This study aimed to characterize the effects of bunch rot and powdery mildew on the primary quality parameter of wine, the aroma. The influence of these fungal diseases was studied by comparative Aroma Extract Dilution Analyses (AEDA) and sensory tests. The effect of bunch rot was investigated on three grape varieties, namely White Riesling, Red Riesling and Gewürztraminer and that of powdery mildew on the hybrid Gm 8622-3; thereby, samples were selected that showed pronounced cases of infection to elaborate potential currently unknown effects. Both infections revealed aromatic differences induced by these fungi. The sensory changes were not associated with one specific compound only, but were due to quantitative variations of diverse substances. Bunch rot predominantly induced an increase in the intensities of peach-like/fruity, floral and liquor-like/toasty aroma notes. These effects were found to be related to variations in aroma substance composition as monitored via AEDA, mainly an increase in the FD factors of lactones and a general moderate increase of esters and alcohols. On the other hand, powdery mildew decreased the vanilla-like character of the wine while the remaining sensory attributes were rather unaffected. Correspondingly, FD factors of the main aroma constituents were either the same or only slightly modified by this disease. Moreover, bunch rot influenced the aroma profiles of the three varieties studied to a different degree. In hedonic evaluation, bunch rot-affected samples were rated as being more pleasant in comparison to their healthy controls in all three varieties while the powdery mildew-affected sample was rated as being less pleasant than its healthy control.

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Fungal infections are detrimental for viticulture since they may reduce harvest yield and wine quality. This study aimed to characterize the effects of bunch rot and powdery mildew on wine aroma by quantification of representative aroma compounds using Stable Isotope Dilution Analysis (SIDA). For this purpose, samples affected to a high degree by each fungus were compared with a healthy sample in each case; to this aim, the respective samples were collected and processed applying identical conditions. Thereby, the effects of bunch rot were studied in three different grape varieties: White Riesling, Red Riesling and Gewürztraminer whereas the influence of powdery mildew was studied on the hybrid Gm 8622-3. Analyses revealed that both fungal diseases caused significant changes in the concentration of most target compounds. Thereby, the greatest effects were increases in the concentration of phenylacetic acid, acetic acid and γ-decalactone for both fungi and all grape varieties. Regarding other compounds, however, inconsistent effects of bunch rot were observed for the three varieties studied.

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