Reduction of the height of the canopy in fruit set and in pea size: vegetative, productive and maturation effects, in cv. Verdejo

Climate emergency is going to affect the agricultural suistainability, wine grapes being probably one of the crops more sensitive to environmental constraints. In this context, mitigation strategies such as the revalorization of agricultural wastes are paramount to cope with the current challenges. The use of organic mulches has been reported to reduce soil water evaporation and improve vine water status, reduce soil erosion, and increase soil organic matter with little impact on berry quality. However, less is known about their effects on the microbiote of vineyards.

The wine industry produces an enormous amount of waste every year. A wider inclusion of disregarded by-products in the human diet or its use as a source of bioactive compounds is a good strategy for reducing waste. It will not only introduce an added value to a waste product but also come upon the European Union and United Nations’ demands towards more sustainable agricultural approaches and circular economy.

Wine contains secondary metabolites derived from aromatic amino acids (AADC), which can determine quality, stability and bioactivity. Several yeast species, as well as some lactic acid bacteria (LAB), can contribute in the production of these aromatic compounds. Winemaking should be studied as a series of microbial interactions, that work as an interconnected network, and can determine the metabolic and analytical profiles of wine. The aim of this work was to select microorganisms (yeast and LAB) based on their potential to produce AADC compounds, such as tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, and design a microbial consortium that could increase the production of these AADC compounds in wines.

The context of climate crisis leads to the acceleration of technological ripening of grapes, with unsuitable loss of acidity, so various vineyard management alternatives are being considered to delay the grape ripening. The delay of the vegetative cycle towards a period of milder temperatures affects ripening, but vine behavior can vary according to the area, conduction, watering, variety, etc. A work is proposed to know the response to the green pruning of shoots, executed in fruit set and in pea size, in cv. Verdejo.

The sustainability of viticulture in response to climate change has been addressed mainly considering agronomic impacts, such as water management and diseases, either separately or together.
In grapevines, there is strong evidence that different genotypes respond differently to biotic and abiotic stresses. A screening was conducted on various local cultivars in response to drought and Neofusicoum parvum infection aiming to evaluate their susceptibility to abiotic stress and resistance to fungal diseases.