Headspace-based techniques to identify the principal volatile compounds in red grape cultivars

The control of the raw material has a great influence on the final quality of wine. Nowadays, wineries have practically not incorporated an effective quality control of grape juice on their production process. Although wine aroma has been widely analysed, grape juice aroma for wine-making has been poorly studied. In this study, two headspace-based technique methodologies have been proposed to characterise the aroma of grape juice: static headspace (SHS) and headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME). Both techniques were applied on the samples from three maturation stages of two red grape cultivars: Tempranillo and Bobal, ranked first in Spanish and in Valencian Community cultivars, respectively. This study identifies the principal volatile compounds of grape juice: C-6 compounds, especially alcohols and aldehydes, using both techniques. It was confirmed that SHS and HS-SPME techniques could be incorporated into the process of the grape quality control in wineries as a result of its operational simplicity, low cost and reduced ecological impact compared with other conventional organic solvent-based techniques.