Adsorption of tetraconazole by organic residues and vineyard organically-amended soils 

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.

The vital role of soils in supporting life on our planet cannot be overstated. Soils provide numerous ecosystem services and functions, including biomass production, carbon sequestration, physical support, biological habitat, and genetic reserve, among others. Understanding the characteristics and sensitivity of soils in a specific terroir, along with effective soil management practices, is crucial for the sustainable management of natural resources.

The wine industry is increasing the demand for indigenous yeasts adapted to the terroir to produce unique wines that reflect the distinctive characteristics of each region. In our group, we have identified and characterized 60 native yeast strains isolated from a vineyard in Maldonado-Uruguay, in which three strains stood out: Saccharomyces cerevisiae T193FS, Saturnispora diversa T191FS, and Starmerella bacillaris T193MS. Their oenological potential was evaluated at a semi-pilot scale in Tannat must vinification in the wine cellar to have a more precise and representative evaluation of the final product.

By dissecting the root system architecture (RSA) into its underpinning components (e.g. root emission, axial growth, radial growth, branching, root direction or tropism) and identifying the relationships between them, functional-structural 3D root models are promising tools for analyzing the diversity and complexity of root system phenotypes with Genotype × Environment interactions. The model parameters are assumed to be synthetic traits, less influenced by the environment, and consequently with less polygenic architectures than the integrative RSA traits they drive. Root models can serve as a basis for in silico development of root system ideotypes by highlighting the developmental processes and parameters that most likely influence RSA fitness.

Grape pomace (GP) is a winemaking by-product particularly rich in (poly)phenols and dietary fiber, which are the main active compounds responsible for its health-promoting effects. GP-derived products have been proposed to manage cardiovascular risk factors, including endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and obesity. Studies on the potential impact of GP on gut health are much more recent. However, it is suggested that, to some extent, this activity of GP as a cardiometabolic health-promoting ingredient would begin in the gastrointestinal tract as GP components (i.e., (poly)phenols and fiber) undergo extensive catabolism, mainly by the action of the intestinal microbiota, that gives rise to low-molecular-weight bioactive compounds that can be absorbed and utilized by the body.