Grape Quality Test Service Available at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Science Program and Viticulture Program have been awarded a USDA grant, which aims to help grape growers test their fruit quality in the weeks leading up to harvest. Using this information grape growers and wine makers will be assured that only high quality grapes enter the winery.
- What we test? We not only test the 3 major parameters: 1) °Brix, 2) pH, 3) titratable acidity, but also test other parameters such as color, texture, polyphenols to comprehensively determine the maturity of your grapes as the season progresses.
- How to submit your samples?
- Sign up on the participation list below indicating how many cultivars you want to test. Send this form to both of the two contact persons below by doing a reply to all to this email and adding your information (Dr. Paul Read and Dr. Chagmou Xu).
- We will mail berry shipping boxes to you ahead if needed.
- Collect your grapes (about 100 berries randomly selected across the vineyard for each cultivar) around 3 times for the test, starting from 2 weeks after veraison, then 1 week after each. We will monitor the quality change until the fruit is ripe and harvested.
- After each collection, overnight shipping can be done with our pre-paid label, or drop-off directly to the UNL Food Processing Center at the UNL Innovation Campus if preferred.
- How many cultivars can I submit? There is no limitation on the test service, but up to 5 cultivars for each grower will be covered on the shipping cost.
- About the report? Email reports will be sent only to you within 2 days of receiving the fruit samples. It is a third-party report provided by the UNL Food Processing Center, which will include accumulated fruit quality changes since the first week.
Contact persons: Changmou Xu (cxu13@unl.edu), UNL Food Processing Center, and Paul Read (pread1@unl.edu), University of Nebraska Viticulture Program