Quality Changes in Grape Berry as Affected by the Use of Different Colored Shade Nets Proposed to Alleviate the Adverse Effects of Climate Change

Abstract

In Turkey, viticulture practices have displayed significant development with the production of high quality fresh grapes, juice, molasses and raisin. Grape berries contain high amount of phenolic compounds collected enormous interest due to their essential function in the improvement of produces attained from grapes, but also for their potential useful health effects as functional food. The purpose of present investigation was to reveal the effects of different colored shade nets on berry skin color and functional properties of grape juice. Four years old vines of ‘Alphonse Lavallee’ table grape were cultivated soilless in about 70 L black plastic pots containing sterile peat and perlite mixture under controlled glasshouse condition. The grapevines were covered with different colored shading nets (yellow, blue, white, red, green and black) at the beginning of the summer period. At commercial maturity, investigations show that berry skin color and the analyzed biochemical features of ‘Alphonse Lavallee’ table grape cultivar displayed great variations in response to the different colored shade net. Such differential effects should be evaluated when the use of shade nets is considered in protected viticulture to cope with environmental constraints. The findings may also be useful for the future experiments under conventional vineyard conditions.