Several postharvest diseases of table grapes (Vitis vinifera) occur during storage, and gray mold rot is a particularly severe disease because the causal agent, Botrytis cinerea, grows at temperatures as low as 0℃. Other postharvest diseases, such as those caused by Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus spp., also often lead to deterioration in the quality of table grapes after harvest. The use of p...

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that have been detected in food commodities, including grapes and wine. A survey was conducted to assess mycotoxin-producing fungi in grapes destined for wine production. The mycotoxigenic capacity of the isolates was tested in culture media. Grapes were analyzed by plating methods from 4 Portuguese wine-growing regions at...

Grapes are rich in phytochemicals with many proven health benefits. Phenolic profiles, antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of twenty-four selected Vitis vinifera grape cultivars were investigated in this study. Large ranges of variation were found in these cultivars for the contents of total phenolics (95.3 to 686.5 mg/100 g) and flavonoids (94.7 to 1055 mg/100 g) and antioxidant activ...

AIMS The mycoflora of healthy grapes (i.e. without visible symptoms of rot) for wine production in Portuguese wine-making regions was assessed and its potential for ochratoxin A (OTA) production evaluated. The OTA content of grapes was also determined. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 386 fungal strains were isolated by plating methods. The most frequent genera found in grapes were non-ochratox...

Fruits release specific volatiles as vapors during spoilage that can provide information about the spoilage stages of fruits. We used long optical path Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and sensor arrays comprising carbon dioxide and ethanol sensors to study the grape spoilage process synchronously. The results revealed that specific volatiles, such as carbon dioxide, ethanol and e...

Table grapes commonly suffer from tissue browning during harvest, packing, storage and shelf life, resulting in lower prices and reduced access to markets. We evaluated the development of browning symptoms in ‘Princess’ table grapes. The berries had high skin browning but very low flesh browning incidences. The most skin browning was found in highly mature grapes and appeared after 3 weeks of c...

Two varieties of grapes, white grape and red grape grown in the Campania region of Italy were selected for the study of drying characteristics. Comparisons were made with treated and untreated grapes under constant drying condition of 50 C in a conventional drying system. This temperature was selected to represent farm drying conditions. Grapes were purchased from a local market from the same s...

The chemical composition of grape berries is influenced by various environmental conditions often considered to be representative of a "terroir". If grapes from a given terroir are assumed to reflect this origin in their chemical compositions, the corresponding wine should also reflect it. The aim of this work was therefore to reveal the "terroir" expression within the chemodiversity of grapes ...