DETERMINATION OF YLOID IN SOIL AND GRAPEVINE SYSTEM (VITIS VINIFERA L.) BY ICP-MS TECHNIQUE: A HOPEFUL PROXY FOR THE GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS? A VALIDATION STUDY WITH DIFFERENT VARIETIES AND ROOTSTOCKS

Abstract

The rising importance given from legislators and consumers to provenance of food purchased and/or eaten, in last years motivated several researches to identification of the geographical origin of food. The knowledge of a chemistry relationship between the soil and the agricultural products is an important tool for the quality assessment of food. YLOID (Y, La and Lanthanides) have recognized as very useful tracers because of their generally coherent and predictable behavior. This behavior can also be applied to explain the mechanisms of element intake by plants. Current knowledge suggests no preferential sorption of any element in overall root samples as well as in epigeal samples of several plants. We studied the YLOID to evaluate and trace the distribution from soil to the grape in Vitis vinifera L. Much of the world’s viticulture is based on grafting, finding the major reason to use rootstocks in their resistance to several problems. Reports have also proved that rootstocks affect vine growth, yield, fruit and wine quality. These effects take place in a more or less indirect manner and are consequences of interactions between environmental factors and the physiology of the scion and rootstock cultivars employed. For these reasons were carried out experimental trials to verify if two different red cultivars, grafted onto six different rootstocks, on identical soil could reproduce the same soil YLOID distribution. The YLOID amounts and distribution in grapevine-soil system were determined and relationship Yb vs La and/or the pattern of distribution of YLOID were calculated. The results show that the different rootstocks were not able to induce differences in YLOID uptake from the soil so maintaining the soil fingerprint. The results obtained updates the scarce knowledge available on YLOID composition in sicilian vineyard soils, grapes and wines moreover suggest the YLOID study as a promising tool for the grapevine geographical origin characterization.