Autochthonous Apulian grapevine cultivars, red wine and health effect: a multi-approach analysis

Grapevine (Vitis spp) is one of the most economically important and widely cultivated fruit crops all over the world, with a well-established wine market in Europe. Grape richness in bioactive molecules, including flavonoid compounds (flavonol, monomeric catechins, pro-anthocyanins, anthocyanins, anthocyanidins) and non-flavonoid phenolic compounds (resveratrol) together with other nutrients, metabolites, vitamins, etc., plays a fundamental role both on the wine quality, and on human health, thanks to their well known activity related to the prevention of oxidative reactions, inflammatory processes, degenerative pathophysiological state in adults, and cardiovascular diseases. Even if several high-throughput transcriptomic profiles in the most common Vitis vinifera cultivars have already contributed to generate a comprehensive picture of gene regulation in this species, to date little is known about gene regulation of these processes in other Vitis species and particularly in the minor autochthonous cultivars. In this research, three major and typical regional Apulian varieties (Nero di Troia, Primitivo and Negramaro) and two minor Apulian autochthonous red cultivars (Susumaniello and Notardomenico) were selected to study possible anti-oxidative effects of their wine extracts and the correlated association with distinct transcriptomic profiles.