Methyl jasmonate and ozone affect the antioxidant system and the quality of wine grape during postharvest partial dehydration

Postharvest partial dehydration is a technique used in the production of important dry and sweet wines in Italy. An accurate management of the dehydration environmental parameters allows for the modulation of berry metabolism and the maintenance/improvement of the enochemical quality of grapes. As it is known that water loss induces oxidative processes in berries, our hypothesis was that methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and ozone (O3), as postharvest treatments before partial dehydration, might be beneficial for grape berry quality. Grape bunches were postharvest treated with 10 or 100 μM MeJA at 20 °C or with ozone gas at 10 °C, in 70% relative humidity (RH) and air flow, for 12 h; the control bunches were untreated and kept at 20 °C for 12 h. Subsequently, partial dehydration was performed at 10 °C until a 30% weight loss (w.l.) was reached. MeJA hastened grape berry water loss. Polyphenol and flavonoid contents at the end of the partial dehydration were lower in the MeJA-treated berries than in the control and ozone samples. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) activity rates increased in the treated samples. In contrast, lipoxygenase (LOX) and polyphenoloxidase (PPO) had lower activities in the MeJA-treated samples than in the controls. It would seem that MeJA accelerates grape water loss but at the same time activates the antioxidant system. Ozone does not accelerate grape water loss but induces the antioxidant system and increases polyphenol content.