Phenolic compounds and properties of antioxidants in grapevine roots (Vitis vinifera L.) under drought stress followed by recovery

Grapevine seedlings Vitis vinifera were grown in a greenhouse under optimum conditions (soil moisture ca 70%) and under drought stress (soil moisture ca 35%). In addition, some of the plants subjected to drought underwent subsequent regeneration under optimum conditions. Drought stress caused accumulation of total phenolic compounds in grapevine roots, which may indicate that these compounds play an important role in the adaptation of roots to growth under stress conditions. Phenolic acids found in the roots occurred in the ester-bound form only. p-coumaric acid was present in the highest concentrations (6.2 to 10.5 µg/g fresh matter). The content of ferulic acid was lower, ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 µg/g fresh matter. The lowest concentration in grapevine roots was achieved by caffeic acid (2.4 to 2.9 µg/g fresh matter). The levels of p-coumaric and ferulic acids in roots rose significantly under the drought stress, while the concentration of caffeic acid increased during the post-drought recovery period. This may suggest that some of the phenolic acids protect plants under stress conditions. All the extracts from grapevine roots had antioxidative properties, but the antiradical activity of the extracts obtained from roots subjected to drought stress was inferior to the control. The same extracts were also characterised by depressed reducing power. The results imply that tolerance of grapevine to soil drought may be associated with the value of antioxidative potential in root tissues of these plants