Use of image analysis for the study of phenolic compounds of the grape berry skin (<em>Vitis vinifera</em> L., cv Cabernet franc)
Michel Chevalier,
Emilie Perrochon,
A. Clement,
Anne-Laure Dubot,
Marie Tellier,
Yves Cadot,
Gérard Barbeau
Affiliations
Michel Chevalier
UMR 1259, Génétique et Horticulture (GenHort), INRA Angers-Nantes, 42 rue Georges Morel, BP 60057, 49071 Beaucouzé Cedex, France
Emilie Perrochon
INRA, Unité expérimentale Vigne et Vin, 49071 Beaucouzé cedex, France
A. Clement
Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Systèmes Automatisés. Institut universitaire de Technologie, dép. G.E.I.I. 4, bd Lavoisier B.P. 42018, 49016 Angers cedex France
Anne-Laure Dubot
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité expérimentale Vigne et Vin, 49071 Beaucouzé cedex
Marie Tellier
INRA, Unité d'amélioration des espèces fruitières et ornementales, 49071 Beaucouzé cedex, France
Yves Cadot
Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences UMR1345 (INRA / Agrocampus-Ouest / Université d'Angers), 42 rue Georges Morel BP 60057, 49071 Beaucouzé Cedex, France
The localization and quantitative determination of phenolics in grape berry skins, from the onset of veraison, constitute the first step to understand the évolution of these compounds throughout the maturation process. Histological techniques are appropriate to study the evolution of phenolics but manual countings are long and drudgery and do not allow for reliable quantitative results. The image analysis software "Scion Image" proved to be a good tool to improve the quantitative results. This method permitted also to measure the cells area and the area occupied by phenolic compounds inside the vacuoles. Image analysis could be helpful to the understanding of the évolution of phenolics during maturation and possibly contribute to explain their extraction during macération.
