• Energy Research

Abstract An open-top chamber experiment has been carried out at the facilities of Curno (North Italy), in June–August 2009, to assess the response to ozone in two poplar clones Populus maximowiczii Henry × P. berolinensis Dippel (Oxford clone, OX), and Populus nigra “Jean Pourtet” (JP) in concomitance of severe drought events. Three different water regimes were applied: W – Well Watered Control: field capacity; D1 – Drought Treatment 1: field capacity until begin July, then reduced water availability (plants were then subjected to severe drought events); D2 – Drought Treatment 2: constant water shortage (plants were then subjected to severe drought events). Leaf water potential, gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence (JIP-test) were assessed every 2 weeks; growth parameters and stable isotope composition ( δ 13 C and δ 18 O) were measured at the end of the experiment. The main results were: (i) drought, but not ozone, reduced photosynthesis and growth and increased δ 13 C; (ii) the two clones showed different strategies to cope with ozone stress: JP shed the damaged leaves, whereas OX maintained their leaves ozone provoked the loss of leaves in W plants of the JP clone; (iii) in the D1 plants the response to drought provokes an additional effects with the effect of ozone absorbed before the severe drought events; (iv) D2 plants did not respond to ozone until the last event, when a clear synergistic effect between the two stressors was observed. We conclude that ozone had different effects in relation to the way the drought stress was applied. These results are discussed for their ecological consequence on vegetation in field conditions.

Wine derives its economic value to a large extent from geographical origin, which has a significant impact on the quality of the wine. According to the food legislation, wines can be without geographical origin (table wine) and wines with origin. Wines with origin must have characteristics which are essential due to its region of production and must be produced, processed and prepared, exclusively within that region. The development of fast and reliable analytical methods for the assessment of claims of origin is very important. The current official method is based on the measurement of stable isotope ratios of water and alcohol in wine, which are influenced by climatic factors. The results in this paper are based on 5220 Italian wine samples collected in the period 2000-2010. We evaluate the univariate approach underlying the official method to assess claims of origin and propose several new methods to get better geographical discrimination between samples. It is shown that multivariate methods are superior to univariate approaches in that they show increased sensitivity and specificity. In cases where data are non-normally distributed, an approach based on mixture modelling provides additional improvements.

AbstractCurrent biodiversity loss is a major concern and thus biodiversity assessment of modern ecosystems is compelling and needs to be contextualized on a longer timescale. High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) is progressively becoming a major source of data on biodiversity time series. In this multi proxy study, we tested, for the first time, the potential of HTS to estimate plant biodiversity archived in the surface layers of a temperate alpine glacier, amplifying the trnL barcode for vascular plants from eDNA of firn samples. A 573 cm long core was drilled by the Adamello glacier and cut into sections; produced samples were analyzed for physical properties, stable isotope ratio, and plant biodiversity by eDNA metabarcoding and conventional light microscopy analysis. Results highlighted the presence of pollen and plant remains within the distinct layers of snow, firn and ice. While stable isotope ratio showed a scarcely informative pattern, DNA metabarcoding described distinct plant species composition among the different samples, with a broad taxonomic representation of the biodiversity of the catchment area and a high-ranking resolution. New knowledge on climate and plant biodiversity changes of large catchment areas can be obtained by this novel approach, relevant for future estimates of climate change effects.

In this study we investigated the effect of the grape withering process occurring during the production of Italian passito wines on the variability of the (D/H)I, (D/H)II, δ(13)C, and δ(18)O of wine ethanol and the δ(18)O of wine water. The production of PDO Erbaluce di Caluso Passito in five different cellars in Piedmont (Italy) was considered in two successive years. Moreover, samples of 17 different traditional Italian passito wines taken at different stages of maturation were taken into account. We found that the δ(18)O of must and wine water and the δ(18)O of ethanol decrease in the case of passito wines produced in northern and central Italy using postharvest drying of the grapes in dedicated ventilated or unventilated fruit drying rooms (fruttaio), during autumn-winter. For passito wines produced in southern Italy, where the main technique involves withering on the plant (en plein air), δ(18)O tends to increase. The (DH)I of wine ethanol did not change during withering, whereas the (DH)II and δ(13)C values changed slightly, but without any clear trend. Particular attention must be therefore paid in the evaluation of the δ(18)O data of passito wines for fraud detection.

Stable isotope ratios (SIRs) of C, N, H and O have been exensively used in fruit juices quality control (ENV and AOAC methods) to detect added sugar and the watering down of concentrated juice, practices prohibited by European legislation (EU Directive 2012/12). The European Fruit Juice Association (AIJN) set some reference guidelines in order to allow the judging of the genuiness of a juice. Moreover, various studies have been carried out to determine the natural variability of SIRs in fruit juices, but none of these has investigated SIRs extensively in authentic citrus juices from Italy. In this work, about 500 citrus juice samples were officially collected in Italy by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies from 1998 onwards. (D/H)I and (D/H)II in ethanol and δ13Cethanol, δ13Cpulp, δ13Csugars, δ18Ovegetalwater, δ15Npulp, and δ18Opulp were determined using Site‐Specific Natural Isotope Fractionation‐Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, respectively.The characteristic ranges of variability in SIRs in genuine Italian citrus juice samples are here presented as well as their relationships and compliance with the limits indicated by the AIJN and others proposed in the literature. In particular, the Italian range of values was found to be not completely in agreement with AIJN guidelines, with the risk that genuine juices could be judged as not genuine.Variety seems not to influence SIRs, whereas harvest year and region of origin have some influence on the different ratios, although their data distribution shows overlapping when principal component analysis is applied. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractSince 1986 the European Union has established official isotopic analysis methods for detecting the illegal addition of sugar and water to wine and to enable geographical traceability. In this paper we investigate the possibility of using analysis of the 18O/16O stable isotope ratio (expressed as δ18O) of ethanol to improve detection of the watering of wine and to determine the origin of ethanol. Sixty‐nine authentic wine samples from all over Italy, 59 spirits from fruit and cereals, 5 chemically synthesized ethanols, one concentrated and rectified must, one beet and one cane sugar, one fresh must, and 6 waters with increasing δ18O values were considered. Ethanol was recovered by distillation, using a Cadiot spinning band column, following the official OIV methods. The residual water was trapped by storing the distillate for at least 24 h on a molecular sieve. The 18O/16O ratio was measured using a pyrolyser interfaced with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The δ‐18O of ethanol is significantly related to the δ18O of the fermentation water and can be considered as a reliable internal reference. The values ranged from +24‰ to +36‰ in wine (years 2008 to 2012), +10‰ to +26‰ in fruit and cereal distillates, and from –2‰ to +12‰ in synthetic ethanol. The method was shown to be effective in improving detection of the watering of wine and determining the origin of ethanol (from grapes, other fruit, or synthesis), but not in detecting the addition of cane or beet sugar to wine.