Effects of different soil types and soil management on greenhouse gas emissions 

Biostimulants and biofertilizers are considered environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternatives to synthetic fertilizers, plant growth regulators and crop improvement products. Broadly, plant biostimulants are expected to improve nutrient use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, quality traits and availability of nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere. Currently, seaweed extracts account for more than 33% of the total plant biostimulant market. Within this category, Ascophyllum nodosum (AN), is the most widely studied and applied in biostimulant formulations.

This essay was aimed to describe the clonal diversity of Oenococcus oeni in the malolactic fermentation of the carbonic maceration (CM) winemaking. The free and the pressed liquids from CM were sampled and compared to the wine from a standard winemaking with previous destemming and crushing (DC) of grapes [1]. O. oeni strain typification was performed by PFGE as González-Arenzana et al. described (2014) [2]. Results showed that 13 genotypes, referred as to letters, were distinguished from the 49 isolated strains, meaning the genotype “a” the 27%, the “b” the 14%, the “c” the 12%, the “d and e” the 10 % each other, and the remaining ones less than the 8% each one.

Pomace is one of the main residues generated by the wine industry and represents an environmental problem. Currently, there is a growing interest in the revaluation of these products because different bioactive compounds can be obtained from them, such as polyphenols, grape seed oils and polysaccharides. Red grape pomace can be an important source of polysaccharides, but they are currently little studied and even less with viable and environmental extraction processes (green extraction), such as flash extraction. The residual amount of the fraction rich in pectin (residual pulp) and component rich in hemicellulose in the pomace and the strength of association of the pectin with the cellulose-xyloglucan network depend on the degree of extractability of the polysaccharides in red winemaking and on the winemaking conditions.

Grapevines have traditionally been grown in semi-arid areas, but viticulture is now compromised by climate change. Therefore, it is necessary to implement environmentally friendly viticulture practices to adapt grapevines to current climatic conditions. In this context, organic mulches offer many benefits, such as reduced soil erosion and increased organic matter, soil water content and crop productivity. However, these practices must not compromise grape and wine quality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect on wine physicochemical and phenolic composition and sensorial properties of different soil management practices on the vine row. Over four years, five soil treatments were examined in two different vineyards.

Light is responsible for adverse reactions in wine including the formation of unpleasant flavors, loss of vitamins or photodegradation of anthocyanins. Among them, the riboflavin degradation leads to the formation of undesirable volatile compounds, known as light-struck taste. These photo-chemical reactions could be avoided by simply using opaque packaging. However, most rosé wines are kept in transparent bottles due to different commercial reasons. Some agri-food waste extracts have been studied for their photoprotective action which turn to be highly correlated with phenolic content [1].