Enhancing plant defense: carbon dots for efficient spray-induced gene silencing 

Accurate yield estimation is crucial for optimizing vineyard management and logistical organization. Traditional methods relying on manual and destructive flower or berry counts are labor-intensive and unsuitable for large-scale applications.

During cold storage, grapes undergo changes that affect their visual, mechanical, and organoleptic properties, potentially impacting quality and negatively influencing consumer acceptance. Key parameters include uniform color, crunchiness, and flesh consistency. We evaluated the influence of two distinct packaging methods on the chromatic characteristics, hardness, and pedicel detachment resistance of fourteen new seedless white and red grape varieties during cold storage. These factors are crucial for maintaining the quality of the product and extending its shelf-life. The novel grape varieties were obtained through a breeding program at CREA-VE of Turi, Southern Italy.

The knowledge about the molecular fraction associated to white wines oxidative stability is still poorly understood.

3-Mercaptohexanol (3MH) is a volatile thiol occurring in several white and red wines, where it can contribute to fruity attributes. Its content is typically high in wines from certain grape varieties, in particular Sauvignon blanc, where it is considered a varietal marker. The strong nucleophilic character of thiols makes 3MH rather unstable during wine storage, due to the presence of several strong electrophilic species. Among these electrophilics, those arising from the oxidation of flavan3-ols such as catechin and epi-catechin have been indicated as critical for 3MH stability. Accordingly, there is a generalized interest towards the ability of vinification practices to reduce 3MH loss during aging through the management of wine flavan-3-ols content.

In recent years, consumer awareness for consuming healthy and environmental sustainability products has considerably increased [1]. In an ever-changing and highly competitive environment such as the wine sector, production of wines without sulfites, or biodynamic, organic or vegan wines, has experienced an important increase to meet the new needs of consumers [2,3]. Beyond these categories of regulated products, a new concept has emerged: natural wines (NW), for which there is not an established definition or legal regulation. Rather, producers have a personal idea of naturalness under the premise of applying minimal intervention from grape to wine production [4]. In this context, it is hypothesized that self-defined natural wines are different from conventional wines (CW) in their sensory and chemical profile. The predicament of natural wine is based on anecdotic declarations and assumes that minimal intervention guarantees the production of wines with organoleptic properties able to express the “terroir” and thus promote wine diversity, plurality and sensory typicity against the risk of standardization of CW.