Regulation of secondary metabolism in Vitis vinifera by an extract of A.nosodum effects of physiology and grape quality

Regolazione del metabolismo secondario in Vitis vinifera attraverso un estratto di A.nodosum: effetti sulla fisiologia della vite e sulla qualità dell'uva

DISPAA, Dipartimento di Scienze delle Produzioni Agroalimentari e dell’Ambiente, Università di Firenze, Viale delle Idee 30, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italia

^* Corresponding author: linda.salvi@unifi.it

Abstract

Heat and drought are major abiotic stresses that impact on many Vitis vinifera physiological processes and berry development, especially as global climate change is speeding up the expected frequency and severity of both stress factors. Nevertheless, seaweed extracts might represent a strategy to confer to treated plants the capability to be more prone to counteract short-term periods of severe stresses. In this paper, we report the effects of foliar treatments with an Ascophyllum nodosum extract on physiological and biochemical parameters of grapevine. In our study performed in the 2016 season in open field in Tuscany, we assessed differences in leaf gas exchanges, chlorophyll fluorescence and midday stem water potential between treated and untreated vines. In addition, the in-depth analysis of anthocyanins and flavonols in berries presented within the work adds significantly to our knowledge of the influence of seaweed extract on the phenylpropanoid pathway. Moreover, our work witness the treatment-promoting greater tolerance to stress in vines, and support previous studies that hypothesize an influence of treatments with algae extracts on qualitative characteristics in V.vinifera.