Does foliar fertilization with Seaweed improve the productivity and quality of ‘Merlot’ grape must?

Aging process is an essential stage in the improvement of wine quality. This process is usually performed by contact with oak wood whose compounds are released and transferred to wine, acquiring typical aging bouquet. Although the use of oak chips is a practice generally accepted as alternative to barrels to shorten aging process, the application of emerging technologies is being unfolded to accelerate this stage.

In interaction with climate and genetic or human factors, the soil is a major component of the viticulture terroir. The mineral composition of the soil influences vine performance and wine sensory attributes. Among the elements that vines take from the soil, nitrogen is the one that has the strongest impact on vine physiology, vigor and grape composition. In addition to its major effect on primary metabolites in berries, nitrogen plays also a decisive role in the secondary metabolism, especially in the production of key compounds for berries quality, like volatile thiols, methoxypyrazines and glutathione (GSH).

Fruity aromas, characterized by red and black fruit descriptors, are central to the identity of Bordeaux red wines [1,2]. Despite extensive research focused on identifying and quantifying volatile compounds that contribute to fruity aromas in wine, the mechanisms underlying their interactions and sensory perception remain poorly understood [3].

Today’s viticulture is facing a new climatic scenario with temperature increases and rainfall deficits, generated by the effect of climate change. As a result of these new conditions, there are earlier harvests, increased plant water stress and higher disease risk in wetter wine-growing regions.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease associating demyelination and axonal degeneration developing in young adults and affecting 2–3 million people worldwide. Plant polyphenols endowed with many therapeutic benefits associated with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties represent highly interesting new potential therapeutic strategies. We recently showed the safety and high efficiency of grape seed extract (GSE), a complex mixture of polyphenolics compounds comprising notably flavonoids and proanthocyanidins, in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS.