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Food Chemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem
Analytical Methods
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This work was conducted in an organic vineyard in Bari (South-Eastern Italy) to evaluate copper concen-
Received 6 November 2008 trations in grapes and wines of four local and international varieties (Chardonnay, Primitivo, Uva di Troia
Received in revised form 14 October 2009 and Negroamaro) and to relate these contents to total and available copper concentrations in soil.
Accepted 24 March 2010
Approximately 7.4 kg/ha of copper were used in the trial year. Soil copper availability was higher in
the 0–20 cm (10.3%) than in the 20–40 cm layer (4.7%). No copper phytotoxicity was observed on leaves.
Copper residues on berries and in wines resulted below the maximum residue levels (MRLs). Concentra-
Keywords:
tions in berries increased with applications number and varied according to the variety. Copper content
Copper
Organic viticulture
in the white wine (Chardonnay) was higher with respect to red ones (Primitivo, Uva di Troia and Negro-
Soil amaro). Results provided evidence that in the natural conditions typical of a Mediterranean environment,
Berries characterised by calcareous soils and a dry climate, the use of copper formulations in vineyards according
Wine to European legislation guidelines should not raise any concern with regards to human health.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.03.103
Author's personal copy
as they provide no insight into the real amount of Cu transferred 2.3. Soil physical and chemical analyses
from soils to plants.
On the other hand, the accurate determination of copper in Prior to analysis, soil samples were air-dried at green house
wine is of crucial importance for wine quality. Elevated copper temperature (approximately 25–30 °C), lightly ground, mixed
concentrations can cause oxidative spoilage leading to pinking of thoroughly in order to homogenise them, and sieved through a
red wine, browning of white wine as well as haze formation. The 2 mm stainless steel sieve. Soils chemical and physical analyses
generally recommended ‘‘safe” copper concentration (total copper) were carried out in accordance with internationally recommended
is below 0.3–0.5 lg ml1 (Clark & Scollary, 2000). and accepted analysis procedures and/or Italian official methods
The objective of the present research is to evaluate total copper (MIPAAF, 1999). Particles sizes distribution was determined using
contents in grapes and wines of four local and international varie- the pipette method (Gee & Bauder, 1986), after dispersing soil
ties namely Chardonnay, Negroamaro, Primitivo and Uva di Troia samples with sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium carbonate
grown in a Mediterranean organic vineyard and to relate these solutions. Textural classes were determined in accordance with
contents to total and available copper concentrations in soil. USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) classification. Soil
pH was measured by a pH meter Crison Basic 20Ò in distilled
water pHH2 O using a suspension 1:2.5 soil to water phase ratio.
2. Experimental Electrical conductivity (EC) was determined by a conductimeter
(XS instruments cond. 510Ò) on an aqueous extract (soil filtrate)
2.1. Field trial of a mixture soil to water 1:2 ratio. Organic carbon was deter-
mined by Walkley and Black method modified by Jackson
This work was conducted in an experimental spur-pruned or- (1958). Total carbonate was determined using a volumetric meth-
ganic vineyard established in 2002 at the Mediterranean Agro- od based on its dissolution with hydrochloric acid (HCl) followed
nomic Institute of Bari (IAM-B) (approximate coordinates: 41°020 by measurement in Dietrich–Fruehling calcimeter. Available Cu
as latitude and 16°530 as longitude), Apulia region, South-Eastern was determined by DTPA (0.05 M DTPA + 0.01 M CaCl2 + 0.1 M tri-
Italy. In the vineyard four renowned counter espalier-trained wine ethanolamine (TEA) solution buffered at pH 7.3 with HCl) with 2 h
varieties are grown: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Uva di Troia and Char- of continuous shaking (Lindsay & Norvell, 1978). Extracts were fil-
donnay. The vineyard was divided into eight plots each covering a tered with Whatman 42 before their analysis by ICP-OES – induc-
land area of about 150 m2 and containing 15 plants for each of the tively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (Thermo
four varieties. Each statistical treatment (control and copper-trea- Electron, ICAP 3000Ò) at 324.75 nm wavelength. All chemicals
ted) was repeated on four plots. Copper treatments, carried out used were of analysis grade and purchased from Sigma Aldrich,
using a formulation containing 20% of copper as oxychloride Milan, Italy.
(OssiclorÒ), were initiated as the rule of the three tens was fulfilled
(10 °C; 10 mm of rainfall; 10 cm-long shoots) and carried on only 2.4. Total copper analysis
when climatic conditions resulted favourable to fungus develop-
ment (high humidity and rainfall). Approximately 1000 L of spray- For soil analysis the following procedure was carried out: 0.5 g
ing mixture (copper-based formulation + water) were used in each of fine soil were put in 50 ml Teflon vessels, with automated pres-
application. Temperature (max, min and mean), humidity (max, sure and temperature regulation, then 3.0 ml of 70% HNO3, 1.0 ml
min and mean) and rainfall were constantly recorded during the 37% HCl and 1.0 ml of 30% H2O2 were poured in the vessels. Soils
whole period of the trial at the agro-meteorological station of the were digested in a microwave oven (CEMÒ, MarsX Press) as follow:
IAM-B. 3 min at 140 °C; 3 min at 165 °C, and 20 min at 190 °C. Soil extracts
were then filtered by Whatman 42 paper filter.
