Grapevines at a Glance

Grapevines at a Glance first presents the results of a morphological and genetic characterization, as well as chemical characterization, of some of the most important indigenous grapevine varieties in the central Balkan, such as: Vranac, Krstac, Smederevka, Prokupac, Zilavka, Plavac Mali, and Istrian Malvasia. Following this, a characterization of the Prokupac variety of grape is presented by means of ampelographic and molecular analysis, as well as chemical characteristics. The authors investigate the efficiency of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy scanning to detect differences in the chemical composition, gross energy, in vitro apparent digestibility and relative feed value of leaves and green pruning residues of eleven red grapevine cultivars and five white grapevine cultivars. Additionally, it is determined that the nutritive value for ruminants and the content of bioactive compounds and related antioxidant capacity for humans depends on the grapevine cultivars. These leaves are rich in bioactive compounds and might provide a significant source of dietary bioaccessible polyphenols with high antioxidant capacity. The differences between the chemical composition, gross energy and in vitro apparent digestibility of the grapevine and grapevine leaves of five varieties of red grapevine and of five varieties of white grapevine are explored. The closing study focuses on how microbial communities associated with vineyards points to the existence of patterns of microbial distribution across viticultural areas, suggesting a microbiological component of the terroir concept.