Researchers at Pershore College have helped create a new crop-side test which is being used by the sparkling wine industry to help keep the fizz bubbling for longer and save bottles going to waste.

They have developed the tests in partnership with Mologic and now tests are being trialled by the wine industries in France, Australia and New Zealand.

The antibody tests detect low levels of pathogen in fruit and can also identify Botrytis in wine grapes – also known as grey mould. Duration and visual appearance of sparkling wine fizz is directly linked to bubble quality. Increasing infection of wine grapes with Botrytis leads to a decrease of bubble quality.

Tests will allow producers to determine whether and, if present, how much of the produce is infected with Botrytis. Wine grapes are considered of reduced quality between 5-10% and of low quality at >20% Botrytis infection. Wider agriculture will also benefit from the tests as they can reduce crop and post-storage harvest losses by helping producers to make informed, early intervention decisions to prevent disease and rots.

The development of the tests was funded through Innovate UK and other partners include Berry Garden Growers and horticulture researchers at NIAB EMR.

Professor Roy Kennedy, who has led on the project for Pershore College from the Agri-Tech Research Centre, said: “We run a series of external research projects at Pershore College and have been experts in developing tests for the crop production industry for over 20 years. Working in partnership with Mologic we have validated these tests at our state-of-the-art Agri-Tech Research Centre and been able to explore the extent they can be used.

“We’re still exploring how these tests could work with other crops and it is hoped that they will be of similar benefit to different areas of agriculture and crop production.”

Students who enrol on the Agri-Tech course at Pershore College will be given the opportunity to work with the tests, building them and trialling them on different types of crops to further expand their use in industry.