Lipidomics in grape and wine research: past, present and future applications

Scientific interest in lipids and their analyses using lipidomics approaches is continuously growing because of the rapid development of mass spectrometry-based analytical instrumentation and data analysis pipelines. Although lipidomics is widely used in many biomedical studies, the application of this emerging platform is still developing for food and plant systems, including grape and wine research. Owing to the important roles that lipids play in cellular metabolism, adoption of lipidomics to study different aspects of grape and wine research can bring real innovation to wine industries worldwide. Here, we provide an overview from published studies on how lipidomics and lipid analyses have been applied in grape and wine science, starting from vine health and grape development, to winemaking and linking lipid profiles to wine provenance and sensory perception. We identify knowledge gaps while providing insights on potential future applications of lipidomics that can benefit grape and wine research.