Wine authenticity using alternative DNA-based platforms

Trabajo presentado para lograr el título de Doctor por la Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Doctorado en Genética Molecular Comparativa

Wine production is a sector of great economic significance worldwide and one of the main agrifood sectors in Portugal, which is known for its long tradition in winemaking and its rich diversity of grapevine varieties. Although around 343 varieties are authorized for production (most of those autochthonous), many face the threat of extinction due to underutilization. However, there has been a recent trend where these minor varieties are being incorporated into new blends, alongside the efforts of reviving old vineyards containing ancient varieties, to produce differentiated highly quoted wines. The market value of such wines makes them particularly vulnerable to different forms of fraud and adulteration, for instance, the mislabeling of varieties used in production. To protect both producers and consumers, it is fundamental to develop efficient tools to ensure wine authenticity, ideally throughout the wine chain. Among the various strategies for attesting wine authenticity, DNA-based techniques are particularly interesting, as DNA is unaffected by environmental factors in comparison to other targeted analytes. The main aim of this thesis is the development of DNA-based methodologies for wine authenticity assessment, focused on grapevine varietal identification throughout the wine chain. By pursuing two different, yet complementary, approaches, this study seeks to develop new platforms applicable in laboratorial conditions as well as in a wine company context, aiming for a broader utilization. Molecular markers are at the basis of both approaches, namely Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), which reveal the intraspecific diversity of grapevine varieties, allowing their discrimination based on genetic information. [...]

O financiamento foi providenciado pela FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) na forma de uma bolsa de doutoramento com a referência SFRH/BD/146346/2019 e do projeto WineBioCode referência PTDC/AGR-ALI/117341/2010.