S18 - Session P3 - Microclimatic control of grape drying process by intelligent sensors

Authors: Francesco Beltrame Quattrocchi *, Angela Zinnai, Fabrizio Palla, Piero Giorgio Verdini, Chiara Sanmartin, Monica Macaluso, Tiziano Caruso, Isabella Taglieri, Francesca Venturi

The post-harvest and winemaking processes concerning wine dried grapes could be improved in order to make sustainable the resources used. The resources can be natural (grapes) or technological (mechanical, physical, chemical).This project involves reducing the microbial losses of raw material occurring during the drying process by monitoring the micro-climatic conditions of humidity and temperature in the greenhouse. An array of intelligent sensors (IoT) will be set up, each read by a microprocessor that will communicate wirelessly with an intelligent control unit, which in turn will condition ventilation systems that will remove humidity only in areas where it exceeds critical values. At the same time, the information will be stored in a database to allow subsequent evaluation by cross-referencing any mould that may develop. The use of micro-climatic sensors could drastically reduce the quantitative losses that occur in the drying process by increasing the qualitative characteristics of the grapes with a particular reference to aromatic compounds, able to give a high added value to the final product. For this purpose, the chemical characteristics of the grapes in drying must be periodically evaluated in order to select the optimal operating parameters (T, RH, ecc.).The results of the project can be deployed in several agricultural fields to obtain products having high compositional properties using physical methods without any chemicals added and with a significant reduction in raw material waste.