Wine research facility secures $11 million funding boost

The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) in Adelaide has received an infrastructure funding boost from federal and state government sources.

Bioplatforms Australia will collaborate with the South Australian Government and the AWRI to invest $11.1 million for metabolomics and associated activities at the AWRI until 30 June 2023. Bioplatforms Australia manages investment funding through the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Metabolomics refers to the analysis of the complete set of all low molecular weight metabolites, the metabolome, that exist within a biological system such as grape juice, yeast or wine. The metabolome is made up of hundreds to thousands of molecules with varied chemical and physical properties. Metabolomics allow scientists to determine what happens during biological processes such as fermentation.

The investment will contribute towards AWRI’s existing metabolomics facility, which was established in 2008 with support from Bioplatforms Australia and the South Australian Government. The facility operates as a collaborative service platform, providing access to infrastructure and specialist expertise to academia and industry across all relevant sectors.

The new funding will allow the facility to expand in terms of capital equipment, skilled staff and capacity to support projects. With the investment, all capital equipment in the facility will be renewed and will add new capacity in the form of an NMR instrument to analyse liquid samples.

The investment will also facilitate more research projects with industry and academic partners, fostering long-term industry and research partnerships on a national and international level, boosting the overall outcomes in health, agriculture and the wine industry.

“The outcome reflects very positively on the efforts of the metabolomics team to deliver high-quality services and infrastructure to agricultural industries and researchers. The AWRI is grateful to Bioplatforms Australia and the South Australian Government for their continued support,” said AWRI Managing Director Dr Dan Johnson.

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