Industry Development and Support

Rapid analytical methods for the wine industry

The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) has a long history of developing applications of spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of grape and wines. Spectroscopic techniques used or developed by the AWRI includes the ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), near infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) wavelength regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. These have been used to develop methods for rapid analysis and quality control in the Australian wine industry, as well as by wine scientists and researchers.

Infrared and UV-Vis spectra can effectively represent a 'fingerprint' of the grape or wine sample being analysed and can be used to simplify and reduce analytical times for many grape and wine analytes. These advantages, together with the ability to provide detailed chemical information and simultaneously measure several analytes have been the impetus for developing such spectroscopic methods. Key factors contributing to the use of these methods at the AWRI and in the wine industry have been major advances in instrument reliability, readily available chemometrics software and improved computing power - these have enabled a paradigm shift in rapid analytical methods based on spectroscopic data.

Rapid sensor techniques are also increasingly being used by research scientists as cost-effective quantitative and qualitative analytical tools. Compared to traditional laboratory methods, these spectroscopic techniques often give new and better insight into complex problems by measuring a great number of chemical compounds at once, thus enabling the 'fingerprinting' of each sample. They can be used for continuous and non-destructive measurements on grape and wine products and processes over time, and in many cases give an understanding of the chemical properties of in-process materials during the production of various wine products. These methods are attractive due to their inherent features of versatility, flexibility, effectiveness and richness of information.