Wineries Evaluation of Costs and Benefits of Sustainability Certification Program: The Case of Terra Vitis in France.

BACKGROUND: The current paper analyses the evaluation of the costs and benefits of French wineries (N=69) participating in the sustainability program Terra Vitis, a widespread environmental certification scheme within the French wine industry. METHOD: An online questionnaire was sent to all Terra Vitis participants, in order to analyse the evaluation of economic costs and benefits (together with environmental benefits) as perceived by wineries. RESULTS: Our findings reveal that older participants in the scheme (over 5 years), firms with higher export share (>40% of annual turnover) and cooperative wineries tend to be keener to assign a positive evaluation to the benefits/costs ratio in both the vineyard and the winery. CONCLUSION: In the context of increasing concerns regarding the economic and environmental performance of the French agricultural sector, such findings and also the patent research could be useful for policy makers and entrepreneurs in defining mainstream normative and corporate strategies.

Front face fluorescence spectroscopy and visible spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics have the potential to characterise ripening of Cabernet Franc grapes.

The potential of front-face spectroscopy for grape ripening dates discrimination was investigated on Cabernet Franc grapes from three parcels located on the Loire Valley and for six ripening dates. The 18 batches were analysed by front-face fluorescence spectroscopy and visible spectroscopy. The excitation spectra (250-310nm, emission wavelength=350nm) were characterised by a shoulder at 280nm. Grapes spectra were classified by factorial discriminant analysis (FDA). Ripening dates were well predicted by fluorescence spectra: grapes before veraison were separated from grapes after veraison and almost every ripening date was identified. The common spectroscopic space obtained by CCSWA showed that wavelengths corresponding to anthocyanin absorption in the visible were correlated to fluorescence wavelengths around the starting and ending points of the shoulder (263 and at 292nm). Then, regression models were investigated to predict total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity, malvidin-3G, total anthocyanins and total phenolics content from visible and fluorescence spectra. To predict technological indicators (TSS and total acidity), the PLS model with visible spectra (RMSECV=0.82 degrees Brix or 0.96gL(-1) H(2)SO(4)) was better than those with fluorescence one (RMSECV=1.39 degrees Brix or 2.06gL(-1) H(2)SO(4)). For malvidin-3G and total anthocyanins, all R(c)(2) and R(cv)(2) were superior to 0.90 and RMSECV were low. Visible and fluorescence spectroscopies succeeded in predicting anthocyanin content. Concerning total phenolic, the best prediction was provided by fluorescence spectroscopy.

Characterization of odor-active volatiles in apples: influence of cultivars and maturity stage.

The aroma and texture of three different apple cultivars, harvested at three maturity stages, were analyzed by sensory and instrumental analysis. The emphasis was on the identification of the most potent odorant volatiles, and the challenge was to separate the few most important flavor compounds, which may be trace chemicals, from the vast number of nonodorant compounds present in apple aroma extracts. Thirty-six odorant compounds were detected, 24 of which were common to all extracts. A significant correlation coefficient was found between the aroma intensity scores and overall quantity of the odorant volatiles, which shows that the development of sensory aroma is similar to that of odorant volatiles. This study also showed that the parameters measured by penetrometry and compression were highly correlated with sensory textural attributes. The determination of the optimal maturity stage for different apple cultivars by the usual parameters, such as color, diameter, total soluble solids, and titrable acidity, may not be sufficient to determine the optimal sensory quality for consumers. Moreover, the sensory quality of fruits changes during maturation in a different way from one cultivar to another, and this should be taken into account.