Seminar: July 18 | 2.00 p.m.-3.00 p.m. | Room 8.2.30
Marta Sousa Silva, BioSystems and Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon
From the Grapevine to the Glass: a Metabolomics Tale by MRMS
“The whole universe is in a glass of wine” [1]. This universe is the result of different biochemical processes that involve several players: the carefully selected grape varieties, the bacteria and yeasts present during fermentation, and the effects of terroir and geographical origin. The characterization of the chemical fingerprint of wine remains one the greatest challenges of analytical chemistry, defying all conventional approaches. Offering the highest resolution and mass accuracy possible and allowing the detection and identification of thousands of compounds in a single analysis, Magnetic Resonance Mass Spectrometry (MRMS, also known as Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, FT-ICR-MS) is ideal for metabolomics studies of complex samples such as wine.
We have been using MRMS to unfold the metabolomics wine tale, from the metabolic composition of grapevines [2,3], to the metabolic contribution from yeasts (both conventional and non-conventional), that goes beyond the fermentation process itself, and finally to the unique chemical signature of wine. This whole set of small molecules that contribute to the wine’s physical, aromatic and organoleptic properties, as a signature of its origin and authenticity, can be unraveled by MRMS, thus telling the wine tale, from the grapevine to the glass.
References
1. R. Feynman. The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Vol I, 3-10 (1964).
2. M. Maia, et al. Food & Function 10(7), 3822-3827 (2019).
3. M. Maia, et al. Scientific Reports 10, 15688 (2020).