Latial vitis vinifera L.: biodiversity, characterization and preservation

South of the Latium region is the geographic site where different Italic tribes, such as Aequians, Volscians, Hernicans, and Marsians, lived until the last century BC when Romans conquered the whole area. Wine was one of the most important agricultural products of these populations, and, consequently, the establishment of vineyards was highly promoted. Now as then, grapevine represents for south Latial farmers an important source of economic profit and social development. Indeed, probably because of the advantageous microclimate of these territories, white and red wines produced in Frosinone district gained international prestige. Nevertheless, Latial grapevine biodiversity has changed during the centuries and many cultivars have been lost, forsaken, or modified by natural or artificial events. On the basis of these observations, and according to the aims of the PIF project, different south Latial grapevine accessions were collected and subjected to ampelographic, ampelometric, and molecular analysis to: scientifically identify and classify them; study sample similarities and differences; identify new cultivars; detect new and rare allelic variants; compare morphological and molecular results; clarify synonymy and homonymy cases determined by uncorrected oral history; evaluate the phenotypic convergences of different varieties in response to the environment; and give value to new and ancient Latial autochthonous cultivars. Analyses were carried out according to the methods and guidelines developed by European Union programs of grapevine research and standardization (GENRES-081 2001; GrapeGen06 2007) to produce data that are scientifically correct, comparable, and supplemental with respect to the results reported in European grapevine certified databases. Furthermore, another important aim of this work was the biochemical characterization of V. vinifera accessions. In particular, to generate a specific metabolic profile for each grape specimen (sampled in autumn in hilly areas of Frosinone district), the total phenolic content and wine specific anthocyanins, flavonols, phenolic acids, tannins and stilbenes were detected and quantified by LC-MS and spectrophotometric analysis. Since the analyzed V. vinifera samples were typical autochthonous cultivars or peculiar new ecotypes, naturally selected by evolution during the time, an additional purpose of this study was the identification of possible correlations between sample biochemical composition and their bioactivity. Therefore, the antioxidant properties of each berry extract were evaluated by two different in vitro antiradical assays, and a preliminary screening on their antiproliferative effect on HTC-116 human colorectal cancer cells was investigated. A final goal of this research was the conservation ex situ of all samples to preserve Latial grapevine biodiversity and, in particular, recovered ancient varieties. For this purpose, in this work, in vitro culture techniques have been developed. This part of the work represents a preliminary approach since the study was carried out only on one variety, of which we had more source material. Numerous other experiments will be conducted to find the optimal conditions culture for all studied varieties.