Effects of an Inter-Row Reflective Ground Film on Technological Quality and Phenolic Composition of ‘Pinot Noir’ Grapes in Southern Chile

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

his study aimed to evaluate the effect of reflective ground film on the technological and phenolic quality of cv. Pinot Noir grapes cultivated in regions like La Araucanía with low heat accumulation and high rainfall. The research design is simple and applicable. However, the determination methods and indicators are so coarse, major revision is recommended, questions and suggestions are as follows.

1 why was reflective ground film installed at 80% veraison designed in this study other than other percent veraison such as 60% or 90%?

2 some important keywords should be provided, for example, reflective ground film.

3 for evaluation of grape berry quality at harvest, the berry quality indicators included should be expanded with some key sensory attributes beyond the coarse determinations of total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity, pH, yield, such as color parameters, total reducing sugar content.

4 the similar question to comment 3, for the phenolic quality analysis, only total phenolic content determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu method and total anthocyanin content determined using the differential pH method were applied in this study. As the authors state, total tannins level is crucial of grape quality for brewing, should be considered. In addition, the individual phenolic compounds, especially the characteristic phenolic components with higher level in Pinot Noir are suggested to be considered, for example, resveratrol.

5 the quality of figure could be improved, such as Figure 4, 5 and 6.

Author Response

Please review the attached document

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

After reviewing the manuscript, my observations and recommendations are:

Title

The title is appropriate for a scientific article but can be reworded for more clarity (e.g. "Effects of an Inter-row Reflective Ground Film on Grape Technological Quality and Phenolic Composition in a Southern Chilean Pinot Noir Vineyard.")

The abstract

The abstract is logically structured for a scientific article, containing essential information about the research objective, the methods used, the study results and conclusions. The language is appropriate, firm and clear.

The introduction

The “Introduction” paragraph is overall well structured and offer enough information for the readers, but can the aim of the study can be improved by underlining the practical consequences of the issue, link the results for wine quality and the relevance in the wine industry, and end with a clear objective statement.

Lines 55-57: It would be correct to say that solar radiation contributes to the modulation of gene expression, which in turn influences the composition of grape berries.

References [11,12] are cited redundantly in the text

Materials and Methods

The authors reported in section 2.1., that “The field study was conducted in a commercial Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot Noir vineyard 77 located in Victoria (37°35′–39°37′ S), La Araucanía Region, Chile, between October 2023 78 and April 2024 (Figure 1)” (Lines 77-79).

BUT in section 2.5., is mentioned that: “Fruit samples (60 berries per treatment) were collected on January 22, February 14, March 175 5 and 15th, and April 9th (2025)” (Lines 175- 176). The inconsistency must be clarified.

Lines 88-90: Split the text in two sentences. Total precipitation in 2023 reached 1,090 mm. The Growing Degree.....

Lines 163-164: Authors should explain why a single day for measurement is sufficient?

 Line 169: Three vines per plot is very limited for accurately characterization of phenology across blocks.  

Line 175: Were the berries collected randomly on the vine / on the clusters to avoid sampling errors?

Lines 179-180: berry weight and diameter have a different method of measurement. Review the sentence for clarity (e.g. “berry weight was measured using an analytical balance” .....

Line 221: LSD is acceptable in detecting differences but, Tukey’s HSD could provide more robust finding.

Results

Lines 299-301: Sentence too long; review for more clarity

Discussions

Very long paragraphs in the “Discussion” section; for clarity split them in shorter paragraphs for easier readability.

The same authors are cited for multiple comparative results (Kok 2020, Jamshidian 2010, Coventry 2005, Song 2024) which is redundant. Maybe the text can be synthesized into a concise comparative sentence.

You used both "cluster(s)" and "bunch(es)"; keep terminology consistent across text

Conclusions

The “Conclusions” are consistent with the presented data.

Lines 451-452: Can the statement be more precise? Not all parameters showed statistical significance.

References

The references cover all of the important features, including reflecting mulches, Chilean viticulture, cold-climate grape ripening, and phenolic content.

There is a decent mix of modern (2020-2025) and old allusions, which increases trustworthiness.
A few references (e.g., fruit crops other than grapes, wine and health, tourist website) are tangential and may be trimmed or reframed to highlight relevance.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Manuscript needs minor grammar refinements and style improvements (Prepositions, Article use....).

Author Response

Please review the attached document

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have addressed all my comments, and the manuscript has been improved for acceptance.