Design of microbial consortia to improve the production of aromatic amino acid derived compounds during wine fermentation

Spain is the country with the largest wine-producing area in the EU and its productivity is largely controlled applying fungicides. However, residues of these compounds can move and contaminate surface and groundwater. The objective of this work was to evaluate the capacity of bioadsorbents from different origin to adsorb and immobilize tetraconazole by themselves or when applied as organic soil amendment, and to prevent soil and water contamination by this fungicide. The adsorption of tetraconazole by 3 organic residues: spent mushroom substrate (SMS), green compost (GC) and vine pruning sawdust (VP), as well as by vineyard soils unamended and amended individually with these residues at 1.5% (w/w) was evaluated using the batch equilibrium technique.

Chile is considered vulnerable to climate change; and these phenomena affect several mechanisms in the grape physiology and quality. The global temperature increase affects sugar contents, organic acids, and phenolic compounds in grapes, producing an imbalance maturity. In this sense, an alternative to reduce the impact is to perform pruning after vine budburst, known as “Late Pruning” (LP).

Croatian viticulture is mainly based on native grapevine varieties susceptible to various diseases and pests, which leads to unsustainable use of large amounts of pesticides. The sustainable development of viticulture in the future will only be possible by increasing the resistance of the grapevine through the development of new resistant varieties. Breeding programs have been launched in the leading wine-growing countries to develop resistant varieties possessing high-quality levels. Native cultivars from Croatia are not included in the breeding programs of other countries.

One of the limitations of vineyards in warm areas is the loss of wine quality due to higher temperatures during the grape ripening period. In order to adapt the vineyards to these new climatic conditions, a possible solution is to delay the ripening process of the grapes towards periods with milder temperatures, by means of management practices and thus improve the quality of the fruit and the wine produced. The technique of severe shoot pruning (SSP) has proven useful in achieving this objective.

The increased intensity and frequency of heatwaves, coupled with prolonged periods of drought, are a significant threat to viticulture worldwide. During these conditions the more exposed leaves can show visible symptoms of heat damage. We monitored the functionality of photosystem II (PSII) in the field to better understand the impact of heatwaves on canopy performance. A factorial experiment was established in summer 2023 using Shiraz grapevines in the Barossa valley of South Australia, involving water-stressed and well-watered vines.