Wine Authenticity and Traceability with the Use of FT-IR

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) has gained popularity in the wine sector due to its simplicity and ability to provide a wine’s fingerprint. For this reason, it is often used for authentication and traceability purposes with more than satisfactory results. In this review, an outline of the reasons why authenticity and traceability are important to the wine sector is given, along with a brief overview of the analytical methods used for their attainment; statistical issues and compounds, on which authentication usually is based, are discussed. Moreover, insight on the mode of action of FT-IR is given, along with successful examples from its use in different areas of interest for classification. Finally, prospects and challenges for suggested future research are given. For more accurate and effective analyses, the construction of a large database consisting of wines from different regions, varieties and winemaking protocols is suggested.

Helium Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet Source Treatment of White Grapes Juice for Winemaking

“…Spectroscopic methods, like Ultraviolet-to-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) [61][62][63][64], Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) [48,[65][66][67][68][69][70][71] are also applied due to their easiness of use, cost-effective and no sample preparation also in combination with numerical/statistical methods (e.g., chemometric methods) [48,66,68,[72][73][74][75].…”

“…Another technique, the mid-range Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has become a valuable tool in wine analysis since it has been successfully used not only to detect and quantify key wine compounds but also to classify wines and monitor their fermentation or aging process, being a rapid-usage and minimum waste-producting method [65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][76][77][78][79][80]. Nowadays the FTIR technique is used even for authenticity and traceability of wine [48,69,73,81]. Most of the characteristic wavenumbers associated with functional groups found in wine samples, as reported in literature, are shown in Table 1.…”

“…Over the world, vines grow on all kinds of soil, but individual factors of soil formation particularities of an area give rise to soil variability and different challenges of vineyard management. The terroir concept is given by a complex of variables as: soil, local climate, cultivar and winemaking technique to describe the individual character or "personality" of wine from a specific vineyard area [47,48]. Vitis vinifera is the most important fruit species in the world, no matter its way of consumption as fresh grapes or being processed into raisins, juice or wine.…”

Improving Wine Quality and Safety

“…For fine wines, quality is of the outmost importance, while notions such as safety and integrity are equally necessary for their price justification. Indeed, a premium wine should first be safe to consume, present high-quality characteristics and have the means to communicate its superiority [1]. Wine quality is linked to wine appreciation and it is thus a term easier to perceive than to describe since there is not a direct way to measure it [2].…”

“…An important part of the commercial value of a wine relies on varieties and regions of origin (geographical) since wine marketing strategies focus on associating the product image and the perception of quality with a specific region and/or variety. Determination of wine authenticity is one of the most crucial issues that has gained a lot of interest internationally [1]. As adulteration of wine is an ongoing problem, there is a need for suitable analytical approaches to get more insights into the chemical composition and its changes associated with adulteration [6].…”