Biostimulants in Viticulture: A Sustainable Approach against Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

Climate change and disproportionate anthropogenic interventions, such as the excess of phytopharmaceutical products and continuous soil tillage, are jeopardizing viticulture by subjecting plants to continuous abiotic stress. One of the main physiological repercussions of abiotic stress is represented by the unbalanced redox homeostasis due to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), ultimately leading to a state of oxidative stress (detrimental to grape quality). To these are added the direct and indirect damages caused by pathogens (biotic stresses). In light of this scenario, it is inevitable that sustainable techniques and sensitivity approaches for environmental and human health have to be applied in viticulture. Sustainable viticulture can only be made with the aid of sustainable products. Biostimulant (PB) applications (including resistance inducers or elicitors) in the vineyard have become interesting maneuvers for counteracting vine diseases and improving grape quality. These also represent a partial alternative to soil fertilization by improving nutrient absorption and avoiding its leaching into the groundwater. Their role as elicitors has important repercussions in the stimulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway by triggering the activation of several enzymes, such as polyphenol oxidase, lipoxygenase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and peroxidase (with the accumulation of phenolic compounds). The present review paper summarizes the PBs' implications in viticulture, gathering historical, functional, and applicative information. This work aims to highlight the innumerable beneficial effects on vines brought by these products. It also serves to spur the scientific community to a greater contribution in investigating the response mechanisms of the plant to positive inductions.

Sustainable Soil Management: Effects of Clinoptilolite and Organic Compost Soil Application on Eco-Physiology, Quercitin, and Hydroxylated, Methoxylated Anthocyanins on Vitis vinifera

Climate change and compostinS1g methods have an important junction on the phenological and ripening grapevine phases. Moreover, the optimization of these composting methods in closed-loop corporate chains can skillfully address the waste problem (pomace, stalks, and pruning residues) in viticultural areas. Owing to the ongoing global warming, in many wine-growing regions, there has been unbalanced ripening, with tricky harvests. Excessive temperatures in fact impoverish the anthocyanin amount of the must while the serious water deficits do not allow a correct development of the berry, stopping its growth processes. This experiment was created to improve the soil management and the quality of the grapes, through the application of a new land conditioner (Zeowine) to the soil, derived from the compost processes of industrial wine, waste, and zeolite. Three treatments on a Sangiovese vineyard were conducted: Zeowine (ZW) (30 tons per ha), Zeolite (Z) (10 tons per ha), and Compost (C) (20 tons per ha). During the two seasons (2021-2022), measurements were made of single-leaf gas exchange and leaf midday water potential, as well as chlorophyll fluorescence. In addition, the parameters of plant yield, yeast assimilable nitrogen, technological maturity, fractionation of anthocyanins (Cyanidin-3-glucoside, Delphinidin-3-glucoside, Malvidin-3-acetylglucoside, Malvidin-3-cumarylglucoside, Malvidin-3-glucoside, Peonidin-3-acetylglucoside, Peonidin-3-cumarylglucoside, Peonidin-3-glucoside, and Petunidin-3-glucoside), Caffeic Acid, Coumaric Acid, Gallic Acid, Ferulic Acid, Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, Quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, Quercetin-3-O-glucoside, Quercetin-3-O-galactoside, and Quercetin-3-O-glucuronide were analyzed. The Zeowine and zeolite showed less negative water potential, higher photosynthesis, and lower leaf temperature. Furthermore, they showed higher levels of anthocyanin accumulation and a lower level of quercetin. Finally, the interaction of the beneficial results of Zeowine (soil and grapevines) was evidenced by the embellishment of the nutritional and water efficiency, the minimizing of the need for fertilizers, the closure of the production cycle of waste material from the supply chain, and the improvement of the quality of the wines.