Effect of ABA on colour of berries, anthocyanin accumulation and total phenolic compounds of ‘Rubi’ table grape (Vitis vinifera)

Abstract

The color of the berry grapes is due to existence of anthocyanins and their accumulation seems to be regulated, at least in part, by abscisic acid. Therefore, exogenous applications of this regulator may increase the anthocyanins concentration in the grapes skin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of abscisic acid on the color of berries and in the anthocyanin accumulation and total phenolic compounds of 'Rubi' grapes. The 'Rubi' grape (Vitis vinifera) variety was studied in the sixth year of production. The experimental design was randomized blocks, with 4 treatments and 6 replications. The treatments consisted of isomer concentrations of (S)-cis-abscisic acid (S-ABA), as follow: Control (0 mg L-1); 400 mg L-1 de S-ABA at the beginning of the maturation (BM); 400 mg L-1 at BM + 200 mg L-1 at 25 DAFA (25 days after the first application) and 400 mg L-1 in BM + 400 mg L-1 at 25 DAFA. The berry bunches were sprayed in the morning, using costal sprayer providing full and uniform coverage. The colorimetric characteristics were determined with colorimeter obtaining the following variables: luminosity, saturation, hue angle and color index. The fresh mass, length and width of bunch (berries and stems), number of berries per bunch, soluble solids, titratable acidity, soluble solids/acidity ratio, pH, reducing sugars, anthocyanins, and phenolic compounds were evaluated. The abscisic acid (S-ABA) promoted the physical characteristics of the bunch and berries slightly with no effect on the stems. However, it triggered significant increase in soluble solids content and in the soluble solids/acidity ratio. It also increased the anthocyanin and total phenolic compounds, especially when applied twice, regardless of the concentration, in addition to improve color attributes. It is recommended the application of 400 mg L-1 at BM + 200 mg L-1 at 25 DAFA can be useful to increase anthocyanin and total phenolic and to improve color attributes.

Improvement of color and increase in anthocyanin content of Niagara Rosada grapes with application of abscisic acid

“…The synthesis of anthocyanins can occur, constantly, from the beginning of maturation to harvest, as well as during the first half of maturation (Mullins et al, 1992), which justifies the positive effect of S-ABA application on two grape ripening stages. Several studies have demonstrated that the exogenous application of S-ABA increases the anthocyanin content in grapes (Ban et al, 2003;Yamamoto et al, 2015, Domingues Neto et al, 2017. It is possible to state that, with the results obtained in this study and those already available in the literature, that the S-ABA triggers the secondary metabolism of 'Niagara Rosada' grapes and other grape cultivars, specifically the anthocyanin biosynthesis, which is the pigment that imparts a pink/purple color on fruits, flowers and vegetables.…”

“…Several studies suggest that exogenous applications of ABA increase the anthocyanin content in the skin of colored grapes, surpassing even the ethephon, playing a vital role in the activation of flavonoids (Cantín et al, 2007;Peppi et al, 2007;Sandhu et al, 2011;Roberto et al, 2013;Koyama et al, 2014a;Domingues Neto et al, 2017).…”

“…Lower L* indicate darker color, and it means that two applications of S-ABA provided an increase in the 'Niagara Rosada' grape color, which may reflect directly on its commercialization; once consumers are attracted to, among other factors, the color of berries, a factor that might favor its commercial value (Roberto et al, 2012;Domingues Neto et al, 2017).…”

Satellite and Proximal Sensing to Estimate the Yield and Quality of Table Grapes

“…The actual yield was estimated during the harvest period by measuring the total number of bins per cell and multiplying it with the average bin weight of the harvested table grapes. Fifty berries were randomly taken in each vineyard cell at harvest by sampling five berries from one cluster per grapevine from a total of ten grapevines to assess berry and must parameters [48]. Berry diameters were estimated using the image analysis software, ImageJ 1.46r (Research Services Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, MD, USA).…”

The Exogenous Application of Abscisic Acid Induce Accumulation of Anthocyanins and Phenolic Compounds of the ‘Rubi’ Grape

“…The efficiency of exogenous application of ABA has been demonstrated in the synthesis and accumulation of anthocyanins (polyphenols) in the peel of many grape cultivars [8] [9] [10] [11], as well as it provides uniformity of color, improves the quality of the treated grapes [8] [12], and increase the phenolic compounds contents [11] [13]. Anthocyanin performs an important role in the color and in the sensorial characteristics of fruits and vegetables, beyond its protective effects against certain types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases [14] [15].…”