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IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Effect of ozone application for low-input postharvest dehydration of wine grapes 

Effect of ozone application for low-input postharvest dehydration of wine grapes 

Abstract

The postharvest dehydration of grapes is a traditional practice to obtain wines with unique traits (e.g. sweet, dry/reinforced). The modern facilities (dehydrating rooms) used for this purpose are equipped with systems for artificially controlling the inside environment parameters, to obtain the desired dehydration kinetic and preserve the grapes from grey mold (Botrytis cinerea) infection, However, the conditioning systems are extremely energy-demanding and the identification and practical applications of solutions effective in controlling/reducing the postharvest decay would reduce the costs of the operation of the dehydration facilities. To this end, we explored the potential of ozone-based treatments on harvested grapes and preliminarily tested if the treatment could impact the normal behavior and metabolism of grapes during the traditionally slow dehydration practice. Harvested grapes of Corvina and Sangiovese cultivars were treated with ozone (gas or ozonated water) and partially dehydrated in a dedicated room equipped with a system for the control of internal temperature and humidity. Weak differences regarding the dehydration kinetics and the main technological parameter dynamics were detected between treated and untreated grapes. Analyses of phenolic and other non-volatile metabolites, as well as of the expression of key genes governing the grape berry postharvest metabolism are underway. Overall, the results will shed light on grape physiological response to ozone during the postharvest dehydration process. Sanitizing grapes using ozone will highly increase the capacity of grapes to withstand conditions of higher temperature and humidity reducing spoilage and production losses.

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DOI:

Publication date: June 14, 2024

Issue: Open GPB 2024

Type: Poster

Authors

Ron Shmuleviz1, Luca Cattaneo1, Pietro Emilio Nepi2, Eleonora Littarru2, Stefano Brizzolara2, Pietro Tonutti2, Marianna Fasoli1, Giovanni Battista Tornielli1,3*

1 Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
2 Crop Science Research Center, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy  
3 Current address: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD) Italy

Contact the author*

Keywords

Vitis vinifera, postharvest dehydration, ozone, grape berry, metabolism

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Open GPB | Open GPB 2024

Citation

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