Posted by In a recent study [1], spray coatings have shown potential in preventing the absorption of smoke phenols (i.e. pollutants resulting from wildfires) potentially causing off-favors into wine grapes. Some cellulose nanofiber-based coatings with beta-cyclodextrin, pectin or varying concentrations of chitosan were applied as films and their potential for deposition or penetration of phenols (guaiacol, m-cresol, and syringol) was evaluated. The coatings were also applied to Pinot noir grapes in a vineyard. The type of coating and application time in a vineyard did not affect physicochemical properties, size, and weight of the berries, whereas chitosan-based coatings resulted in a higher anthocyanin content of berries.
The motivation of this research was induced by wildfire smoke that enveloped much of Oregon, Washington, California and British Columbia in September 2020 and significantly impacted wine grape quality [2].
The fires coincided with the harvest time for grapes. At the time, vineyard managers were unsure of the impact of wildfire smoke on their crop and as a result many decided the uncertainty wasn’t worth the cost to harvest their grapes and potential impact on wine quality.
The smoke event resulted in more than $3 billion in losses for the wine industry.
[1] Evaluation of Functional Spray Coatings for Mitigating the Uptake of Volatile Phenols by Pinot Noir Wine Grapes via Blocking, Absorption, and/or Adsorption
Trung T. Tran, Jooyeoun Jung, Lindsay Garcia, Joseph Deshields, Cole Cerrato, Michael H. Penner, Elizabeth Tomasino, Alexander Levin, and Yanyun Zhao
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2023 71 (50), 20222-20230
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c05621