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Background and Aims Research into new systems for controlling enzymatic browning in the agro‐food industry has been focused on eco‐friendly alternatives to conventional thermal treatments and traditional additives, which could impair the sensory, nutritional and health properties. The use of unripe grapes for reducing alcohol concentration and pH of wines has been previously reported; however, no studies have been made of the evaluation of unripe grapes as potential functional ingredients to control enzymatic browning and to enhance antioxidant properties of plant products. Methods and Results Unripe berries were collected in two seasons during bunch thinning of Barbera and Merlot vineyards. Merlot grapes, which had the highest antioxidant activity in the 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl and ferric reducing ability of plasma assays, were also the most effective in preventing enzyme browning, as confirmed by spectrophotometric assays using commercial mushroom tyrosinase, by zymographic techniques on the isoforms isolated from some plant polyphenol oxidases and by in vivo trials on fresh‐cut fruits and vegetables. Conclusions The juice of unripe grapes showed not only antibrowning but also antioxidant and whitening activities. Significance Unripe grapes discarded during bunch thinning of vineyards represent for the agro‐food industry a significant source of bioactive compounds that are easy to produce and safe for human health, thus converting these agricultural wastes into value‐added products.

Proper pollination and bunch management are vital to improving date palm productivity and fruit quality. The present study was conducted on 6‑year-old tissue culture derived date palm cv. ‘ADP-1’ in hot-arid Indian conditions. The objective was to achieve higher yield and superior fruit quality by standardizing the right time for pollination, optimum crop load and bunch cover. Our findings revealed that pollination had no discernible negative effects on yield or yield attributing traits including fruit weight and pulp weight until 36 h following spathe splitting. However, it was found that the best time to pollinate was between 12–36 h following spathe splitting. The best combination for achieving a high marketable yield of better-quality fruits (total soluble solids, sugar, etc.) was 12 bunches per tree plus 25% strand thinning. Fruit quality attributes were also affected by bunch covering; nonwoven bagging resulted in the largest percentage (28.6%) of pind stage fruits and increased overall fruit yield by 35.8% as compared to the uncovered control.

Background and Aims The increasing interest by the wine market in sparkling white wines challenges how the desired grape composition can be achieved under the pressure of global warming. The aim of the present study was to assess the viability of summer pruning as a tool to pilot ripening towards desired compositional patterns. Methods and Results Ortrugo was subjected to basal leaf removal applied either at pre‐flowering (ELR) or in lag‐phase (LLR) and to bunch thinning (BT; removal of 50% of crop at lag‐phase) in comparison with untreated control (C). Treatments induced large variation in bunch mass (30% less in ELR vs BT), yield per vine (37 and 21% less in BT and ELR vs C) and total soluble solids at harvest (BT scored 2.9°Brix higher than that of C). Conversely, given the same harvest date, all practices failed to maintain titratable acidity (TA) at the threshold of 6.5 g/L. Conclusions The data suggest that crop regulation achieved in the high yielding Ortrugo, through either BT or ELR, increases sugar accumulation rate so that concurrent optimal TA level (≅6.5 g/L) can be easily achieved by slightly anticipating harvest date. Under conditions of thermal or light stress, or weather conducive to bunch rot, preference should be given to ELR. Significance of the Study Suitable summer pruning techniques might be used as flexible and powerful tools to direct ripening towards the desired crop composition.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Regulated deficit irrigation and crop load adjustment are viticultural practices used to improve grape and wine composition. Our objective was to evaluate the combined effect of irrigation and crop load levels on leaf photosynthesis, accumulation of non‐structural carbohydrates and leaf carbon utilisation during the season. METHODS AND RESULTS: The trial started in 2006 in a Vitis vinifera L. Malbec vineyard in Mendoza. Two irrigation levels (100% and 25% of reference evapotranspiration) and two crop loads (20 and 10 bunches per vine, set at veraison) were studied. During the 2009/10 season, diurnal dynamics of leaf water potential, photosynthesis and carbohydrate concentration were determined at anthesis, veraison and harvest. Deficit irrigation reduced leaf starch concentration at veraison and increased soluble sugars. High‐crop load reduced leaf starch concentration at veraison. Starch turnover was correlated with photosynthesis during the previous day. CONCLUSIONS: Deficit irrigation had a greater effect on carbon allocation between soluble sugars and starch than on total carbohydrate production. Effects of deficit irrigation and crop load operated independently. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: This experiment improved our knowledge of carbon assimilation and allocation during the season, which may assist the development of management practices to stabilise yield and fruit composition.

Shoot and bunch thinning treatments are frequently employed for enhancing bunch sunlight exposure and obtaining better grape composition in wine grape growing. Timings of these treatments have momentous impacts on yield and quality characteristics of grapes. In present study, influences of two different canopy management practices such as shoot thinning (ST) and bunch thinning (BT) and three different treatment terms such as grape setting period, grape pea-sized period and verasion period on chemical composition and monoterpene characteristics of cv. Cabernet Sauvignon were assessed in Tekirdağ, Turkey in the course of 2013 growing season. Study results pointed out that shoot and bunch thinning treatments and their treatment terms had diverse effects on yield and chemical parameters in cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. Among the shoot and bunch thinning terms, verasion period and grape pea-sized period were particularly determined to be more effective than grape setting period for enhancing chemical composition and monoterpene content of cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. As a result, although all shoot and bunch thinning treatments performed at three different terms had favorable effects on examined parameters compared to control treatments, ST3 (shoot thinning at verasion period) and BT3 (bunch thinning at verasion period) treatments obviously increased total phenolic compounds content, total anthocyanin content, free volatile terpene content and potentially terpene content of cv. Cabernet Sauvignon.

Botrytis bunch rot of grapes (BBR) causes substantial crop and wine quality issues globally. Past and present foundations for BBR control are based upon synthetic fungicides and varying forms of canopy management. Many authors regard the continued dependence on fungicides as unsustainable and have urged greater deployment of cultural, biological and nutritional strategies. However, in contrast to organic wine production, the uptake of alternative strategies in conventional vineyards has been slow based on cost and perceived reliability issues. This review summarises research from many different wine growing regions in New Zealand with the aim of demonstrating how traditional and newly developed cultural control practices have cost-effectively reduced BBR. In addition to reviewing traditional cultural practices (e.g., leaf removal), mechanical tools are described that remove floral trash and mechanically shake the vines. Multi-omics has improved our knowledge of the underlying changes to grape berries after mechanical shaking. Exogenous applications of calcium may correct calcium deficiencies in the berry skin and reduce BBR but the outcome varies between cultivar and regions. Nitrogen aids in grapevine defence against BBR but remains a complex and difficult nutrient to manage. The sustainable growth of organics and The European Green Deal will stimulate researchers to evaluate new combinations of non-chemical BBR strategies in the next decade.