Linking microbial community on grapes from two Portuguese wine regions to the biogenic amines production in musts

Abstract

Grapevine-associated microbiota influences wine organoleptic properties. Spoilage due to undesired microorganisms and biogenic amines (BAs) presence are two main constrains that must be seriously considered. In wine, BAs can originate from the grape berries or can be produced during fermentation, ageing or storage. This work aimed to understand if the high BAs levels observed in musts can have its origin in the microbial community present on grapes. The following methodologies were done: bacterial and fungal grapes communities' isolation, BAs quantification in grapes and musts and molecular amplification of the genes related to BAs production. For comparative purposes, microbial communities from grapes and musts from Douro (low BAs levels in musts) and Alentejo (high BAs levels in musts) were used. Higher number and diversity of bacteria were observed in Alentejo grapes comparatively to Douro ones. Filamentous fungi were predominant when compared with yeasts and the diversity was higher in Alentejo. BAs levels mainly due to putrescin were about ten times higher in grapes and musts from Alentejo. As bacteria isolated from Alentejo grapes showed a great BAs-production potential, namely putrescin, our results suggest a bacterial grape origin for the high putrescine levels found in fresh musts of this region.