Table grape Dalmasso crosses (Vitis vinifera L.): main agronomical features and quality of grapes.

In Italy the cultivation of table grapes covers 37.305 hectares (Ismea, 2010 Agricultural Istat Census,www.ismea.it), with an average surface per farm of 2 ha. Global production of table grapes is over 20.7 million tons (Oiv, 2008). Italy produces about 1.3 million tons with an internal consumption of approximately 0.8 million tons. In Europe, Italy is the major producer and exporter of table grapes; the highest production area of table grapes is concentrated in the Southern regions. At present in Northern Italy, particularly in North-West, the cultivation of table grape is very limited and grapes are totally purchased from the South. The distance from the centers of production increases the prices and is little eco-compatible. Besides, the introduction of table grape cultivation could diversify the local agricultural production, limit the purchase price and increase eco-sustainability (km 0 production). Table grape Vitis vinifera cultivated varieties are not so many if compared to the extremely high number of wine grape varieties cultivated all over the world. In Italy table grapes registered in the National Catalogue of grapevine varieties are more than 100 but industrial cultivation relies on a reduced number of them such as Italia, Regina, Victoria, Matilde and White Pizzutello, among the white grape varieties, on Red Globe, Michele Palieri, Cardinal, Moscato d’Amburgo, among colored ones. However, these varieties are not suitable for cultivation in cool climate environments; for these reasons in the forties Prof. Giovanni Dalmasso began a program of crossbreeding to select table grape genotypes to be cultivated in the North of Italy. These ‘Dalmasso crosses’ represent a reservoir of biodiversity, still little characterized, although some of them had already been registered in the Italian National Catalogue of varieties in 1977 (Mannini and Gay, 2007). The characterization of biodiversity is pivotal to the possible spreading of table grape cultivation in Piedmont, North-West Italy. In the present work we characterized the phenolic profiles of Franca, Giovanna, Liana and Viola (registered varieties) and of other Dalmasso crosses never registered in the National Catalogue: 4/6 (Chasselas rosa x Regina), 5/1 (Chasselas rosa x Perla di Csaba), 11/5 (unknown parents). Their antioxidant capacity was measured, as well. Results revealed differences among the polyphenolic profiles of the examined Dalmasso crosses, particularly as for the anthocyanin profile, the percentage of quercetin glycosides and the hydroxycinnamate profile. The detected compositional differences resulted in different responses in terms of grape antioxidant capacity.