Pesticides' influence on wine fermentation.

Wine quality strongly depends on the grape quality. To obtain high-quality wines, it is necessary to process healthy grapes at the correct ripeness stage and for this reason the farmer has to be especially careful in the prevention of parasite attacks on the grapevine. The most common fungal diseases affecting grape quality are downy and powdery mildew (Plasmopara viticola and Uncinula necator), and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea). On the other hand, the most dangerous insects are the grape moth (Lobesia botrana), vine mealybug (Planococcus ficus), and the citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri). Farmers fight grape diseases and insects applying pesticides that can be found at harvest time on grapes. The persistence of pesticides depends on the chemical characteristic of the active ingredients as well as on photodegradation, thermodegradation, codistillation, and enzymatic degradation. The pesticide residues on grapes can be transferred to the must and this can influence the selection and development of yeast strains. Moreover, yeasts can also influence the levels of the pesticides in the wine by reducing or adsorbing them on lees. During the fermentative process, yeasts can cause the disappearance of pesticide residues by degradation or absorption at the end of the fermentation when yeasts are deposited as lees. In this chapter, we reviewed the effect of commonly used herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides on yeasts. We also studied the effect of alcoholic and malolactic fermentation on pesticide residues.