Vine Waste Valorisation: Integrated Approach for the Prospection of Bioactive Lipophilic Phytochemicals

Abstract

Substantial amounts of vine wastes are produced during vineyard management, and the chemical profiling of high-value lipophilic phytochemicals is becoming crucial in order to find a complementary route towards their integrated valorisation. The prospection of bioactive phytochemicals from unripe grape, vine shoot, vine cane, stalk and leaf dichloromethane extracts was carried out by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), analysing samples from a mixture of four red Vitis vinifera L. varieties (Baga, Aragonez, Água Santa and Shiraz), collected at Bairrada Appellation, as a representative case study of typical multi-variety Portuguese vineyards. Vine wastes showed distinct amounts of lipophilic extract, ranging from 0.68% (vine canes) to 13.35% (vine leaves) at dry weight (dw). Thirty-three components were identified, including fatty acids and alcohols, sterols and triterpenoids accounting for amounts from 118.9 mg/100 g dw to 1512.0 mg/100 g dw. The integrated study revealed that unripe grape, stalk and leaf dichloromethane extracts stood out as possible sources of triterpenic compounds (103.2 to 653.5 mg/100 g dw), with lupeol, ursolic and oleanolic acids prevailing. Leaf extract is also reported as an undervalued source of α-tocopherol, as the major component detected in this matrix (300.5 mg/100 g dw). These exploratory results are a relevant contribution for the exploitation of undervalued vine residues as a source of health-promoting components with the potential to be used as supplements or nutraceutical ingredients.