Quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) fruit aqueous acetone extracts were evaluated. High-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry were used for the identification and quantification of the phenolic compounds. The total phenolic content of the pulp and peel parts ranged from 37 to 47 and 105 to 157 mg/100 g of fresh weight, respectively. Chlorogenic acid (5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) was the most abundant phenolic compound in the pulp (37%), whereas rutin (quercetin 3-O-rutinoside) was the main one in the peel (36%). The radical scavenging potential of the extracts was determined and compared with that of synthetic antioxidants. The stronger properties corresponded to those obtained from peel material with a 70-80% inhibitory effect on DPPH radicals. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts against different microorganism strains was also investigated. Quince peel extract was the most active for inhibiting bacteria growth with minimum inhibitory and bactericide concentrations in the range of 102-5 x 103 microg polyphenol/mL. It seems that chlorogenic acid acts in synergism with other components of the extracts to exhibit their total antimicrobial activities.

In this review the results obtained in the 1990s from research on the behavior of pesticide residues on grapes, from treatment to harvest, and their fate in drying, wine-making, and alcoholic beverage processing are reported. The fungicide residues on grapes (cyproconazole, hexaconazole, kresoxim-methyl, myclobutanil, penconazole, tetraconazole, and triadimenol), the application rates of which were of a few tens of grams per hectare, were very low after treatment and were not detectable at harvest. Pyrimethanil residues were constant up to harvest, whereas fluazinam, cyprodinil, mepanipyrim, azoxystrobin, and fludioxonil showed different disappearance rates (t(1/2) = 4.3, 12, 12.8, 15.2, and 24 days, respectively). The decay rate of the organophosphorus insecticides was very fast with t(1/2) ranging between 0.97 and 3.84 days. The drying process determined a fruit concentration of 4 times. Despite this, the residue levels of benalaxyl, phosalone, metalaxyl, and procymidone on sun-dried grapes equalled those on the fresh grape, whereas they were higher for iprodione (1.6 times) and lower for vinclozolin and dimethoate (one-third and one-fifth, respectively). In the oven-drying process, benalaxyl, metalaxyl, and vinclozolin showed the same residue value in the fresh and dried fruit, whereas iprodione and procymidone resides were lower in raisins than in the fresh fruit. The wine-making process begins with the pressing of grapes. From this moment onward, because the pesticide on the grape surface comes into contact with the must, it is in a biphasic system, made up of a liquid phase (the must) and a solid phase (cake and lees), and will be apportioned between the two phases. The new fungicides have shown no effect on alcoholic or malolactic fermentation. In some cases the presence of pesticides has also stimulated the yeasts, especially Kloeckera apiculata, to produce more alcohol. After fermentation, pesticide residues in wine were always smaller than those on the grapes and in the must, except for those pesticides that did not have a preferential partition between liquid and solid phase (azoxystrobin, dimethoate, and pyrimethanil) and were present in wine at the same concentration as on the grapes. In some cases (mepanipyrim, fluazinam, and chlorpyrifos) no detectable residues were found in the wines at the end of fermentation. From a comparison of residues in wine obtained by vinification with and without skins, it can be seen that their values were generally not different. Among the clarifying substances commonly used in wine (bentonite, charcoal, gelatin, polyvinylpolypyrrolidone, potassium caseinate, and colloidal silicon dioxide), charcoal allowed the complete elimination of most pesticides, especially at low levels, whereas the other clarifying substances were ineffective. Wine and its byproducts (cake and lees) are used in the industry to produce alcohol and alcoholic beverages. Fenthion, quinalphos, and vinclozolin pass into the distillate from the lees only if present at very high concentrations, but with...

Essential oils from the stems/leaves (L) and flowers (F) of Lavandula stoechas L. ssp. stoechas growing wild in southern Sardinia (Italy) were extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector and ion trap mass spectrometry. The major compound was fenchone, accounting for, on average, 52.60% in L and 66.20% in F, followed by camphor (13.13% versus 27.08%, in L and F, respectively). F essential oil yields (volume per dry weight) decreased from the beginning to the end of the flowering stage, whereas L yields remained constant during the year. The nine main compounds derived from two different subpathways, A and B. The compounds that belong to the same subpathway showed a similar behavior during the year. The essential oils were tested for their antifungal activity using the paper disk diffusion method. The essential oils tested were effective on the inactivation of Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum and less effective against Aspergillus flavus. Among the single compounds tested, fenchone, limonene, and myrtenal appeared to be the more effective on the inhibition of R. solani growth.

The composition of the essential oil from ripe and unripe berries and leaves of Juniperus oxycedrus L. ssp. oxycedrus, Juniperus phoenicea ssp. turbinata and Juniperus communis ssp. communis was analyzed by GC-MS, and microbiological assays were carried out. Samples were collected in different localities (Sardinia, Italy) and hydro distilled. The yields ranged between 2.54% +/- 0.21 (v\w dried weight) and 0.04% +/- 0.00. A total of 36 components were identified. The major compounds in the essential oils were alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, delta-3-carene, sabinene, myrcene, beta-phellandrene, limonene, and D-germacrene. Both qualitative and quantitative differences between species and between different parts of the plant were observed. The essential oils and their major compounds were tested against Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined. The results obtained led to a nonsignificant inhibitory effect, although all the essential oils from Juniperus phoenicea ssp. turbinata and the essential oil from leaves of Juniperus oxycedrus ssp. oxycedrus exhibited rather good or weak activity against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus.

The chemical composition of the essential oil of the Sardinian Rosmarinus officinalis L. obtained by hydro distillation and steam\hydro distillation was studied using GC-FID and MS. Samples were collected at different latitude and longitude of Sardinia (Italy). The yields ranged between 1.75 and 0.48% (v/w, volume/dry-weight). A total of 30 components were identified. The major compounds in the essential oil were alpha-pinene, borneol, (-) camphene, camphor, verbenone, and bornyl-acetate. Multivariate analysis carried out on chemical molecular markers, with the appraisal of chemical, pedological, and random amplified polymorphic DNA data, allows four different clusters to be distinguished. The antimicrobial and antifungal tests showed a weak activity of Sardinian rosemary. On the other hand, an inductive effect on fungal growth, especially toward Fusarium graminearum was observed.