A Methodological Approach to Assess the Effect of Organic, Biodynamic, and Conventional Production Processes on the Intrinsic and Perceived Quality of a Typical Wine: The Case Study of Chianti DOCG.

The aim of this study was to propose a methodological approach to evaluate the impact of the organic, biodynamic, and conventional production processes on the intrinsic and perceived quality of a typical wine. For this purpose, fourteen commercial Chianti DOCG wines from the 2016 harvest were selected based on the type of production management. A survey was set up to get winemaking information from the estate's producer of the wines to estimate the carbon dioxide production under the three types of management. The eligibility, identity, and style properties (the intrinsic quality) of the wines were defined. A group of 45 experts evaluated the differences between wines by the Napping test and rated their typicality (perceived quality). The organic and biodynamic management showed a lower level of estimated values of carbon dioxide production. The overall statistical elaboration of the chemical and sensory data highlighted that the registered differences of the intrinsic, perceived quality, and typicality level of the respective wines, did not depend on the type of management. The comparison of the three kinds of wine by SIMCA modeling, put in evidence that the conventional ones showed a greater homogeneity regarding chemical composition, sensory characteristics, and typicality.

Protection of Wine from Protein Haze Using Schizosaccharomyces japonicus Polysaccharides.

Nowadays commercial preparations of yeast polysaccharides (PSs), in particular mannoproteins, are widely used for wine colloidal and tartrate salt stabilization. In this context, the industry has developed different processes for the isolation and purification of PSs from the cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This yeast releases limited amounts of mannoproteins in the growth medium, thus making their direct isolation from the culture broth not economically feasible. On the contrary, Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, a non-Saccharomyces yeast isolated from wine, releases significant amounts of PSs during the alcoholic fermentation. In the present work, PSs released by Sch. japonicus were recovered from the growth medium by ultrafiltration and their impact on the wine colloidal stability was evaluated. Interestingly, these PSs contribute positively to the wine protein stability. The visible haziness of the heat-treated wine decreases as the concentration of added PSs increases. SDS-PAGE Gel electrophoresis results of the haze and of the supernatant after the heat stability test are consistent with the turbidity measurements. Moreover, particle size distributions of the heat-treated wines, as obtained by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), show a reduction in the average dimension of the protein aggregates as the concentration of added PSs increases.

[Survey on the lifestyle of nurses, nursing students and young adolescent]. / Indagine sullo stile di vita di infermieri, studenti infermieri e giovani adolescenti.

Prevention and health promotion are based on the amendment of unhealthy lifestyles. The purpose of this work is to identify and highlight unhealthy habits and behaviours of nursing students and nurses professionals, in order to explore possible correlations between unhealthy choices and culture, knowledge and skills in health education. The study population is represented by three separate samples: a) Students from high schools in the province of Pistoia, b) Nursing Undergraduate students of the University of Florence (campus of Pistoia), c) Nurses employed within the Health Services 3 of Pistoia. Investigated behaviours were smoking and alcohol habits, painkiller and inflammatory consumption. Data gathered through the questionnaires were useful to identify and classify educational needs for each of the three samples . This study helps to bring out important aspects of nurses' role on health promotion within the society.