Surface metabolic composition of berries collected from 13 Bulgarian grapevine plants

The surface metabolic composition of berries, collected from the Bulgarian grapevine variety Storgozia, and 12 of its seedlings were studied by GC/MS. Diverse surface metabolites were identified. The main components were long chain n-alkanes, terpenoids, and esterified long-chain fatty acids. Amongst them, the terpenoids were most abundant, including, as are typical for plants, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids and triterpenoids. Cyperene, a sesquiterpene hydrocarbon, was identified for the first time in grapes. This compound and most of the other identified metabolites are known to possess biological functions that most probably contribute to the quality of grape berries and their defences against biotic and abiotic stressors.