Data deluge: Opportunities, challenges, and lessons of big data in a multidisciplinary project

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.

The influence of climatic conditions on the development of the vine and on the quality of the wines no longer needs to be demonstrated at the scale of the vineyard, by the regional climatic characteristics, determining on this scale the viticultural potentialities (Huglin, 1978; Branas, 1946; Riou et al ., 1994); but also on a local scale, at the level of the basic terroir unit (Morlat, 1989), by the landscape differentiation of the natural environment inducing climatic variability within the same vineyard, and partly explaining differences in functioning of the vine, in connection with the processes of maturation and the quality of the wine (Becker, 1977 and 1984; Morlat, 1989 and Lebon, 1993a). According to these authors, the climatic diversity in a wine region constitutes in addition to the edaphic component, an important component of characterization of the Basic Terroir Units (UTB).

The blend of grapes used in the production of the four Valpolicella PDOs red wines, namely Valpolicella, Valpolicella Classico Superiore, Recioto della Valpolicella and Amarone della Valpolicella is quite unique, and includes two main varieties Corvina and Corvinone, and other minor varieties. To a very large extent all these grapes are only grown in the province of Verona. One of the main characteristics of Valpolicella is the use of grapes that are submitted to post-harvest withering. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the evolution of the free and glycosidically-bound volatile compounds in Corvina and Corvinone grapes under real production conditions.

The fresh mushroom off-flavour (FMOff) has been appearing in wines since the 2000s. Some C8 compounds such as 1-octen-3-one, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-hydroxyoctan-3-one, 3-octanol and others are involved in this specific off-flavour [1-3]. At the same time, glycosidic precursors of some FMOff compounds have been identified in musts contaminated by Crustomyces subabruptus [4], highlighting the role of aroma precursors in this specific taint. However, the fate of these volatile molecules and glycosidic fractions during fermentation is not well known.

The South Caucasus is widely recognized as a primary center of grapevine domestication (Vitis vinifera L.).