263 Genetic and Physiological Bases of Healthy Attributes of Grapes and Wine L. Bavaresco 1,2,a , G. Morreale 1 and R. Flamini 1 1 Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura – Centro di Ricerca per la Viticoltura, Viale XXVIII Aprile 26, 31015, Conegliano (TV), Italy 2 Istituto di Frutti-Viticoltura, Università Cattolica S. Cuore, Via Emilia parmense 84, 29100 Piacenza, Italy Keywords: resveratrol, stilbenes, health, grapes, wine Abstract Grapes and wine are claimed to have beneficial effects on human health, due mainly to their high polyphenolic content. Polyphenols include several classes of compounds regarded mostly as effective antioxidants in humans when assumed in the diet (e.g., hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins, tannins (proanthocyanidins) and stilbenes). The latter deserve particular attention due to their crucial function in plants; stilbene phytoalexins accumulate in the soft tissues of the vine and they are produced by the phenylpropanoid pathway. Stilbene synthase (STS) is the key enzyme of the above pathway, and it produces resveratrol, the basic monomer which can be glycosylated, hydroxylated, methylated or converted into more complex compounds (dimers, trimers, tetramers). According to the grapevine genome sequence, STS is encoded by a gene family of many highly similar paralogues, and recent data account for their expression in different grapevine organs. At the berry (fruit) level, stilbenes are produced by the skin after the occurrence of a biotic or abiotic stress, and by the seeds as constitutive compounds. Berry skin is the main available source of stilbenes from grape and wine consumption. Thus it is crucial to deeply understand mechanisms of biotic and abiotic elicitors of stilbene phytoalexins in order to increase their production. Study of metabolomics allows identification of a large array of stilbenes in grapes and wine that could have major implications for health. Under the same elicitation pressure, the final concentration of stilbenes in grapes and wine is affected by decisions applied for viticultural practices and, in the case of wine, for winemaking (i.e., oenological factors). The most recent health claims for resveratrol are discussed, including the effect in extending the lifespan of organisms (human beings, too) by triggering the Sir/SIRT genes. INTRODUCTION Healthy effects of consumption of both wines from grapes and the grape itself have been topics of much discussion and speculation for thousands of years. In fact, ancient Egyptian papyri and Sumerian tables older than 2000 BC report medical usage of wine. Ancient Greeks and Romans considered wine’s healthy properties so that it was considered a very common “drug”. To make a long story short, during history there was a medical interest in wine that was diminished by the demonization of alcohol’s effects, in particular during the early 20 th century by media and public opinion. But public opinion started changing the predisposition towards alcohol and wine after the interview of Dr. Serge Renaud in 1991 during the “60 Minutes” CBS television program. The interview was about why France had lower rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) than America, even though people in both countries consumed fatty diets. Dr. Renaud argued that the French people were regular, moderate consumers of wine with their meals, and so had lower rates of CHD. The catch phrase “French paradox” associated with the statements of that interview was in reality coined in 1981 by Richard et al. (i.e., “paradoxe français”), but it became popular after the above-mentioned interview. a luigi.bavaresco@entecra.it; luigi.bavaresco@unicatt.it Proc. XI th Int. Conf. on Grapevine Breeding and Genetics Eds.: Shao-Hua Li et al. Acta Hort. 1082, ISHS 2015