Effects of Water Deficit Irrigation on Phenolic Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Monastrell Grapes under Semiarid Conditions

Abstract

The high phenolic compound content of grapes makes them an important source of natural antioxidants, among other beneficial health properties. Vineyard irrigation might affect berry composition and quality. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is a widely used strategy to reduce the possible negative impact of irrigation on grapes, improving grape composition and resulting in water savings. Monastrell grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) grown in eastern Spain were subjected to two water regime strategies: rainfed (non-irrigation) and RDI. The content of anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanols, hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids, and stilbenes was determined by HPLC and was related with total phenolic content and three antioxidant activity methods (ABTS, DPPH, and ORAC). The study aimed to evaluate and compare the phenolic composition and antioxidant potential of Monastrell grapes. The rainfed regime concentrated grapes in terms of phenolic compounds. Thus, total content of anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanols, hydroxybenzoic acids, and total phenols were higher in the rainfed grapes than in the RDI ones. Besides, the rainfed grapes doubled their antioxidant potential with respect to the RDI grapes with the ORAC method. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity by ORAC assay positively correlated with most of the total phenolic compounds analyzed. This study demonstrates how field practices can modulate final grape composition in relation to their antioxidant activity.

Productiveness and Berry Quality of New Wine Grape Genotypes Grown under Drought Conditions in a Semi-Arid Wine-Producing Mediterranean Region

“…In this regard, under rainfed conditions, MC80 showed the highest TCP skin–seed content and MS49 the highest anthocyanin content, exceeding those of MC72 (which had the lowest contents) by 61% and 79%, respectively. Although phenolic quality is associated with a reduction in production and a smaller berry size [ 27 , 61 ], the present results also show a strong genotypic component since the differences in phenolic variables did not always coincide with differences in the yield variables. For example, the lowest production and the smallest berry size of MC72 and MC19 ( Table 2 ) did not correlate with the highest TCP skin–seed content ( Table 4 ), as might be expected, while the highest production of MS104 did correlate with one of the lowest TCP skin–seed contents.…”

“…Preventive and adaptive measures need to be taken by the wine sector if the adverse effects of climate change are to be mitigated [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. A short-term preventive measure could be the use of deficit irrigation techniques, which may improve the quality of grapes and wine [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] while maintaining good yields—as long as the water-stress threshold is not exceeded (which would lead to a reduction in wine quality) [ 30 ]. However, Fraga et al (2018) [ 31 ] observed that, in hot and dry regions in Portugal, yields were significantly reduced even when efficient irrigation was available, a consequence of water and heat stress; daytime temperatures above 35 °C negatively affect flowering and fruit set [ 32 ] and therefore yield.…”

A Comprehensive Evaluation of Effects on Water-Level Deficits on Tomato Polyphenol Composition, Nutritional Quality and Antioxidant Capacity

“…Therefore, a deeper understanding of the correlation between these polyphenolic compounds and their free radical scavenging abilities is needed. Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between total phenolic acids, flavonoids, DPPH, and ABTS (indicating free radical scavenging ability) [ 22 , 49 , 50 ]. There were also multiple groups of significant or extremely significant positive correlations between ABTS, HSRA, FRAP, and DPPH, and the components of polyphenols in our study.…”

“…Fruit polyphenol composition and nutritional quality are affected and regulated by many factors, including variety, maturity, cultivation management, and environmental stress [ 22 ]. The improper use of the water-deficit approach can seriously affect the processes of various physiological and biochemical reactions in plants, such as relative leaf water content, photosynthetic fluorescence parameters, stomatal response, osmotic regulation, reactive oxygen species, and antioxidant response [ 23 , 24 ].…”

Proper irrigation amount for eggplant cultivation in a solar greenhouse improved plant growth, fruit quality and yield by influencing the soil microbial community and rhizosphere environment

“…Different irrigation regulation strategies have also been applied in agricultural production, such as regulated deficit irrigation (RDI; Pérez-Álvarez et al, 2021), partial root-zone drying (PRD; Santos et al, 2021) and alternate partial root-zone irrigation (APRI; Kang and Zhang, 2004). Studies on eggplants in greenhouse found that APRI increased the fruit yield and WUE (Du et al, 2005).…”