Mango Parker

Mango Parker

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology


I am an ARC Industry Fellow and Senior Research Scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute. Over the last 20 years I have been researching wine chemistry to help the wine industry to overcome challenges and open new opportunities in wine flavour. My research has included glycosides, smoke taint, tannins, phenolics in red and white wines, and black pepper in Shiraz. The focus of my current research is decoding airborne volatiles in environmental smoke that taint wine.

It all began when…
My professional journey in the world of wine began with working for Southcorp Wines as a graduate wine scientist, which led me the Australian Wine Research Institute. I have direct connections to the wine industry through my family businesses, Backbeat Wines and Vinify contract processing in McLaren Vale. My beginnings in industry and my own personal connection to the wine industry have shaped my career as a researcher who works with industry to undertake essential research to develop practical solutions to the industry’s challenges.

The combination of my scientific knowledge and hands-on industry experience has driven my contributions to innovation in wine research and production. I thrive on the challenge of merging scientific excellence with tangible outcomes. Ultimately, my goal is to contribute to the advancement of wine research and production by bridging the gap between theory and practice.

The Fallout from Bushfires and Smoke Taint in Wine

In the wake of the devastating bushfire season of 2019-2020, I directed my research focus toward a pressing issue: smoke taint in wines. Grape growers and wine producers were seeking to understand results of smoke exposure testing. It was clear that there was a lack of reliable data on the concentrations of smoke markers in grapes capable of ruining wine quality by producing a noticeable smoke flavour in wine. Our research followed the impact of smoke from grapes, to wines and consumers, linking the concentrations of smoke markers in grapes to wine consumer acceptability.

Our work on smoke taint has led to seven peer-reviewed publications, as well as fact sheets and technical notes which provide the basis for winemakers across Australia, USA, Canada and beyond, to assess smoke-exposed grapes. Smoke taint - The Australian Wine Research Institute (awri.com.au) Our paper titled ‘The Effect of Pre-Veraison Smoke Exposure of Grapes on Phenolic Compounds and Smoky Flavour in Wine’ was awarded the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology winemaking paper of the year 2023 in recognition of the industry impact of this research.

Bringing Flavour to Low Alcohol Wines
In 2019 I led a team in the CSIRO OnPrime research commercialization program. Together, we explored innovative opportunities to extract value from glycoside flavour precursors found in grape marc, a wine by-product. Our efforts were acknowledged when our team received a shared award for the best team in Adelaide. This knowledge is now being explored as a new way to craft no- and low-alcohol wines that offer enhanced flavour profiles and improved quality.

Developing Flavour in Wine
My recent PhD focused established flavour release from glycosides (sugar-bound aroma compounds) can occur in the human mouth during tasting, and revealed grape-derived glycosides as a previously overlooked source of flavour in wines and potentially other fruits and foods. My research in this area involved volatile aroma chemistry, non-volatiles, sensory analysis, and practical winemaking experiments. This comprehensive methodology allowed me to unravel the secrets of flavour development and create a bridge between scientific knowledge and practical applications in the winemaking process. This work earned me the prestigious Manfred Rothe Gold prize for Excellence in Flavour Science in 2019. 

You can hear about this work in the AWRI decanted podcast: https://shows.acast.com/6473fe30064cb10011b5033b/6473fe35064cb10011b503bf?utm_source=listen+later&utm_medium=email

Science Communication
I regularly enjoy communicating science to grape growers, winemakers, local high school students and the general public. I was featured in an episode of the BBC's Infinite Monkey Cage podcast alongside luminaries Professor Brian Cox, Professor Brian Schmidt, Robin Ince, Dr. Patricia Williamson, and Tim Minchin The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series 25 - Why does wine taste good? - BBC Sounds. I have participated in Pint of Science, featured in Fleurieu Living Magazine, and presented to audiences including high school students, winemakers, wine scientists and entrepreneurs at _Southstart festival. I have also collaborated with artists such as Liz Willing and Max Savage to bring science to life through the arts.

 

  • First Investigator 2024-2029 ARC Early Career Industry Fellowship $453,691 Decoding airborne volatiles in environmental smoke that taint wine IE240100040

  • Chief Investigator AWR 1701-3.4.3A 2020-2022, Wine Australia Understanding and mitigating the impact of smoke exposure on grape and wine composition and wine sensory properties

  • Project lead AWRI 3.3.6 Smoke Impact Project, Wine Australia. 2023-2025

  • Co-lead 2023-2024 AWRI/UA Collaborative Research Investment Fund $27,000 Validating the performance of air purification techniques: managing the human health consequences of smoke exposure in buildings. Co-lead

  • Co-lead 2023-2024 AWRI/UA Collaborative Research Investment Fund $15,000 A Metabolomic Approach to Revealing Additional Markers of Smoke Taint. 

  • Co-lead 2024-2025 AWRI/UA Collaborative Research Investment Fund $25,000 Transcriptional profiling of glycosyltransferases following grapevine smoke exposure

  • Partner Investigator 2023-2025 ARC $500,000 Solving smoke taint: Overcoming the impacts of vineyard exposure to smoke LP210300715

  • Inspiring SA 2024 Arts and Science collaboration $5,000 Singing the praises of SA wine science 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 External Supervisor Transcription profiling of glycosyltransferases following grapevine smoke exposure Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Wenwen Jiang
    2023 External Supervisor Assessment of rapid detection methods for identifying smoke taint in grape juice. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ysadora Ashton Mirabelli-Montan

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