A comprehensive study on the effect of foliar mineral treatments on grapevine microbiota, flavonoid gene expression, and berry composition

Volatile phenols from wildfire smoke are absorbed by wine grapes, resulting in undesirable smoky and ashy sensory attributes in the affected wine.[1] Unfortunately the severity of wildfires is increasing, particularly when grapes are ripening on the vine. The unwanted flavors of the wine prompted a need for solutions to prevent the uptake of smoke compounds into wine grapes. Films using cellulose nanofibers as the coating forming matrix were developed as an innovative means to prevent smoke phenols from entering Pinot noir grapes. Different film formulations were tested by incorporating low methoxy pectin or chitosan.

Trichoderma is a microorganism present in many agricultural soils and some of its species could be used as natural biological control agents. In this work, the presence of natural populations of Trichoderma was estimated in soil vineyard and its biocontrol capacity against Phaeoacremonium minimum, one of the main agent causals of grapevine trunk diseases instead of using pesticides. Moreover, physicochemical variables in soil such as pH, organic matter and nutrients were evaluated to determine a possible correlation to natural populations of Trichoderma.

Enzymatic browning[1] is an oxidation process that occurs in many foods that increases the brown colour[2]. This problem is especially harmful in the wine industry[3]. especially when the grapes are infected by grey rot since this fung release the oxidative enzyme laccase[4]. In the particular case of red wines, the presence of laccase implies the deterioration of the red colour and can even cause the precipitation of the coloring matter (oxidasic haze)[5].

Climate change will increase the frequency of water deficit situation in some European regions, by the increase of the evapotranspiration and the reduction of rainfalls during the growing cycle. This requires finding ways of adaptation, including the use of plant material which is more tolerant to drought. In addition to the varieties used as scions that result in the typicality of wines, rootstocks constitute a relevant way of adaptation to more stressful environmental conditions.

The fortress of the Herodium, built towards the end of the first century BCE/ante Cristo, on the orders of Herod the Great, Roman client king of Judea, attests the expansion of Roman influence in the eastern Mediterranean. During archaeological excavations of the Herodium in 2017[1], a winery was discovered on the ground floor of the palace, with an assortment of clay vessels in situ, including large dolia – clay fermentation vessels each capable of fermenting up to 300-400 L of wine. Thanks to the recent progresses in the field of paleogenomics[2], we could analyse the organic material consistent with grape pomace at the bottom of these vessels, by extracting and sequencing the DNA using shotgun metagenomics and targeted capture, aiming for enrichment of DNA from fermentation associated microbes.