CHEMICAL LABORATORY
ENOLOGICAL TESTS
To get a quality product the grapes have to be inspected on site to determine the best time for picking and the wine then carefully followed in the fermentation, aging and refinement stages. Taking grapes by the hand and leading them to the bottle is your job and our expertise will help you do it better.
GRAPES AND MUSTS
- Potential alcohol
- Fermentable sugars: glucose/fructose
- Total acidity, pH and main organic acids: tartaric, malic, citric
- Technological grape ripening curve
- Phenol and anthocyanin maturity (total and fractioned) in red grapes
- Nitrogen readily assimilated by yeasts in musts
- Glories indicators for polyphenol evaluation
- Residue from phytosanitary products and heavy metals on grapes, musts
- Cellar tests: alcohol, reducing sugars, net dry extract, volatile acidity, total acidity, pH, free and total sulfur dioxide, organic acids (tartaric, citric, malic, lactic, acetic), ash.
- Chromatic characteristics: DO 420, DO 520, DO 620, colorant intensity and tonality, index of total polyphenols, total polyphenols in gallic acid (Folin), total polyphenols in catechin, polymerizable polyphenols, total and fractioned anthocyanins, anthocyaninic profile in HPLC, leucoanthocyanins, orthodiphenols. In fact, phenol composition in red wines is a basic characteristic that must be interpreted in order to establish and implement the best production techniques, while knowing the combined state of anthocyanins is of fundamental importance in understanding a wine’s potential oxidative evolution, or the risks of color degeneration in the bottle.
- Index of gelatin, of hydrochloric acid.
- Di Stefano indexes for evaluating polyphenols and anthocyanins in wines.
- Metals: all metals, both for the HACCP plan and for technological controls.
- Inorganic anions: chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, phosphates.
- Contaminants and additives: residue from phytosanitary products, ochratoxin A, biogenic amines, ethylene glycols, ethyl carbamate, isothiocynates, sorbic acid, added glycerin, sucrose.
- Volatile compounds and aromatic profiles: methanol, superior alcohols and aromas, ethyl acetate, acetaldehyde, carbon dioxide.
- Anomalous odors and tastes: "corked", "moldy" and their precursors, chloroanisoles (TCA, PCA) and chlorophenols (TCP, TeCP, PCP); volatile phenols.
- Stability test: tartaric, protein.
- Microbiological tests: support in correct fermentation handling, HACCP tests on cellar hygiene, search for harmful microorganisms throughout the winemaking process; fermentability test.
- Sensorial analysis: descriptive and triangular; preventive tasting at bottling request.
- Issue of test certificates for wine and oil, valid for export (USA, Canada, English-speaking countries, Spanish-speaking countries, Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China).
Any leaks of substances like 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), responsible for the “corked” smell when a bottle is opened, ethyl phenols and similar compounds that irreversibly alter the wine and whose recognition is thus indispensable. The laboratory is specialized in detecting these molecules, through chemical analysis and sensory tests.- Physical tests: humidity, length, diameter
- Microbiological analyses: searches for bacteria, yeasts, molds
- Leaks of oxidizing substances and chlorides; leaks of various kinds from synthetic corks
- Anomalous odors: TCA, TeCA, PCA, TCP, PCP, 1-octene-3-ol, 1-octene-3-one, lignumvitae, 2-MIB, geosmine; volatile compounds detected in the cork and able to interact with the wine
- Senssory tests
To get high quality olive oil it is necessary to choose the ideal moment for picking the olives and correctly managing the pressing process and the preservation of the final product. For years the laboratory has been working side by side with oil makers to optimize every stage in the process.- Production rules: acidity, No. of peroxides, fatty acids, total polyphenols, tocopherols, delta K
- Olives: sugars, total and fractioned polyphenols, anthocyanins
- Nutrition label + waxes
- Improvement of quality: fractioned polyphenols, chlorophyll and colored pigments, aromatic component
- Adulteration detection: sterols, triglycerides, iodine no.
- Residue from phytosanitary products and heavy metals
- Sensory tests
Foliar diagnostics provides information on the nutritional state of the plants: knowing the real qualitative and quantitative content of the nutriments makes it possible to diagnose specific deficiencies promptly and with certainly. And they can be remedied immediatelywith targeted curative measures.
- Nutritional state: metallic and non-metallic elements (P, N, C.S.C.)
- Residue from phytosanitary products and heavy metals
Soil analysis provides precise data on soil characteristics and fertility and is therefore the departure point for rational soil management in all its stages: from designing new plantings to preparing fertilizing plans.
- Vineyard implantation: grain size, pH, C.S.C., turnover bases, total nitrogen, organic substance, total and active limestone, electricity conductivity, chlorides
- Fertilizing plans: total nitrogen, phosphorous and assimilable microelements, soluble boron
- Residue from phytosanitary products, heavy metals
- Pollutants: hydrocarbons, PCB, dioxins
Analyzing work waste makes it possible to classify it for reuse or disposal in dumps, according to the laws in force.
