In the last decade, the use of non-invasive technologies to characterize nutritional, physiological or grape composition parameters has grown considerably in vitiviniculture.
NIR spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging have proven to be fast and accurate enough to quantify sugars and acidity, as well as a large number of compounds present in the grapes, such as polyphenols or amino acids, from robust predictive models that include a variability of factors such as the variety, origin, degree of maturity, vintage, etc.
The potential of these spectral techniques is demonstrated in this work in which methodologies based on NIR spectroscopy and hyperspectral vision have been developed, and validated against HPLC, in order to quantify sugars and pH, as well as the total and individual contents of anthocyanins, flavonols and amino acids in intact berries of different red varieties.
An additional advantage of these spectral techniques is the ability to analyse different groups of compounds with the same spectral measurement, saving time on analysis and allowing to select the grapes based on a group of compounds or others.
These results represent a step forward in the non-destructive determination of the composition of the grapes during grape ripening (in the vineyard or laboratory) or upon arrival of the grapes at the cellar.
This technology could be incorporated into a selection table, as an advanced alternative to the RGB vision, currently in use, to classify and/or select the grapes in an automated way according to their composition, providing greater value to the final product.
Report presented at the Enoforum awards 2018. The paper reproduced in this video-seminar was presented at the 11th edition of Enoforum (Zaragoza, Spain, May 31 – June 1, 2018)
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