Dynamics of Berry Growth and Physiology of Ripening in Vitis vinifera L.

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural and Floricultural Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 12389

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences - DISTAL, University of Bologna, viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: grapevine physiology; berry ripening; phenolic maturity; sustainable management techniques; precision viticulture; climate change; vineyard mechanization

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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), University of Bologna, Alma Mater Studiorum, Viale Fanin 46, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: cultivars characterization; canopy management; training systems; adaptation strategies to climate change; grape ripening; flavonoids and grape abiotic stresses

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of viticulture for economic and cultural aspects is largely acknowledged worldwide. It is well known that berry growth and the development of ripening are largely responsible for the overall quality of wine and table grape. The evolution of primary and secondary metabolites in the berries is monitored during ripening in order to harvest grapes with the right characteristics for the desired wine style, while taste and visual attributes, such as color and berry size, are essential characteristics driving the choice of table grape consumers. Since grape ripening is a process driven by the interactions between grapevine genotype and environmental factors and the climate scenario gives evidence for the occurrence of heat waves associated with a prolonged period of drought, it is deemed useful to share advances on the study of berry ripening. The ongoing climate change may cause sunburns, berry shrinking, and alterations of the typical evolution of chemical–physical berry characteristics (i.e., intense malic acid degradation and decoupling between sugar accumulation and phenolic maturity), so we need major discoveries to increase our understanding on how the environment and viticultural practices affect berry growth and physiology.  

Please submit original articles, reviews, communications and concept papers from research in wine-grape and table-grape in this Special Issue. Submissions on, but not limited to, the following topics are invited:

  • Advances in the knowledge of physiological mechanisms involved in berry development;
  • Molecular approach aimed at understanding berry ripening;
  • Agronomic practices, such as pruning, irrigation, and fertilization, and their effect on berry growth and ripening;
  • Evolution of the concentration, composition and extractability of phenolic compounds;
  • Adaptation strategies to climate change;
  • Use of remote or proximal sensors to monitor berry ripening;
  • Enological relevance of berry changes close to harvest;
  • Postharvest dehydration process.

Dr. Gianluca Allegro
Prof. Ilaria Filippetti
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Viticulture
  • Pruning
  • Irrigation
  • Fertilization
  • Gene expression
  • Hormones
  • Climate change
  • Sensors
  • Phenolic maturity
  • Winemaking procedures

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2154 KiB  
Article
Comparison between the Grape Technological Characteristics of Vitis vinifera Subsp. sylvestris and Subsp. sativa
by David Maghradze, Shengeli Kikilashvili, Olan Gotsiridze, Tamar Maghradze, Daniela Fracassetti, Osvaldo Failla and Laura Rustioni
Agronomy 2021, 11(3), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11030472 - 4 Mar 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3504
Abstract
Wine has been produced in Georgia since the 6th millennium BC. The processes of cultivar selection and breeding started with wild grapes Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris Gmel. and included multiple introgression events—from the wild to domestication. This article aims at improving the [...] Read more.
Wine has been produced in Georgia since the 6th millennium BC. The processes of cultivar selection and breeding started with wild grapes Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris Gmel. and included multiple introgression events—from the wild to domestication. This article aims at improving the knowledge concerning the history of winemaking through a comparison of the Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris and subsp. sativa. Grapes of Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris were grown in an ampelographic collection and vintages 2017–2020 were analyzed. The obtained data were compared to a wider dataset available in literature concerning Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa, demonstrating the central role of grape morphology in the domestication process. This evidence suggests that the technological value of the cultivars played an important role in the selection process. In vintages 2017, 2018, and 2019, wines were produced with Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris grapes and compared with Cabernet Sauvignon and Saperavi vinifications. For all the vintages, the fermentations took shorter time for wild grape, despite the highest content of total phenols. Learning from the past, Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris might still be an interesting genetic resource for future breeding programs. Furthermore, the possible combination of wild and domesticated grapes can make possible the production of wines with long ageing, exalting their own characteristics. Full article
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12 pages, 1131 KiB  
Article
(Z)-3-Hexenyl Butyrate Induces Stomata Closure and Ripening in Vitis vinifera
by Celia Payá, M. Pilar López-Gresa, Diego S. Intrigliolo, Ismael Rodrigo, José María Bellés and Purificación Lisón
Agronomy 2020, 10(8), 1122; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081122 - 1 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2974
Abstract
Agronomy solutions for modifying pre-harvest grape ripening are needed for a more sustainable viticulture. Field experiments were performed in Vitis vinifera L. vines to study the effect of the previously described stomata-closing compound (Z)-3-hexenyl butyrate (HB). Exogenous treatments at different doses [...] Read more.
Agronomy solutions for modifying pre-harvest grape ripening are needed for a more sustainable viticulture. Field experiments were performed in Vitis vinifera L. vines to study the effect of the previously described stomata-closing compound (Z)-3-hexenyl butyrate (HB). Exogenous treatments at different doses were periodically carried out using a randomized block design. Firstly, we observed that HB was able to induce stomatal closure in grapevine plants. Under field conditions, the application of HB around veraison induced a higher color intensity in berries, and vines treated at higher doses reached this stage earlier than the un-treated controls. There was also a clear increase in both grape anthocyanin concentration and total soluble solids without having a negative impact on total yield. We therefore, confirm the role of HB as a universal natural stomatal closure compound and propose a new use for HB in viticulture as a ripening inducer, by accelerating anthocyanin accumulation. Full article
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Review

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14 pages, 290 KiB  
Review
The Evolution of Phenolic Compounds in Vitis vinifera L. Red Berries during Ripening: Analysis and Role on Wine Sensory—A Review
by Gianluca Allegro, Chiara Pastore, Gabriele Valentini and Ilaria Filippetti
Agronomy 2021, 11(5), 999; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050999 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4745
Abstract
The study of phenolic maturity in Vitis vinifera L. requires a multidisciplinary approach to understand how the evolution of berry flavonoids and cell wall material influence the colour and the textures of red wine. This is a challenging issue which involves researchers of [...] Read more.
The study of phenolic maturity in Vitis vinifera L. requires a multidisciplinary approach to understand how the evolution of berry flavonoids and cell wall material influence the colour and the textures of red wine. This is a challenging issue which involves researchers of viticulture and enology, and the results of their work are of particular interest for the producers of high-quality red wines. This review reports the current knowledge regarding phenolic maturity, describing the sensorial traits of the different compounds, the evolution of berry flavonoids and the methodologies used to evaluate their characteristics. Finally, the role of cell wall material in influencing the extractability of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins was shown. By means of a critical review of the results, it can be hypothesised that prolonged ripening improved colour characteristics and mouthfeel properties, thanks to the higher amounts of extractable skin flavonoids associated with lower amounts of seed proanthocyanidins, and to the increased affinity of the cell wall material for the proanthocyanidins most involved in the perception of unpleasant astringency. Full article
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