- Leakage tests: heavy metals and inorganic anions
- Organic composts: TOC, BTEX, solvents, pesticides, PCB
- Compost: classification for reuse
- Vegetation waters and enological waste waters: complete analysis for ferti-irrigation and recycling
Water is a fundamental part of the production cycle, which contaminates it, and this contamination has negative effects on human health, making it necessary to verify that water remains potable in every work stage to ensure that the final product is wholesome and clean.- Potability (Italian Legislative Decree 31/01): pH, electricity conductivity, fixed residue, hardness, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, chlorides, sulfates, microbiological exam
- Cellar waste water (Italian Legislative Decree 152/06): COD, BOD, phosphorous, total nitrogen, MBAS
- Inspection of good plant functioning: free chloride, iron, manganese
- Water quality oxidizability
- Residue from phytosanitary products and heavy metals
In Tuscany there are two DOP saffron-growing zones: "Colline Fiorentine" and "San Gimignano". To get the European seal of approval (CE marking), the product has to respect the parameters set down in production regulations. The laboratory runs tests to evaluate DOP saffron quality.
- Saffron production regulations bitter ingredient power, colorant, odor, humidity
For honey to be marketed it has to be devoid of extraneous harmful substances, residue from medical preparations and veterinary medicines, impurities, extraneous odors or tastes; it must not be fermented or have an artificially modified composition and not be excessively modified during conservation. Superior quality translates into lower tolerance in regard to the three parameters set down by Italian law (cleanness, humidity, aging level). To make sure that honey meets these perquisites it is given not only chemical-physical and microbiological tests but also bee-pollen analysis to trace the honey’s botanical origin.
- Honey quality: sugars, acidity, pH, amylase activity, electricity conductivity, water content and content of substances insoluble in water, hydroxyl methyl furfural.
MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY
Enology sector
Current techniques make it possible to follow wine’s evolution process in all its stages: from evaluating the activity of the dry yeasts commonly used in winemaking to determining the presence of any contaminating microorganisms (non-Saccharomyces yeasts, molds and bacteria). Bottled products can be monitored, searching for the presence of lactic or acetic bacteria or contaminating agents like Brettanomyces. Among the prospects being developed is the use of biological-molecular techniques (PCR) that permit very quick identification of a vast range of microorganisms. Here an important role is played by searching for bacterial strains causing the formation of biogenic amines held to be responsible for numerous food allergies and thus arousing great interest in their identification and quantification. In recent years it has been demonstrated that fermented products risk contamination by biogenic amines produced by bacterial strains normally present during the vinification process. The laboratory is able to dose these amines, making it possible, through control of environmental conditions, to limit their production. Some time ago Switzerland, in regard to histamine, imposed a legal limit of 10 mg/1 for products sold in the country! This is why companies interested in this marked are advised to check this parameter to verify conformity with it.
- WINE (to monitor fermentation progress): search for lactic and acetic bacteria, bacterial contaminations, molds and yeasts, with special attention to Brettanomyces
- YEASTS: vitality of the active dry yeast
- CORKS (checking possible microbiological contamination that could be transferred to the wine); search for yeasts, molds and bacteria.
Recently the laboratory has developed its microbiology sector, which is of fundamental importance in evaluating foods and is currently able to ascertain the presence of certain pathogenic microorganisms or indicators of pollution and contamination.
- FOODS (to check hygiene during food handling and conservation in order to exclude the presence of pathogens): search for the mesophile bacterial load, contamination indicators (total and fecal forms of coli, E. Coli, Staphylococcus A.), pathogens (Salmonella spp. Listeria, Clostridium Botulinum)
- FOOD PADS (to check the sanitary state of surfaces): mesophile bacterial load, total and fecal coli, E. Coli, Salmonella spp, Staphylococcus Aureus
- WATER (both public main and well water, to check that it is potable: bacterial load, total and fecal coli, E. Coli, enterococci, Pseudomonas A.
- SWIMMING POOL OR SHOWER WATER: search for legionella and Pseudomonas A.
- COMPOST and environmental matrixes: Salmonella species, fecal streptococci, total and fecal coli, E. Coli, microscopic search for nematodes, tapeworms, trematodes.
CONSULTANCY
- On HACCP: writing the voluntary inspection manual, assistance in registration, training courses for employees, tests foreseen in the HACCP plan, cleaning and sanitation protocols
- On workplace safety (Italian Law 626): risk assessment, writing health and environmental safety manuals, training courses for employees and managers, noise and vibration assessment
- For ISO 9000 certification: quality manual, procedures, inspections
- Environmental: management of civil and industrial waste-water plants, running water purification plants
Qualified and efficient personnel, trained to take samples in different testing sectors, and guaranteed pickup just a few hours after request.
- Chemical and microbiological sampling of surface, underground and waste waters in conformity with current laws
- Sampling of soil, terrain and contaminated sites
- Official sample-taking for quality and export certification
- Courier service: speedy pickup (within six hours)
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