Characterization of Protected Designation of Origin Lambrusco wines of Modena using NMR spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analysis

Lambrusco are a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) red wines produced in the province of Modena, one of the most relevant wine-producing region in Italy. For these wines also exists a production code, establishing the ampelographic composition depending on their geographical and historical region of origin. The application of NMR to food as quality control is a subject of great interest and represents an important tool to counter adulteration and sophistication [1]. In the present work we have employed NMR spectroscopy as a molecular fingerprint technique and control tool, allowing us to evaluate the authenticity of analysed wines. Using 1H NMR, 1H-13C HMBC, 1H-13C HSQC analyses as well as literature data, it has been possible to identify several metabolites. We have also applied several pattern recognition procedures, both unsupervised and supervised, to data sets obtained from 1H NMR, to achieve a reliable classification of the different wine samples. PCA was performed to verify the intrinsic variation in the data sets, while PLS-DA was applied to maximize separation between samples. In conclusion, it has been possible to successfully classify the samples depending on their varietal origin using 1H NMR coupled with chemometrics, and to identify the most relevant compounds, responsible for the varietal discrimination.