276 research outputs found
La raccolta meccanica del trebbiano Romagnolo: influenza di differenti tecnologie sulla caratteristiche dei vini
No full textLa vendemmia meccanica deve rispettare lo standard qualitativo. A questo scopo diventa interessante l'applicazione di trattamenti sul prodotto raccolto, sovente caratterizzato da livelli di mosto libero elevato. Una valutazione è stata effettuata su Trebbiano romagnolo per la sua diffusa raccolta meccanica. Il prodotto vendemmiato a scuotimento verticale si presentava in ottime condizioni (8,8% di mosto libero) ed è stato sottoposto a differenti tecnologie di trattamento: A) Creazione in campo di ambiente riducente (1000 mg/t di anidride solforosa e 500 mg/t di acido ascorbico). B) Raffreddamento fino a 11 °C con ghiaccio secco nei contenitori di trasporto alla cantina (85 kg/t). C) Iperossigenazione dopo la pressatura mediante insufflazione di ossigeno molecolare fino ad un tenore di 3 mg/L di catechine. Queste tre tesi sono state confrontate con due testimoni senza trattamento: D) Raccolta meccanica, E) Raccolta manuale.Il duo-trio test ha evidenziato una differenza statisticamente significativa fra tutti i vini. Il test di classamento fra le varie coppie di prodotti non ha evidenziato differenze statisticamente significative, fatta eccezione per la tesi con l'impiego del ghiaccio secco, risultata preferita rispetto alla vendemmia meccanica senza alcun trattamento.[...
Nexus analysis and life cycle assessment of regional water supply systems: A case study from Italy
No full textEnsuring reliable access to water sources is an emerging issue being currently addressed by governments and international communities. However, local conditions play a primary role in determining requirements for urban water supply systems and cascade implications due to simultaneous interlinkages with complementary resources such as energy. As such, addressing sustainability in water management comes through quantitative evaluation modelling and assessment. To this aim, nexus analysis and life cycle assessment methodologies are applied to the drinking water supply system in the Romagna region (Italy). Our research provides detailed characterization of the involved material and energy flows, which is used as a basis for determining water-for-energy and energy-for-water results, and to conduct environmental assessment for complementary impact categories by withdrawal, treatment, and distribution processes. The results show that the energy needed to produce drinking water ranges from 0.27 MJ to 2.53 MJ per cubic meter of water delivered. Water deriving from the artificial basin and treated following a conventional technology turned out to be both the less energy intensive and the less impacting process. Overall, the study provides an exhaustive comparison of the environmental impacts of different water production alternatives, which may ultimately support decision-makers and local communities to the planning of strategies for optimized and long-term reliable access to water resources
The “SQUIID claim”: A novel LCA-based indicator for food dishes
No full textMany studies aimed at estimating the environmental impacts associated with the food sector, but most of the existing developed indicators limited the problem only to the climate change, while it is well-known that the food sector may extend its influence on a wider spectrum of environmental categories. In this work, the Life Cycle Assessment was applied to a list of 1001 recipes for an Italian food canteen, prepared with more than 150 ingredients, with the purpose to develop a comprehensive environmental indicator (namely, SQUIID: Simplified Quantitative Impact Indicator for food Dishes). SQUIID includes in the evaluation the environmental categories showing a significant contribution (at least 86%) to the single score, i.e., global warming potential (GWP), particulate matter formation, land occupation, human non-carcinogenic toxicity and water consumption. The list of recipes was then analyzed under three perspectives: mass, GWP and SQUIID. The mass perspective indicates that the list of recipes contains a fairly balanced amount of ingredients, pointing out a remarkable diversification of the menu in the examined canteen. Concerning GWP and SQUIID spheres, meat-based and fish-based recipes resulted the main impacting ones (77% for the former and 73% for the latter), demonstrating to be the two classes mainly responsible for the environmental impacts observed, even if the vegetarian and vegan food dishes represent the 41% in mass. Meat-based dishes represent the 42% of the entire list of recipes in case of GWP, when adopting SQUIID, their overall contribution is reduced to the 35%. In fact, the main percentage of SQUIID is instead attributed to fish, raising from 31% (GWP) to 43%. Such variation demonstrated the relevance of the four additional selected categories for a final and comprehensive evaluation, proving that GWP-based indicators provide to the consumer only a partial representation of the environmental issue
Regional food consumption in Italy, a life cycle analysis
No full textUrbanization and globalization have led to an increasing concern and focus on the sustainability of the food sector, particularly in discussing the composition of consumers' diets. This study examines Italian consumption habits, categorizing them into four macro-geographical areas (North-West, North-East, Center, South, and Islands), utilizing public data obtained from surveys including 3323 individuals, and assesses their environmental impacts through the application of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The findings unveil distinct dietary patterns across Italian macro-regions, indicative of cultural disparities, and present avenues for promoting environmentally sustainable dietary choices. The study identifies meat consumption as the primary environmental concern across all macro-regions, with fish emerging as a secondary contributor to particulate matter formation. Pork and poultry exhibit notable impacts within toxicity-related categories. Additionally, the research underscores challenges in data collection, notably the absence of a site-specific Italian database, and underscores the necessity for more recent consumption data to accurately capture contemporary Italian dietary habits. Finally, the study demonstrates that addressing the issue from a macro-regional perspective allows for more targeted and dedicated cultural interventions
Valutazioni operative e tecnologiche di una pressa a membrana elastica
No full textÈ stata valutata una nuova tecnologia di pressatura pneumatica a membrana elastica centrale (mec) per controllare gli effetti delle regolazioni e confrontarla con altre tecnologie di pressatura pneumatica.Gli effetti delle regolazioni su Albana hanno evidenziato che la membrana elastica centrale consente un esaurimento veloce (50-70 min) e legato alle pressioni (p = 1-1,6 bar) più che alla durata e al numero di fasi. I migliori risultati qualitativi (< solidi sospesi, < d.o. 320 nm, < attività polifenolossidasi) si ottengono con piccoli incrementi di pressione.Il confronto con altre presse a membrana semicircolare e in depressione (smd) conferma la maggiore velocità di lavoro della membrana centrale elastica (rispettivamente - 57% e -71%) con valori di estrazione comparabili (77 e 67% mec, 76 e 82% sm e smd). I risultati qualitativi sono simili o superiori con la mec (< d.o. 420 nm, < polifenoli totali, < solidi sospesi rispetto solo a sm).Queste buone prestazioni sono legate, non solo all'elasticità della membrana, ma anche alla sua posizione centrale che permette lo sfruttamento dell'intera superficie di sgrondo e la compressione di uno strato di vinacce di spessore ridotto e omogeneamente ripartito. Altro aspetto determinante riguarda l'elevata foratura della gabbia (7% della superficie) ben superiore rispetto alle altre presse in confronto.[...
