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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1439114

Characterization of varietal effects on the acidity and pH of grape berries for selection of varieties better adapted to climate change

Provisionally accepted
Marc Plantevin Marc Plantevin 1,2*Yoann Merpault Yoann Merpault 1Julien Lecourt Julien Lecourt 3Agnès Destrac-Irvine Agnès Destrac-Irvine 1Lucile Dijsktra Lucile Dijsktra 2Cornelis V. Leeuwen Cornelis V. Leeuwen 1
  • 1 Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), Bordeaux, France
  • 2 Other, Saint-Laurent-Médoc, France
  • 3 Other, Pessac-Léognan, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Climate change is drastically modifying berry composition and wine quality across the world. Most wine regions with a history of winemaking are suffering from a loss of typicity and terroir expression because of climate change impact on berry components at harvest, including wine acidity, with total acidity decreasing and pH increasing. Such changes can have a major impact on wine stability and quality. One important option for adaptation is the selection of grapevine varieties better adapted to warmer and drier conditions. Weekly measurement of tartaric acid, malic acid, pH and titratable acidity from veraison until maturity were carried out on 51 varieties over seven years in two experimental plots. Varietal differences were shown for the rate of malic acid degradation during the ripening period, with some varieties metabolizing malic acid faster per unit of thermal time than others. Some varietal differences were also noticed regarding tartaric acid modulation, which can occur under exceptionally high temperatures. Differences in the dynamics of pH evolution in grape must over the growing season were evaluated and varieties characterized with regard to organic acids (tartaric acid and malic acid), inorganic compounds (cations) as well as pH levels and stability. This multi-trait approach allows the selection of grapevine varieties based on parameters linked to their acidity, which is of particular importance in the context of climate change.

    Keywords: grapevine, Climate Change, malic acid, Tartaric acid, inorganic cations, varietal traits, pH, Vitis Vinifera Font: Italic Formatted: Font: Italic Destrac-Irvine

    Received: 14 Jun 2024; Accepted: 13 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Plantevin, Merpault, Lecourt, Destrac-Irvine, Dijsktra and Leeuwen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Marc Plantevin, Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), Bordeaux, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.