Effect of wounding on the maturity and chemical composition of Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.) berry

Phenolic compounds are important indicators of grape berry and wine quality. They also have many important effects on human health. Biotic and abiotic plant stressors are the factors that affect the composition and amounts of metabolites dramatically. Although wounding is one of these stressors, little is known about its effect on the accumulation and biosynthesis of the entire phenolic profile. This study aimed to identify the effects of human-made wounding to grapevine leaves on the accumulation of grape berry metabolites in cv. 'Cabernet Sauvignon' grapevines. Ten combinations of different wounding timing and treatment methods were applied to 20 years old grapevine plants. The data suggests that wounding treatments have the potential to diversify the phenolic compound profile and can be utilized for their management compared to the control group. Specifically, the E15 treatment accelerated MITSS/TA by 39.83% and increased the content of trans-resveratrol by 35.78% compared to the Control. On the other hand, the E10+W5+E3 treatment resulted in a regression in maturity parameters. The wounding treatment E10+W5 increased the total phenolics by 13.74%, total anthocyanin contents by 20.48%, and transresveratrol content by 93.05%. Additionally, the E5+W3 treatment demonstrated a significant increase of 19.65% in syringic acid and 21.89% in vanillic acid contents. Although the control application for antioxidant activity reached its peak value, it decreased in the E15+W5 treatment. As a result, it was determined that the responses given to the treatments were quite diverse. Nevertheless, they also found it applicable to manage berry maturity and quality indicators. Early wounding treatments accelerate maturity, and treatments performed more recently at harvest stop berry sugar accumulation. While late treatments increase the total phenolics, the responses of the phenolic compounds profile differ.