Valutazioni operative e tecnologiche di una pressa a membrana elastica
No full textUna nuova tecnologia di pressatura pneumatica a membrana elastica centrale (mec) è stata valutata per controllare gli effetti delle regolazioni e confrontarla con altre tecnologie di pressatura pneumatica.Gli effetti delle regolazioni su Albana hanno evidenziato che la mec consente un esaurimento veloce (50-70 min) e legato alle pressioni (p = 1-1,6 bar) più che alla durata e al numero di fasi. I migliori risultati qualitativi (< solidi sospesi, < d.o. 320 nm, < attività polifenolossidasi) si ottengono con piccoli incrementi di pressione.Il confronto con altre presse a membrana semicircolare (sm) e in depressione (smd) conferma la maggiore velocità di lavoro della mec (rispettivamente - 57% e -71%) con valori di estrazione comparabili (77 e 67% mec, 76 e 82% sm e smd). I risultati qualitativi sono simili o superiori con la mec (< d.o. 420 nm, < polifenoli totali, < solidi sospesi rispetto solo a sm).Queste buone prestazioni sono legate, non solo all'elasticità della membrana, ma anche alla sua posizione centrale che permette lo sfruttamento dell'intera superficie di sgrondo e la compressione di uno strato di vinacce di spessore ridotto e omogeneamente ripartito. Altro aspetto determinante riguarda l'elevata foratura della gabbia (7% della superficie) ben superiore rispetto alle altre presse in confronto.[...
Evaluation of the combined effects of enzymatic treatment and aging on lees on the aroma of wine from Bombino bianco grapes
No full textIn this study, two different doses of commercial b-glucanase enzyme preparation were tested to verify their effect on wines aged on lees. These wines were compared with two samples with no enzymatictreatment. The former was aged on lees (control), and the latter was readily filtered off from theyeast cell biomass (standard). Analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA), the Tukey test, and principalcomponent analysis (PCA) were applied to all of the samples, which were analyzed for aroma composition, along with galacturonic acid, total acidity, pH, and color. Results showed a large numberof statistically significant differences among samples. In general, wines treated with b-glucanase were characterized by higher concentration of many volatile compounds. The presence of lees and evenmore the exogenous enzymatic action enhanced almost all volatile compounds. Besides the high presence of ethyl esters, it is worth mentioning the behavior of hexanol and trans-3-hexenol, which are strongly enhanced by the presence of lees and by enzymatic treatments.[...
MECHANICAL HARVESTING OPTIMIZATION AND POSTHARVEST TREATMENTS TO IMPROVE WINE QUALITY
No full textAims: The aim of this work was to verify the influence of mechanicalharvesting and postharvest treatments on wine composition.Methods and results: Trials were carried out in triplicate on cv. Montunigrapes. The estimated best setting frequency for the mechanical harvesterwas 410 shakes/min. Comparing hand-picked and mechanically harvestedgrapes, the reduced extract and pH results were lower for the hand-pickedgrapes, showing a more evident berry breakage caused by the mechanicalharvester. The wines obtained from mechanically harvested grapes hada lower phenolic compound content than wines produced with hand-pickedgrapes, indicating that oxidation phenomena occurred; the trend forpostharvest treated grapes was different. The significantly lower amountof higher alcohols in the hand-picked grapes trial than in the mechanicallyharvested ones could be explained by a lower amount of their precursorsand oxygen in musts. The sensory differences among the trials weresignificant for some parameters, but an overall view of the data suggestedthat the differences were not remarkable and all the wines were good.Conclusion: Postharvest treatments reduce the loss of natural antioxidantcompounds found in wines produced from mechanically harvested grapes.Mechanical harvesting does not have a negative influence on winecomposition if matched with the proper vineyard characteristics, machinesettings and postharvest treatments. The typicality of Montuni wine ismaintained in the cases of grapes harvested mechanically with, but alsowithout, any postharvest treatment. The use of these treatments is otherwiseuseful to obtain wines with a better stability.Significance and impact of the study: With respect to mechanicalharvesting, this study highlights the importance of maintaining and/orimproving the quality of mechanically harvested grapes containing theharvesting costs.[...
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