Berries were analysed as follow: 1 g of the homogenised sample
2.2. Soil and bunches sampling was poured in a 250 ml Erlenmeyer beaker, acidified with concen-
trated HNO3 and added with 20 ml of H2O2. The total volume was
During April 2006, before starting treatments during the new reduced to 3 ml on a heating plate and 9 ml of concentrated HCl
vine growing season, soil samples were collected at 0–20 cm and and 3 ml of concentrated HNO3 were added. A condenser with a
20–40 cm depths. Three sub-samples were collected from different water-based cooling system was applied to the flask and heated
places and were bulked to obtain a representative sample for the for 2 h. The volume was adjusted to 50 ml with distilled water.
site. Only 10 ml of the solution were submitted to analysis. Five deter-
Four different bunches of each variety were sampled in July 19, minations were made for each grape variety and each sample.
August 20, September 19, and 26. The same number of bunches of Bunches were submitted to micro-vinification at the Santi Dim-
each variety were also collected from the vineyard part that has itri winery in Galatina (Lecce, Italy). Micro-vinification was carried
not been treated so that copper determined in these samples can out according to a standard winemaking protocol set for organic
be considered as natural. grape cultivars and designed to limit, as much as possible, techno-
Copper predicted environmental concentrations in soil (PECs) logical interventions and remedial actions during all winemaking
are evaluated assuming that no copper degradation occurs be- stages: crushing, de-stemming, pressing, fermentation, decanting,
tween its application and sampling dates, that the whole quantity filtration, clarification, etc. The aim is not to obtain excellent wines,
of copper sprayed remains in the top 10 cm horizon and that the but ‘‘natural” wines that are as much as possible the expression of
sampled soil has a bulk density of 1.25 g/cm3. It is also assumed grape variety and the terroir (mainly soil and climate) interaction.
that even if vines intercept a part of copper during treatments, that White wine (Chardonnay) making included: soft vacuum pressing,
fraction ends up in soil after rain-induced washing-off and/or after static cold settling and fermentation at 13 °C. Red wines (Primitivo,
leaves fall. Of course, it is supposed that the copper-based pesticide Negroamaro, and Uva di Troia) making comprised: entire berries
distribution was homogeneous in the whole field. In addition, it is maceration for 6 days, fermentation at 28 °C, soft vacuum pressing
also assumed that the amount of copper absorbed by plants and and short ageing. Since the objective was that of producing a ‘‘nat-
stored in the different organs (leaves, bunches, shoots, etc.) that ural” wine no selected yeast strains were added. All the instru-
are removed by some cultural operations (hard and green pruning, ments used during the pressing, fermentation, decanting,
bunches thinning, harvest, etc.) is so small that it can be neglected. filtration, clarification, fermentation or short ageing do not contain
Author's personal copy
copper. Moreover, the same instruments and utensils were used to 3.2. Copper quantities used in the vineyard
process and handle all the wine samples. Therefore, we can exclude
that during the micro-vinification process any copper contamina- In the year of the trial, climatic conditions produced two impor-
tion occurred. Wine samples were analysed just before bottling tant infectious cycles when important rainfall events occurred dur-
in March/May 2007. The sample pretreatment procedure adopted ing the growing season (Fig. 1).
was that suggested by Brainina et al. (2004) for not aged wines Disease levels were medium on leaves and medium–low on
with a 3:10 dilution in 5% HNO3. bunches. As for leaves, Negroamaro resulted the most susceptible
All total copper determinations were performed using an opti- cultivar and Chardonnay the most resistant. Regarding bunches,
cal emission spectrometer (Thermo Electron, ICAP 3000) at the least susceptible varieties were Chardonnay and Negroamaro.
324.75 nm wavelength. No infection was observed on shoots. Apart from shoots, a signifi-
cant statistical difference (ANOVA and Student’s T-test) was always
observed between the control and the copper-treated statistical
2.5. Statistical analyses treatment in terms of disease incidence.
Copper treatments performed during the trial are reported in
Data were analysed, when necessary, by one-way analysis of Table 2. Nine treatments were carried out with rates that ranged
variance (ANOVA) and Student’s T-test. Duncan test was used for from 350 ml/hl, at the beginning of the season, to 450 ml/hl in
multiple range separation of means. Significant differences were June, which is the month with maximum disease pressure and
determined at a significance level equal to or lower than 5% highest plant organs susceptibility. Intervals between treatments
(p 6 5%). An SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) soft- ranged from 5 to 12 days.
