Induction of Resveratrol Biosynthesis in Grape Skins and Leaves by Ultrasonication Treatment

Grapes (Vitis vinifera) are one of the most important fruits worldwide and are eaten raw or after conversion to jelly, jam, juice and wine. Grape skins are a major source of resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene), which has the ability to reduce blood sugar as well as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and other beneficial cardiovascular effects. In this study, we investigated the increased accumulation of resveratrol in grape skin and leaves following ultrasonication treatment, which has been shown to induce resveratrol accumulation in several plants. Various ultrasonication treatment times and incubation periods were employed to identify the optimum conditions for the maximum accumulation of resveratrol. Treatment and further incubation led to increased resveratrol in both grape skins and leaves, with the highest increases of 7.7-fold and 1.9-fold occurring in response to 5 min ultrasonication treatment followed by 6 hour incubation and 15 min ultrasonication treatment followed by 3 hour incubation, respectively. The underlying mechanism for the increased amounts of resveratrol were studied by employing a semi-quantitative RT-PCR to monitor the expression levels of the resveratrol synthase (RS) gene in response to ultrasonication treatment. The RS gene increased the expression in response to ultrasonication treatment, suggesting that up-regulation of the RS gene by ultrasonication treatment triggers increased amounts of resveratrol. Taken together, these data indicate that this simple ultrasonication treatment of grapes can be an efficient post-harvest technology for increasing resveratrol in grape skins in addition to cleaning the fruits.