Winery effluents have a high pollution potential, especially those effluents that are obtained from the second racking. However, these effluents are rich in phenolic compounds and polysaccharides and can be potential sources for the recovery of these compounds. Therefore, a process was developed in this study to reduce the pollution potential of the winery effluents from the second racking and to recover the polyphenols and polysaccharides from the effluents by utilizing ultrafiltration (UF) and sedimentation operations. The sedimentation was optimized by varying the pH from 3.8 to 8.0, while the UF experiments were optimized by varying the transmembrane pressure from 0.5 to 4.0 bar and the feed circulation velocity from 0.44 to 0.87 ms⁻¹. This process provided a permeate stream with a reduction in the TOC content by 56.6%, while the polyphenols and the polysaccharides in the concentrate stream were concentrated by 6 times and 5 times, respectively.

In the Mediterranean region, climate change is likely to generate an increase in water demand and the deterioration of its quality. The adoption of precision viticulture and the best available techniques aiming at sustainable production, minimizing the impact on natural resources and reducing production costs, has therefore been a goal of winegrowers. In this work, the water footprint (WFP) in the wine sector was evaluated, from the vineyard to the bottle, through the implementation of a methodology based on field experiments and life cycle assessment (LCA) on two Portuguese case studies. Regarding direct water footprint, it ranged from 366 to 899 L/FU (0.75 L bottle), with green water being the most significant component, representing more than 50% of the overall water footprint. The approach used in the current study revealed that although more than 97.5% of the water footprint is associated with vineyard, the winery stage is responsible for more than 75% of the global warming potential indicator. A linear correlation between the carbon footprint and the indirect blue water footprint was also observed for both case studies. Climate change is expected to cause an earlier and prolonged water stress period, resulting in an increase of about 40% to 82% of blue WFP.

This study investigates the fermentation of white cabbage with salicornia and CaCl₂ to assess its effect on the fermentation profiles and properties of the final products. Two sets of experiments were performed: A—cabbage with salt and salicornia, and B—cabbage with salt, salicornia, and CaCl₂. The fermentative processes were studied through the microbial (lactic-acid bacteria (LAB), coliforms, and fungi), physicochemical (pH, total acidity), and mineral properties. A diminution of pH values (4.07, 3.58) and increased acidity values (0.70, 0.77 g lactic acid/100 mL) were registered at the end of the fermentation period (A and B, respectively). A stationary phase followed the exponential growth of LAB, and a slight decrease was observed (6.01, 5.51 Log CFU/g) in both experiments. A fungi decline was observed during the first week and the coliform populations disappeared after about 13 days of fermentation. Staphylococcus coagulase-positive, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella were not detected in the final products. The utilization of CaCl₂ resulted in fermented cabbage with analogous microbial and sensorial characteristics to fermented cabbage without CaCl₂ but with an increased hardness. However, Ca interfered with the diffusion of K, Mg, and Zn, resulting in lower levels of these elements in the final product, particularly Zn, which exhibited a reduction of 37%, reducing the nutritional value of the final products.