Improving shelf life of viticulture-relevant biocontrol and biostimulant microbes using CITROFOL® AI as liquid carrier

The European geographical indication (GI) Brandy Italiano is exclusively reserved to brandy obtained in Italy from the distillation of wine from grapes grown and vinified in the national territory [1].

The concept of viticultural terroir includes soil, sub-soil, and climatic factors but also many management viticultural and oenological practices which are chosen according to know-how of the winegrowers.

The Spanish minority varieties, such as the red Cenicienta recovered in Castilla y León, are raising greater interest due to its potential to diversify viticulture, although data on how terroir and vintage modulate their oenological expression are scarce1.

Haze formation in wine during transportation and storage is an important issue for winemakers, since turbid wines are unacceptable for sale. Such haze often results from aggregation of unstable grape proteinaceous colloids. To date, foreseeably unstable wines need to be treated with bentonite to remove these, while excessive quantities, which are often required, affect the wine volume and quality (Cosme et al. 2020). One solution to avoid these drawbacks might be the use of peptidases. Marangon et al. (2012) reported that Aspergillopepsins I and II were able to hydrolyse the respective haze-relevant proteins in combination with a flash pasteurisation. In 2021, the OIV approved this enzymatic treatment for wine stabilisation (OIV-OENO 541A and 541B).

Among the Vitis vinifera L. cv. Moscato, Moscato Bianco is the oldest and most cultivated one in Europe (1). According to the OIV Focus 2015, Italy is the country with the largest cultivated area of Moscato Bianco with about 12500 hectares (2), that is used to produce well-known wines (i.e., Moscato Passito in Piedmont, Moscato di Trani in Puglia, and Moscatello di Montalcino in Tuscany), mainly obtained from partially dehydrated grapes (1). Different dehydration techniques can strongly modify the chemical compounds of oenological interest, among which Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) (1) that are the main responsible for the varietal sensory character of the final wine.