Aroma profile of Stanušina wines determined by GC-MS

Stanušina is an autochthonous Macedonian grape variety, grown mainly at the oldest Tikveš wine district, at the region near to the Tikveš Lake (Begnište, Resava and Brusani) in Republic of N. Macedonia. The main characteristic of this variety is its high endurance, especially on droughts and it ability to grow at vineyards with not very fertile soils. Before the period when the phylloxera was spread in XIX century causing devastating damage by infecting roots of European Vitis vinifera, including the grapevines in Macedonia too, Stanušina was the main variety for producing red wine in the region. In this study, nine Stanušina wines from the Tikveš wine district have been produced in order to determine their aroma profile. The analysis of aromatic composition was performed with GC-MS system consisted of GC-17A Gas Chromatograph and GC-MS-QP5050A Mass Spectrometer after liquid-liquid extraction. In total, 42 aroma compounds were detected revealing a complex aroma profile of Stanušina wines composed of high alcohols, esters, fatty acids, terpenes, volatile phenols and sulphur and other compounds. The dominant compounds were high alcohols, and among them, isoamyl alcohol (with fruity aroma of pear and banana) was the major compound, followed by 2-phenylethyl alcohol (with pleasant floral aroma of rose). Ethyl acetate, which influence floral and complex wine aroma, dominated in the group of esters, followed by ethyl lactate and ethyl succinate. Terpene alcohols such as nerol, geraniol, linalool and terpeniol, which determine the aroma of Muscat grape varieties, were detected in Stanušina, in which linalool and geraniol were the main terpenes. This study provides an important aroma characterization of Stanušina red wines useful for the viticulturists and winemakers confirming that this autochthonous variety possesses typicality and quality and should be considered for production of quality wines.

Keywords: aroma, alcohols, esters, terpenes, Stanušina wine

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by a grant from the CEEPUS, SK-1516-02-2122 Network BioScience, Food and Health, covering the study stay of Dragana Gicev at the Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of AgriSciences, Department of Viticulture and Enology, where the analyses were performed.