Fondazione Edmund Mach creates first metabolomic atlas of grape varieties

The Fondazione Edmund Mach has developed the world’s first metabolomic atlas of grape varieties. As part of the ‘Grape metabolome’ project, researchers created a map of relationships between 126 varieties based on the chemical composition of the grapes rather than their DNA.

Published in the ‘Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry’, the study provides a complementary perspective to genetic mapping. While genetic maps reconstruct relationships through DNA, this atlas compares varieties through their metabolome—the collection of chemical substances produced by the plant, including sugars, acids, polyphenols, and aromatic precursors.

General Director Riccardo Velasco described the work as the first holistic approach to detecting all compounds present in a product. The analysis allows for the identification of similarities and differences between varieties, helping to observe the relationship between genotype and phenotype, and has even led to the identification of previously unknown compounds.