Vineyard-mediated factors are still operative in spontaneous and commercial fermentations shaping the vinification microbial community and affecting the antioxidant and anticancer properties of wines

• Published in: Food research international 2023-11, Vol.173, p.113359-113359, Article 113359
• Main Authors: Papadopoulou, Elena, Bekris, Fotiοs, Vasileiadis, Sotirios, Krokida, Afroditi, Rouvali, Theodora, Veskoukis, Aristidis S., Liadaki, Kalliopi, Kouretas, Demetrios, Karpouzas, Dimitrios G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidant and anticancer activity; Cultivar; Terroir; Vinification microbiome; Vintage
• ISSN: 0963-9969; 1873-7145
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113359

[Display omitted] •Effects of vineyard-mediated factors on microbial succession in different vinifications were monitored.•Fungal and bacterial communities exhibited strong cultivar and vintage signatures.•Strong terroir signatures at vineyard and early fermentation stages disappear at later stages.•Vintage and vinification type affected the antioxidant and anticancer potential of wines.•Positive correlations of NS yeasts with the anticancer and antioxidant properties of wines were observed. The grapevine and vinification microbiota have a strong influence on the characteristics of the produced wine. Currently we have a good understanding of the role of vineyard-associated factors, like cultivar, vintage and terroir in shaping the grapevine microbiota. Notwithstanding, their endurance along the vinification process remains unknown. Thus, the main objective of our study was to determine how these factors influence (a) microbial succession during fermentation (i.e., bacterial and fungal) and (b) the antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticancer potential of the produced wines. These were evaluated under different vinification strategies (i.e., spontaneous V1, spontaneous with preservatives V2, commercial V3), employed at near full-scale level by local wineries, for two cultivars (Roditis and Sideritis), two terroir types, and two vintages. Cultivar and vintage were strong and persistent determinants of the vinification microbiota, unlike terroir whose effect became weaker from the vineyard, and early fermentation stages, where non-Saccharomyces yeasts, filamentous fungi (i.e., Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Lachancea, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Torulaspora) and acetic acid bacteria (AAB) (Gluconobacter, Acetobacter, Komagataeibacter) dominated, to late fermentation stages where Saccharomyces and Oenococcus become prevalent. Besides vineyard-mediated factors, the vinification process employed was the strongest determinant of the fungal community compared to the bacterial community were effects varied per cultivar. Vintage and vinification type were the strongest determinants of the antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticancer potential of the produced wines. Further analysis identified significant positive correlations between members of the vinification microbiota like the yeasts Torulaspora debrueckii and Lachancea quebecensis with the anticancer and the antioxidant properties of wines in both cultivars. These findings could be exploited towards a microbiota-modulated