Agricultural antifreeze? Sask. researchers say spray could help wine grapes handle cold better

An agricultural biotech group based out of the University of Saskatchewan wants to help protect wine grapes from the cold, and that'swelcome news to vineyard owners across the country.

U of S chemist Naveen Diddihas been examining aroundglassflask filledwith an orange-coloured substancecontainingabscisic acid or ABA:a naturally-occurring plant hormone, and says research shows it's alsoa key ingredient in keeping wine grape crops alive.

"It's fluffy," Diddi said. "It sticks to the glass."

Diddiis part of a team with ABAzyne BioScience, an agriculturalbiotech company based at the U of S, that's using ABA in a solution that can be sprayed on the cropsto make themmore resistantto frigid winter temperatures.

ABA closes a plant's stomata the tiny pore-like structures on itsleaves and stem. It helps defend the plant from cold temperatures. ABAzyne's spray is a slightly modified version of ABA outlasting the natural hormone, which breaks down in plants.

Sue Abrams, chief scientist with ABAzyne, said experiments using the sprayon wine grape crops in Ontario show promising results.

"Those grape vines, when sprayed with [our]solution,... were able to be 5 C [to]6 C more tolerant to freezing temperatures," said Abrams. "And that's enough to get them through the winter."

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The research in Ontariowas done by Jim Willwerth atBrock University in St. Catharines, Ont.

Willwerth, an assistant professor of biological sciences who studies grape vines, said the spray not only kept his crop hardier to the cold, but also kept themdormant during periods of warmer weather in the winter.

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ABAzyne research shows some varieties of grapes stayed dormant for an additional 16 days during warm spells, once the spray was applied.

"Plants are really responsive to climate," said Willwerth. "As soon as they start to have weeks of warm weather, it'll cause them to start to lose that cold tolerance."

Ben-Min Chang, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Summerland, B.C., said warm weather in winter triggers the plantsto wake up fromdormancy.

Hesaid temperature extremes driven by climate change in B.C. this winter were detrimental to wine grape crops.

"Wehad ...a super warm winter and suddenly [a]cold snap [came]," said Chang. "For grape vines, there's no time for them to get used to that sudden change."

A report from B.C.'s wine industry projects a nearly 100 per cent decrease in grape and wine production as a result of -25 C to 30 C temperatures in January.

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Spray could benefit commercial wineries

ABAzyne's research is being supported by Ontario Grape and Wine Research Inc. (OGWRI).

OGWRI chairMatthias Oppenlaender saidhe's encouraged bywhat the research could mean for his province's industryand for his own winery, Huebel Grape Estates, near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

Huebel has suffered major crop loss over the years due to cold weather. Oppenlaendersays it's especially difficult when cold weather not only kills buds on hisvines, but entire vines themselves.

"If you lose your vineyard, it can cost up to $50,000to$60,000 an acre to replant," he said. "Not only that,it takes three to four years to bring [a]plant into production again."

The spray is also of interest to Dean Kreutzer,owner of Over the Hill Orchards and Winery near Lumsden, Sask.,not only because the Prairies face brutal winter cold snaps, but also because research shows the spray can protect grape crops from frost.

"If we get a late frost, say in early June ... and the vines are growing, that could definitely help," said Kreutzer. "The grapes are like tomatoes. If you get -1 C on them, anything green on a grape will die."

Kreutzersays other solutions may be possible. He'scurrentlybreedinghigher quality grapes with hardier, lower quality grapes found in southeastern Saskatchewan to come up with a grape that is both rich in flavour, but can withstandPrairie winters.

Spray more effectively produced at U of S facility: researchers

ABAzyne BioScience's Sue Abrams says while other research institutions have worked with ABA, the company's U of S facility is pioneering technology to mass produce its solution.

Diddisays he's created a quicker wayto perform chemical reactions or synthesis.

"The process is now a two-step synthesis," said Diddi. "Now we can synthesize the product in multi-hundred gram quantities. This process is scalable, very efficient and cheap."

Abrams saidthe product likely won't be marketed commerciallyfor another couple of years. Part of thattime is spent getting approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

She says the product issafe to consumeandis sprayed on vines after fall harvest, leaving only trace amounts on grapes come spring.

Since ABA also helps plants conserve water, research is underwayon other plantslike tomatoesto see if the spray could be used to protect them from drought stress.

"We see real big opportunities for these [ABA] molecules to have a big impact on agriculture, if we can make them cheaply enough," said Abrams.