REDWINE project: use of Chlorella vulgaris to prevent biotic and abiotic stress in Palmela’s region, Portugal, vineyards

Grapevines are cultivated on 6 out of 7 continents, roughly between latitudes 4° and 56° in the Northern Hemisphere and between 6° and 42° in the Southern Hemisphere across a large diversity of climates (oceanic, warm oceanic, transition temperate, continental, cold continental, Mediterranean, subtropical, attenuated tropical, and arid climates).

São Joaquim (28º17’38 “S and 49º55’55” O) is a viticultural region located on the Santa Catarina Plateau, south region of Brazil, which is known for vineyards that produce fine wines from grapes cultivated at altitude (> 900 m). It is amongst the coldest (annual average of 13.42 ºC, 1832.36 hours of solar radiation and 1680.23 mm of precipitation) and the highest (715 – 1638 m) Brazilian’s viticultural regions, with hilly relief (43% of slopes between 20 – 45% of declivity, with no preferred direction).

Ecological resources represent vegetation factors, or even production factors, in quantitative expression. These, used by plants, transformed and organized according to their genetic program, become the material components of biomass. Subsequently, the ecological resources can be used as synthetic indicators of the ecological supply, necessary for the analysis of favorability for the understanding of ecosystems.

Climate strongly affects the geographical distribution of grape varieties, grapevine cultivation techniques and wine organoleptic properties.

The phenomenon of global warming has been demonstrated to induce the premature ripening of grapes, resulting in a concomitant increase in sugar and a decrease in acidity.