Do vine cropping and breeding practices affect the biogenic amine content of produced wines?

Biogenic amines (BAs) are nitrogen compounds commonly found in wine and some of them are commonly associated with poor sanitary conditions of the grapes. The main BAs of the wine are histamine, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine, spermine and spermidine. They can be associated with toxic effects in humans and many secondary BAs are believed to be cancerogenic compounds. To assure high levels of food quality and safety, this study aims to investigate the effects of different vineyard management practices on the BA concentrations in experimental Italian red wines produced in the same region from different grape varieties and under identical vinification procedures. The impact of two different horticultural cropping methods and three breeding techniques was considered. The quantification of eight BAs in experimental red wines was carried out by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a photodiode array (PDA) detector on dansylated amines. The results of the multivariate analysis evidenced that a correlation does exist between the BA content in wine and the relative vine management.