Geochemical influence of soil on leaf and grape (Vitis vinifera L. 'Cencibel') composition in La Mancha region (Spain)

The main purpose of the study was to evaluate ma-jor and trace elements contained in topsoil from rep-resentative plots of vineyards located in La Mancha, Spain, to obtain an elemental fingerprint of vines. The samples evaluated were obtained from topsoil in six different plots, belonging to the region of La Man-cha, characterized by the cultivation of vineyards (near 189.127 ha). Twenty different vines from each plot were chosen to take samples from grapes, petioles and leaves. Analyses were carried out by X-ray Fluorescence ap-plied on soils and dried vegetal matter. Biological Ab-sorption Coefficient (BAC) was calculated to assess the uptake of minerals by vines as a function of their spe-cific content in soil. The BAC in leaves and grapes was very similar for all studied elements. High contents of Ca, Sr, Ni and rare earth elements (La, Ce and Nd) were found along with low contents in Al, Zr, Ba, Cu, Zn and Pb, and normal contents in the rest of the elements. BAC in grapes was lower for the majority of the studied elements but it is interesting to underline the contents of Cs, K, Nb, Ce, Zn and Sr as possible mark-ers of soil fingerprinting in the resulting wines. K e y w o r d s: Trace elements, Strontium, vine physiol-ogy