ware version (SPSS 12.0 for Windows) was used to carry out all sta- The organic farm was established in 2002 and copper was used
tistical tests. for the first time in 2004. The vineyard has been managed accord-
ing to organic agriculture rules since its establishment. Copper
quantities used were: 5 kg/ha in 2004 and 13 kg/ha in 2005. The
3. Results and discussion total amount of copper used in the year of the trial, 2006, was
7.4 kg/ha corresponding to a PEC of 5.9 mg/kg. Moreover, med-
3.1. Soil physical and chemical properties ium-term PEC (2004–2006) should be equal to 20.3 mg/kg.
The European Commission regulation No. 473/2002, amending
Results of chemical and physical analyses are shown in Table 1. the European Council regulation No. 2092/91 on organic agricul-
As data show, the soil is alkaline, with a balanced texture and is ture, limited copper use to 6 kg/ha/year from 2006 and further
quite rich in organic matter (OM). Clay content increases with reductions are not excluded in the new Council regulation No.
depth. EC is higher in the shallow sampling layer. OM contents 834/2007. This limit is calculated considering the whole organic
are slightly higher in the subsoil. Total carbonate (TC) contents farm land area and not each hectare of that farm or each field. This
are quite high in the 0–20 cm layer probably due to the fact that means, in practical terms and for organic certification purposes,
Apulian vine growers are used to crashing rocks, especially calcar- that even when the total quantity of copper used on a specific crop
eous ones, in their vineyards. (grapevine in the present case) is higher than 6 kg/ha/year, organic
Table 1
Soil chemical and physical properties. Averages were calculated considering all the samples collected at the same depth. pHH2 O , EC, organic matter and total carbonate values were
expressed as means ± standard errors.
Depth (cm) Clay (g/kg) Texture class (USDA) pHH2 O (1:2.5) Organic matter (g/kg) EC (dS/m) Total carbonate (g/kg)
0–20 233 Loam 7.99 ± 0.01 20.7 ± 0.7 0.30 ± 0.02 228 ± 22
20–40 314 Silt loam 7.93 ± 0.01 26.1 ± 1.6 0.19 ± 0.01 31 ± 10
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
July III
June III
July II
August III
March III
April III
May III
June II
July I
August II
Feb. III
March II
April II
May II
June I
Sept. III
August I
Feb. II
March I
April I
May I
Sept. II
Feb. I
Sept. I
Oct. I
Fig. 1. Climatic conditions in IAM-B vineyard, 2006. Climatic parameters are reported as decades’ (10 days) averages.
Author's personal copy
Table 2
Copper-based treatments in IAM-B vineyard.
Treatments No. Dates Dose (ml/hl) Phenological stage Interval between treatments (days)
1 April 20 350 Separate leaves –
2 May 02 12
3 May 12 400 Bunches differentiation 10
4 May 22 Separate bunches 10
5 May 29 Bloom 7
6 June 03 450 End bloom 6
7 June 09 Berries setting 6
8 June 14 5
9 August 19 Veraison 66
farmers can stay in line with the organic regulation reducing the yards, DTPA-extractable Cu ranged from 5% to 52% of total copper
use of copper on another grape cultivar or even on a different crop (Flores-Veles, Ducaroir, Jaunet, & Robert, 1996). In general, copper
(e.g., olive). availability was quite high despite the soil pHH2 O was almost 8.0.
Table 3
Copper content (mg/kg) on berries of the four wine grapes varieties. Sampling on 26 September was carried out only on cv. Uva di Troia which is the only late-ripening variety.
Values are expressed as means ± standard errors of the means (n = 3). Concentrations of copper in berries of different cultivars sampled the same day and from the same statistical
treatment (control or treated) followed by different letters are significantly different according to Duncan test at p 6 5%.
120 111.0
93.3
100
80
60
40
20
9.6 5.25 10.3 4.7 2.2 2.5
0
Primitivo
Troia
20-40 cm
20-40 cm
0-20 cm
0-20 cm
Uva di
Chardonnay
Negroamaro
Soil total copper (mg/kg) Soil copper availability(%) Total copper in grapes (September 19)
Fig. 2. Total copper and copper availability in IAM-B organic vineyard soil and corresponding total copper concentrations in berries grown on the same soil. Bars represent
standard errors of the means.
In our study no copper phytotoxicity symptoms were observed to a half of available copper in the shallow layer (0–20 cm). Copper
on plants organs especially leaves and shoots, which are consid- concentrations in the wines were lower than those found in the
ered the most sensitive organs. In general, vine is tolerant to high grape berries. Residues in the wines were always lower than the
copper doses since roots are deep and it possesses quite a wide MRL.
range of potential cellular mechanisms that may be involved in Results obtained in this paper point toward the general conclu-
heavy metals detoxification and tolerance to heavy metals-induced sion that in the natural conditions typical of a Mediterranean envi-
stresses (Hall, 2002; Hoof et al., 2001; Leopold, Gunther, Schmidt, ronment characterised by calcareous soils and a dry climate, the
& Neumann, 1999). In addition, it must be considered that in cal- use of copper formulations in vineyards according to the European
careous soils, as those of Apulia, Cu should be precipitated as regulation on copper use in organic farms should not raise any con-
hydroxides or carbonates (Delas, 1963). cern with regards to human health.
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