Melatonin priming retards fungal decay in postharvest table grapes 

Climate plays a predominant role in vines’ growth and productivity and several environmental variables are already known to pose challenges to grapevine production and the horticultural industry as a whole. In this context, a number of extreme weather events already occurring and expected to occur in the next decades even more frequently and with higher magnitude results from current climate change scenario. The aim of this study was to examine the physiological responses of roots, leaves, and berries of Vitis vinifera cv. Sauvignon blanc to consecutive and combined stressors simulated in a semi-controlled environment.

We tried to give a part of the answer to this question by monitoring glutathione during winemaking and storage. The novelty of our approach is to quantify simultaneously the three known forms of glutathione: free glutathione (GSH), oxidized form (GSSG) and glutathione-S-sulfonate (GSSO3H).

The impact of climate change is noticeable in the present weather, making water scarcity the most immediate mediator reducing the performance and viability of crops, including grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). The present study developed a system (hardware, firmware, and software) for the determination of plant water use through changes in weight through a period. The aim is to measure the differences in grapevine water consumption in response to climate change (+4oC and 700 ppm) under controlled conditions. The results reveal a correlation between daily plant consumption rates and reference evapotranspiration (ETo).

Forest fires in the vicinity of vineyards have significantly increased in the last decade and are a concern for grapegrowers and winemakers in many wine producing countries. The fires cause smoke drift throughout vineyards which cannot be avoided and may result in the production of wines described as ‘smoke tainted’. Such wines are characterized by undesirable sensory characters described as ‘smoky’, ‘burnt’, ‘ash’ aromas and flavours, and also may cause a lingering, unpleasant ashy aftertaste [1; 2].

Grapevine downy mildew is a disease of foliage caused by Oomycete Plasmopara viticola an endoparasite that develops inside grapevine organs and can infect virtually every green organ. Downy mildew is one of the most destructive diseases in wine-growing regions, drastically reducing yield and fruit quality. Traditional manual disease detection relies on farm experts. Human field scouting has been widely used for monitoring the disease progress, however, is costly, laborious, subjective, and often imprecise.