Browsing by Author "Buica, A."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Grape must profiling and cultivar discrimination based on amino acid composition and general discriminant analysis with best subset
    (South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2019) Petrovic, G.; Aleixandre-Tudo, J. L.; Buica, A.
    The present study aimed to elucidate the amino acid profile of a number of grapevine cultivars relevant to the South African wine industry using 738 grape must samples obtained during the 2016 and 2017 harvests.  Proline and arginine were found to be the most abundant amino acids, with an average of 697.69 mg/L for proline (range 33.22-3445.43 mg/L) and 388.35 mg/L for arginine (range 13.56-1616.56 mg/L) across all vintages, regions, and cultivars. At the other extreme, ornithine (2.01 mg/L), glycine (3.28 mg/L), methionine (3.64 mg/L) and lysine (3.91 mg/L) were found to have the lowest concentrations, both in terms of the overall average, as well as per cultivar. Furthermore, the data were used to demonstrate how characteristic the amino acid profile is of a particular group (red or white) or cultivar. Cultivars were predicted based on their average amino acid concentrations using general discriminant analysis (GDA) and the best subset principle. For white musts, Chardonnay showed the highest prediction accuracy (100%), and Pinotage (75%) for red cultivars. Overall, the white cultivars included in this study were more accurately distinguished from one another (75.6%) compared to the red (60.1%). This predictive ability was subsequently compared to the accuracy of predicting cultivars based on only the arginine and proline concentrationsas well as the ratio between the two. The use of only these amino acids as well as the addition of the proline/arginine ratio as a predictor variable did not offer satisfactory discriminatory power between either white or red cultivars.
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    Impact of time, oxygen and different anthocyanin to tannin ratios on the precipitate and extract composition using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry
    (South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2019) Garrido-Banuelos, G.; Buica, A.; De Villiers, A.; Du Toit, W. J.
    Wine colour and phenolic stability over time are influenced by the amount and nature of phenolics in young wines. The ratio between different phenolic compounds can also be determinant in the colour and phenolic development of red wines. Three different anthocyanin to tannin ratios extracted in a wine-like system were saturated with oxygen several times during sample storage. A LC-HRMS method was used to evaluate the impact of a forced oxidation and of the different extracts on the wine-like composition and on the precipitate formed over time. The extract composition was found to be the most determinant factor for the precipitate formed. Time was also found to be a relevant factor according to the precipitate composition.
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    Nitrogen and Sulphur Foliar Fertilisation
    (South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2019) Bruwer, F. A.; Du Toit, W.; Buica, A.
    The effects of fertilisation can reverberate from grapes through to wines. In wine, non-volatile compounds mainly influence the taste and flavour of wines, while volatile compounds play an important role in the aromatic expression. This review includes information on the presence of non-volatile and volatile compounds reportedly affected by nitrogen and sulphure foliar fertilisation, (bio)synthesis, and evolution throughout winemaking, their chemical properties, and their implications. The second part presents the status of the research on elucidating the influence and contribution of foliar fertilisation practices on the chemical compounds throughout winemaking, from the grape to the wine.
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    Profiling potentially smoke tainted red wines : volatile phenols and aroma attributes
    (South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2019) McKay, M.; Bauer, F. F.; Panzeri, V.; Mokwena, L.; Buica, A.
    Malodourous compounds, including volatile phenols (VPs) are frequently found at concentrations below their odour thresholds in wine, and may therefore be considered to present no threat to wine quality. Most investigations into smoke taint quantify compounds by chemical/analytical means, or investigate sensory effects of supra- and peri-threshold contamination in model wine. In this project, twelve wines (submitted by the South African industry as potentially smoke tainted) were screened for VPs using GC-MS, and characterized using descriptive analysis (DA) by a sensory panel highly trained in smoke taint evaluation.  Results were compared statistically to elucidate relationships between chemical and sensory characteristics.  It was demonstrated, using the combined dataset that concentration and composition of VPs in the wines correlated well with certain sensory attributes. Guaiacol was present in most samples at peri- or suprathresholdlevels, but was not correlated with taint unless in combination with other phenols, in which case it was associated with ‘smoky’, ‘ashy’ and ‘herbaceous’ attributes. Wines with supra-threshold levels of VPs showed negative attributes (‘chemical / plastic’, ‘tar / BR’ and ‘medicinal / Elastoplast™’). In some cases, sensory effects (‘earthy / dusty / potato skin’, ‘mouldy / musty’ and ‘cooked vegetables (veg.)’) could not be attributed to supra-threshold VP contamination, and therefore seemed to be due to combinations of VPs at subthreshold levels. Associations between negative attributes and historical bushfire events prior to harvest were found for a number of the wines. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding effects of VPs on wine aroma, and escalating awareness and sensitivity to these issues in the wine industry.
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    The use of SO2 to bind acetaldehyde in wine : sensory implications
    (South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2018) Coetzee, C.; Buica, A.; Du Toit, W. J.
    It is thought that the formation of hydroxysulphonate when sulphur dioxide is added to wine containing free acetaldehyde negates the sensory impact of the latter compound, but little research has been done on this. Descriptive analyses were employed using a trained sensory panel to assess the sensory effect of sulphur dioxide and acetaldehyde as single compounds and in combination in model wine. The addition of acetaldehyde or sulphur dioxide as singular compounds led to large increase in especially the green apple or sulphur descriptors respectively. When these two compounds were added in equimolar concentrations, the green apple description decreased drastically; however, a prominent sulphur description was still noted. It thus seems that hydroxysulphonate also has a sulphur-like aroma. The hydroxysulphonate did not influence the perception of a prominent ester, isoamyl acetate, in model wine. A low pH influences the perception of sulphur when sulphur dioxide is present on its own, but this is not the case with hydroxysulphonate. The implications of these results for wine production are discussed further.