Biological control of Botrytis cinerea in grapes: effects on the winemaking process and the quality of grapes, must and wine

Grey mould is a disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea that affects the quality of both grapes and wines assuming a great economic loss for the wine industry. Traditionally, chemical antibotrites that generate residues have been used, these can have an effect on the fermentative kinetics of wines. As an alternative, nowadays biological control fungicides are commercialized, which have the additional advantage that they can be applied in the days leading up to the harvest.

In this work the impact of the preventive use of a biofungicide constituted by the bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis QST713 was analysed on the quality of grapes, musts and wines, in the microbial population and also in the fermentative kinetics. The results were compared with those obtained in untreated grapes.

This work has proven that the preventive application of B. subtilis on grapes as a biocontrol agent against B. cinerea could be an ecological practice also recommended from an enological point of view.

Work presented at the Enoforum awards 2018. The paper reproduced in this video-seminar  was presented at the 11th edition of Enoforum (Zaragoza, Spain, May 31 – June 1 2018)

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