Vite e territorio. Il caso della Franciacorta nel medioevo

Winemaking generates a significant amount of waste. Grape marc, the main solid residue, constitutes 20-25% of the pressed grapes and approximately 8-9 million tons are produced globally each year.

Pectins or pectic polysaccharides are one of the major components in grape skin cell wall, they contribute to physiological processes which determine the integrity and rigidity of grape skin tissue

Nitrogen (N) supply strongly influences vine productivity and berry composition, matching availability and uptake requirements of vines during the growing season is essential to optimize vine nutrition. The nutritional status of grapevines is commonly assessed by the determination of petiole nutrient concentrations at flowering. The reserve N could also be an earlier indicator for grapevine N status, this work aimed to assess how the petiole levels relate to these perennial N reserves.

The genetic material preservation is a priority issue in winemaking research. The recovery of minority grape varieties can control the genetic erosion, contributing also to preserve wine typical characteristics. In D.O.Ca. Rioja (Spain) the number of grown white varieties has been very limited, representing Viura the 91% of the cultivated white grape area in 2005, while the others, Garnacha Blanca and Malvasía riojana, hardly were grown. For this reason, a recovery and characterization study of plant material was carried out in this region. In 2008, the results obtained allowed the authorization of three minority white varieties: Tempranillo Blanco, Maturana Blanca and Turruntés.

Extracellular substances (ECS) represent all molecules outside the cytoplasmic membrane, which are not directly anchored to the cell wall of microorganisms living through a planktonic or biofilm phenotype. They are the high-biomolecular-weight secretions from microorganisms (i.e. extracellular polymeric substances – EPS – proteins, polysaccharides, humic acid, nucleic acid), and the products of cellular lysis and hydrolysis of macromolecules. In addition, some high- and low-molecular-weight organic and inorganic matters from environment can also be adsorbed to the EPS. All can be firmly bound to the cell surface, associated with the EPS matrix of biofilm, or released as being freely diffusing throughout the medium.