless treated with bioregulators using biochemical and RNA-Seq analysis under semi-arid subtropics

“…All treatments lowered the TA level of grape berries, but the ABA 200 ppm and Pro-Ca 400 ppm treatments had the lowest TA percentage. Recently, Gonzalez et al (2018) studied the impact of ethephon on grape berry composition and observed that wines produced from treated vines had lower acid concentrations. PBRs are involved in improving the anthocyanin content in colored grape genotypes ( Roberto et al, 2012 ).…”

The potential of antitranspirants in drought management of arable crops: A review

“…Applying ABA as an AT during meiosis may therefore negatively affect crop productivity. In commercial fruit horticulture, ABA is used for fruit quality enhancement, particularly of table and wines grapes (Gonzalez et al, 2018).…”

Effect of new generation bio-regulators on anthocyanins and berry quality of grape cv. Beauty Seedless

“…The least titratable acidity was recorded with ethephon 200 ppm (0.29%); however, ethephon 400 ppm (22.89 mg/100 ml) and ABA 400 ppm (22.01 mg/100 ml) treatments resulted in significant improvement in ascorbic acid content (Table 2). On the similar lines, Gonzalez et al (2018) investigated that field treatments of ethephon can reduce acidity in grape berries. Moreover, the exogenous application of the plant bioregulators significantly enhanced the accumulation of total monomeric anthocyanins in the berries for which ethephon 400 ppm (579.62 C 3 GE mg/l) and ABA 400 ppm (562.10 C 3 GE mg/l) showed the most promising results (Table 2).…”