Metabolic constituents of grapevine and grape-derived products

Abstract

The numerous uses of the grapevine fruit, especially for wine and beverages, have made it one of the most important plants worldwide. The phytochemistry of grapevine is rich in a wide range of compounds. Many of them are renowned for their numerous medicinal uses. The production of grapevine metabolites is highly conditioned by many factors like environment or pathogen attack. Some grapevine phytoalexins have gained a great deal of attention due to their antimicrobial activities, being also involved in the induction of resistance in grapevine against those pathogens. Meanwhile grapevine biotechnology is still evolving, thanks to the technological advance of modern science, and biotechnologists are making huge efforts to produce grapevine cultivars of desired characteristics. In this paper, important metabolites from grapevine and grape derived products like wine will be reviewed with their health promoting effects and their role against certain stress factors in grapevine physiology.

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of the synthesis of grapevine phytochemicals

Fig. 2

Structures of major polyphenols identified in grape seed extract

Fig. 3

Biosynthetic pathway from phenylalanine to different classes of phenolics found in grapevine and wine

Fig. 4

Chemical structures of stilbene phytoalexins. Glc: glucosyl (C₆H₁₁O₅)

Fig. 5

Pathogen related (PR) proteins in grapevine. 1—Busam et al. (1997), 2—Ferreira et al. (2001), 3—Hayasaki et al. (2001), 4—Vivier and Pretorius (2002), 5—Colova-Tsolova (2000), 6—Renault et al. (1996), 7—Kraeva et al. (1998)