Efficient irrigation strategies and water use reduction in the high quality production regions of Priorat and Montsant (Spain)

Polysaccharides (PS) are one of the main compounds found in wines, and they come mainly from the grape cell walls or from the yeasts, and they play an important role in the technological and sensory characteristics of wines. Polysaccharides obtained from yeasts have been more studied, especially mannoproteins, since there are commercial products.

“Flavescence dorée” (FD) is a grapevine quarantine disease associated with phytoplasmas and transmitted to healthy plants by insect vectors, mainly Scaphoideus titanus. Infected plants usually develop symptoms of stunted growth, unripe cane wood, leaf rolling, leaf yellowing or reddening, and shrivelled berries. Since plants can remain symptomless up to four years, they may act as reservoirs of FD contributing to the spread of the disease. So far, conventional management strategies rely mainly on the insecticide treatments, uprooting of infected plants and use of phytoplasma-free propagation material. However, these strategies are costly and could have undesirable environmental impacts. Thus, the development of sustainable and noninvasive approaches for early detection of FD and its management are of great importance to reduce disease spread and select the best cultural practices and treatments. The present study aimed to evaluate if multispectral/hyperspectral technologies can be used to detect FD before the appearance of the first symptoms and if infected grapevines display a spectral imaging fingerprint. To that end, physiological parameters (leaf area, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate) were collected in concomitance to the measurements of plant reflectance (using both a portable apparatus and a remote sensing drone). Measurements were performed in two leaves of 8 healthy and 8 FD-infected grapevines, at four timepoints: before the development of disease symptoms (21st June); and after symptoms appearance (ii) at veraison (2nd August); at post-veraison (11th September); and at harvest (25th September). At all timepoints, FD infected plants revealed a significant decrease in the studied physiological parameters, with a positive correlation with drone imaging data and portable apparatus analyses. Moreover, spectra of either drone imaging and portable apparatus showed clear differences between healthy and FD-infected grapevines, validating multispectral/ hyperspectral technology as a potential tool for the early detection of FD or other grapevine-associated diseases.

Aim: This study aimed to benchmark the chemical and sensory consequences of grapevine exposure to smoke, by comparing: (i) the concentration of volatile phenols and volatile phenol glycosides in control and smoke-affected grapes from different cultivars and different wine regions; and (ii) the chemical and sensory profiles of wines made from control and smoke-affected grapes, from different cultivars.  

Le manque de connaissances concernant la physiologie de la maturation du raisin a longtemps interdit d’interpréter l’effet du terroir ou du millésime sur la qualité des vendanges en termes moléculaires. L’hypothèse selon laquelle c’est la perméabilité membranaire qui contrôlerait le sens comme l’intensité du stockage des acides est pourtant déjà ancienne (1). L’étude du transport des acides organiques et de son coût énergétique permet d’avancer certaines hypothèses concemant les sites potentiels de la régulation du contenu en sucres et acides du raisin sous l’effet de paramètres environnementaux.

Oasis Norte’s vineyards of Mendoza Argentina have shaped along their existence, a characteristic landscape; this area is close to Mendoza City