Standard practice for grape disease management in Marlborough 10 years ago was to spray for diseases using calendar based spray programmes. Communication of grape disease management research has led to a change of practice for many grape growers. The key tool developed by the research programme was targeted spraying for diseases. This involved field monitoring for diseases and the use of decisi...

Koshu is a grape cultivar native to Japan and is one of the country's most important cultivars for wine making. Koshu and other oriental grape cultivars are widely believed to belong to the European domesticated grape species Vitis vinifera. To verify the domesticated origin of Koshu and four other cultivars widely grown in China and Japan, we genotyped 48 ancestry informative single nucleotide...

Grapes are widely known for health benefits due to their antioxidant content. In wine production, grape stems are often discarded, though they has a higher content of antioxidants than the juice. The effectiveness of using an environmentally friendly solvent, ethanol, as a superheated liquid and supercritical fluid to extract antioxidant compounds from grape stems of organically grown Crimson S...

Although the beneficial effects of moderate wine intake are well-known, data on antioxidant capacity of grape juices are scarce and controversial. The purpose of this study was to quantify total polyphenols, anthocyanins, resveratrol, catechin, epicatechin, procyanidins, and ascorbic acid contents in grape juices, and to assess their possible antioxidant activity. Eight Vitis labrusca juices--w...

Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is a group of genetically similar strains that infect a wide range of plants. We hypothesized that differing genetic factors among the strains determine the ability of a strain to infect a particular host plant. To better understand what makes grape a good host for all grape strains but not for strains such as oleander and almond that cannot colonize grape, we conducted ...

BACKGROUND Postprandial hyperglycemia is an early defect of type 2 diabetes and one of primary anti-diabetic targets. Treatment of postprandial hyperglycemia can be achieved by inhibiting intestinal α-glucosidase, the key enzyme for oligosaccharide digestion and further glucose absorption. Grape pomace is winemaking byproduct rich in bioactive food compounds such as phenolic antioxidants. This ...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Red grape seeds as functional food are a good source of important bioactive components such as phenolics and antioxidants, which decrease oxidative stress that contributes to the pathogenesis of hepatotoxicity. The current study was conducted in order to evaluate the protective effect of red grape dried seeds (RGDS) on antioxidant properties, lipid metabolism, and liver an...

BACKGROUND Plants produce secondary metabolites that often possess widespread bioactivity, and are then known as phytochemicals. We previously determined that several phytochemical-rich food-derived preparations were active against pathogenic foodborne bacteria. Trichomonads produce disease (trichomoniasis) in humans and in certain animals. Trichomonads are increasingly becoming resistant to co...

The search for complementary treatments in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a high-priority challenge. Grape and wine polyphenol resveratrol confers CV benefits, in part by exerting anti-inflammatory effects. However, the evidence in human long-term clinical trials has yet to be established. We aimed to investigate the effects of a dietary resveratrol-rich grape supplement ...

Grape ripeness is an elusive concept for many people and sometimes an elusive achievement for vineyards. Much of the difficulty with discussions of grape ripeness is that there is often an implied standard, but in reality, ripeness is an entirely subjective judgment. So, there are really two issues to address: 1) how do we define grape ripeness and 2) how do we measure ripeness parameters to as...