Identification of metabolic markers of ripening near harvest in Pinot Noir

At the onset of berry ripening, four developmentally different berry classes exist simultaneously within the same cluster and represent the most and least developed berries. They were designated Green Hard (GH), Green Soft (GS), Pink Soft (PS) and Red Soft (RS). These classes are assumed indistinguishable from one another at harvest and that the four berry classes follow the ripening curve shown below. However, whether or not this synchronization occurs metabolically at commercial harvest has not been demonstrated. This study will describe the metabolome of Pinot noir near harvest. The objective of this study is to describe which metabolites exhibit minimal variability or persistent variability among the four classes of berries near harvest to clarify the contribution of ripeness heterogeneity to overall fruit quality.