The Edmund Mach Foundation has created the world's first grape metabolomic atlas
While Italy boasts several wine-related records, from world records for export volumes to world records for production, the Belpaese is also at the forefront of research.
"This is the first holistic approach to detecting all the compounds present in a product, in this case grapes," explains Riccardo Velasco, CEO of the Edmund Mach Foundation. "This allows us to see all the similarities, but also all the differences, between two elements under comparison—in this case, the grape varieties. It also has identified new, previously unknown compounds."
The metabolome, in fact, is the set of compounds and chemical substances produced by the plant and contained in the grape, such as sugars, acids, polyphenols, and aromatic precursors, and FEM is equipped with cutting-edge instruments and expertise in this field of research. Thanks to this study, we discovered that grape varieties don't just differ in DNA, leaf shape, or grape appearance, but each has its own varietal metabolomic signature. We also discovered that grape varieties such as Teroldego, Lagrein, and Marzemino have a similar metabolome, as do Bordeaux varieties, such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and Vermentino with Xarello, or Manzoni with Riesling.
Panagiotis Arapitsas, head of the Metabolomics Unit at the Research and Innovation Center, explains that the research results indicate that this signature is strong enough to allow varietal groups to be identified using their chemical composition alone: "From an oenological perspective, each variety arrives at the winery with a characteristic chemical profile, which represents the raw material from which the wine will be made. The map therefore offers a new way to study why some grapes have similar characteristics while others are chemically very different. This provides a better understanding of the history, evolution of the vine, and the genesis of modern varieties, providing winemakers with a tool for finding alternative varieties without losing the identity of the wine they produce."
The study revealed that aromatic varieties—such as the various Muscats, Malvasias, and Gewürztraminers—have such a distinctive metabolomic profile that they form a clearly recognizable group, beyond the color of the berry: in the same metabolomic space, aromatic varieties with white, pink, or red berries can be grouped together. Their common element, therefore, is not color, but a specific biochemical identity, with metabolites linked to aroma and its precursors.
