Optimizing disease management in the Rioja wine region: a study on Erisiphe necator and the Gubler-Thomas model

Currently, the greatest challenge for vine growers is to improve the yield and quality of grapes by minimizing costs and environmental impacts. This goal can be achieved through a better knowledge of vineyard spatial variability. Traditional platforms such as airborne, satellite and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) solutions are useful investigation tools for vineyard site specific management.

In 2010, the OIV adopted a resolution that defines ‘terroir’. The OIV definition understands terroir as the result of the interactions between the physical specificities of a space and human labor, with an emphasis on the subsequently produced collective knowledge (OIV-VITI 333-2010); by doing so, it alludes to the social and cultural dimensions of terroir.

Sulphites are by far the most widely used additive in the wine industry. In relation to health, the interaction of sulphites with the gut microbiota has not been addressed so far. Following the consumption of wine and other sulphite-containing foods, the gastrointestinal tract and the microbiome are one of the first barriers that these compounds face in the human organism. In this study, we used a previously validated gastrointestinal digestion model (SIMGI®) [1,2] to evaluate the effect of intestinal digestion of wine sulphites on the gut microbiome.

The trial was conducted in variety/rootstock Riesling/Kober 5 BB in the vineyard district of Vrsac. The vineyard was planted in 1996 on a south-facing slope, with rectangular type pruning of 3×1 m. The training system is of symmetric cordon type and mixed type pruning is practiced.

Quercetin (Q) is present in grape in form of glycosides and as aglycone. These compounds are extracted from grape skins during winemaking. In wines, following the hydrolysis reactions, the amount of quercetin aglycon can exceed its solubility value. Unfortunately, a threshold solubility concentration for quercetin in wine is not easy to determine because it depends on wine matrix (Gambuti et al., 2020).