Published: June 06, 2011 r2011 American Chemical Society 7224 dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf2006003 | J. Agric. Food Chem. 2011, 59, 7224–7236 ARTICLE pubs.acs.org/JAFC Accumulation and Distribution Pattern of Macro- and Microelements and Trace Elements in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay Berries Daniela Bertoldi,* ,† Roberto Larcher, † Massimo Bertamini, † Stefan Otto, § Giuseppe Concheri, # and Giorgio Nicolini † † FEM-IASMA Fondazione Edmund Mach À Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’ Adige, via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’ Adige (TN), Italy § Institute of Agro-environmental and Forest Biology (IBAF-CNR), Viale dell’Universit  a 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD) Italy # Agricultural Biotechnology Department, University of Padova, Viale dell’Universit  a 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD) Italy ABSTRACT: This paper describes the accumulation pattern of 42 mineral elements in Vitis vinifera L. berries during development and ripening and their distribution in berry skin, seeds, and flesh around harvest time. Grape berries were sampled in two different vineyards with alkaline soil and analyzed using a ICP-MS. Although elemental amounts were significantly different in the grapes from the two vineyards, the accumulation pattern and percentage distribution in different parts of the berries were generally quite similar. Ba, Eu, Sr, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn accumulate prior to veraison. Al, Ce, Dy, Er, Ga, Gd, Ho, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, Sn, Zr, Th, Tm, U, Y, and Yb accumulate mainly prior to veraison but also during ripening. Ag, As, B, Cd, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ge, Hg, K, Li, Na, P, Rb, Sb, Se, and Tl accumulate progressively during growth and ripening. With regard to distribution, Ba, Ca, Eu, Fe, Mn, P, Sr, and Zn accumulate mainly in the seeds, Al, B, Ga, Sn, and the rare earths analyzed, except for Eu, accumulate mainly in the skin, and Ag, As, Cd, Cs, Cu, Ge, Hg, K, Li, Mg, Na, Rb, Sb, Se, Th, Tl, U, and Zr accumulate mainly in the flesh. A joint representation of the accumulation and distribution patterns for the elements in the berry is also given. KEYWORDS: Vitis vinifera L., Chardonnay, grape, ICP-MS, mineral elements, skin, seeds , flesh ’ INTRODUCTION Knowledge of the accumulation of mineral elements in plants and their distribution in the different parts of fruit has been considered to be essential for biochemical and physiological studies 1 and is a fundamental tool for supporting traceability studies on the geographical origin of food commodities, 2,3 table grapes and wine included. 4À11 The presence of each mineral element in soil and plants, above all trace and ultratrace elements, is considered to be closely tied to the geological composition of the underlying mother rock, the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and the specific ability of the plant to take up and accumulate each individual element. 12 Biological and biochemical research generally defines trace elements as those elements present in very low concentra- tions, below 0.01% in the organism. 13 Sometimes micronutrients such as Zn, Mn, B, and Cu are also included among trace elements; however, strictly speaking, trace elements should be defined as elements not identified as essential for living beings. 14 Besides known nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, Ni, Mo, and Cl 15,16 ) and the so-called “beneficial elements” (e.g., Na, Si, Co 15 ), many others would seem to promote different physiological processes, although absorption and action mecha- nisms and specific roles, as well as levels of concentration and distribution in the different parts of the plant, are not yet known or are still unclear. The number of elements assumed to have a function or a physiological role has increased over the years as a consequence of improvements in analytical techniques and new research. 13,15,16 Some trace elements such as Li, Ni, Rb, Se, V, and rare earths are reported to have positive effects on growth and production in some plant species. Ag, Au, Br, Cd, F, Hg, Pb, I, and U are reported to affect the permeability of the plasma membrane, whereas other elements, such as Se, As, Sb, Te, W, Al, Be, Zr, Cs, Rb, Li, Sr, and rare earths, can compete with or substitute essential elements in different molecules and enzymes. Trace elements and nutrients may have synergic or antagonistic interaction and be beneficial or phytotoxic depending on their concentration level. 12 Several basic studies have investigated the principal macro- elements; 17À21 however, for most microelements and trace elements there is a lack of in-depth knowledge about their biological role and concentration in the vine. With regard to 10 macro- and microelements, Rogiers et al. 22 studied patterns in accumulation and partitioning in berry tissues during grape ripening. They divided these elements into two groups according to the accumulation pattern: those that accumulate throughout berry growth and ripening (B, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, P, and S, phloem- mobile elements) and those that accumulate mostly prior to veraison (Ca, Mn, and Zn, xylem-mobile minerals). They observed that flesh and skin were the strongest sinks for B and K, whereas seeds were the strongest sink for Ca, Mn, P, S, and Zn. With regard to rare earth elements, their content in soil, grapes, must, and wine and their distribution in the berry were investigated. 23,24 The rare earth elements profile, after normal- ization against Ce, was similar from soil to wine, at least for rare earths with lower atomic weight, although absolute contents Received: February 11, 2011 Revised: June 3, 2011 Accepted: June 5, 2011