Development of a molecular diagnostic test for the specific detection of Brettanomyces bruxellensis in red wine.

Brettanomyces bruxellensis is considered the main source of spoilage in red wine. This yeast, by producing volatile phenols, is responsible for the development of unpleasant aromas affecting the quality of final products and resulting in substantial economic losses for wine producers. This work therefore describes the development of an easy to-use colorimetric molecular diagnostic test for the rapid and specific detection of B. bruxellensis in wine. Detection was achieved using a sandwich hybridization format in which the target RNA was recognized by an immobilized DNA capture probe and a labelled DNA signal probe. The proposed device was highly specific to B. bruxellensis and showed a linear relationship between measured signal and target RNA concentration in the range 0.1-5 ng µL-1, with a limit of detection value of 0.1 ng µL-1 of total RNA. The colorimetric assay was validated on red wine samples, with a detection limit of 102 CFU mL-1. This study suggests that the reported method could be used for early detection of spoilage yeasts in wine and other alcoholic beverages.

Democratization of Copper Analysis in Grape Must Following a Polymer-Based Lab-on-a-Chip Approach.

Quality control in the food industry is of the upmost importance from the food safety, organoleptic and commercial viewpoints. Accordingly, the development of in situ, rapid, and costless analytical tools is a valuable task in which we are working. Regarding this point, the copper content of grape must has to be determined by wineries along the wine production process. For this purpose, grape must samples are sent to laboratories where the copper content is measured usually by flame atomic absorption spectrometry or by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We herein propose a straightforward, rapid, and inexpensive methodology based both on a film-shaped colorimetric polymer sensor and a smartphone method that at the same time can be used by unskilled personnel. The sensory polymer films change their color upon dipping them on the grape must, and the color evolution is analyzed using the digital color parameters of a picture taken to the film with a smartphone. Furthermore, the analytical procedure is automatically carried out by a smartphone app. The limit of detection of copper of the polymer sensor is 0.08 ppm. Following this approach, 18 production samples coming from the French Groupe ICV company were studied. The copper content of the samples was analyzed by the usual procedure carried out by the company (flame atomic absorption spectrometry) and by the method proposed in this work, ranging this content from 0.41 to 6.08 ppm. The statistical study showed that the results of both methods are fully consistent, showing the validity of the proposed method for the determination of copper in grape must within the frame of wine production wineries and industries.