Studying the evolution of seed morphology and, in turn, the evolution of cultivars across time and space is of fundamental importance to agriculture and archaeology. The identification of ancient and modern grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars is essential for understanding the historical evolution of grape cultivation. Grape seed morphology provides valuable information to explore the evolution of grape cultivars over time and space. The main aim of our study was to build a comprehensive regional database of grape seed morphological traits from modern and archaeological wine cultivars and wild grape species. We aimed to identify which seeds of modern grape cultivars exhibited morphological similarities to archaeological cultivars. This study focused on fifteen distinct modern types of seeds and two archaeological samples from the Byzantine-to-Early Medieval period. We acquired digital images of seeds using a flatbed scanner. For each sample, 100 seeds were randomly selected, and morphometric data on each seed were gathered using ImageJ. Differences among the seed cultivars were investigated using linear discriminant analysis. Archaeological seeds were found to be more similar to cultivated V. vinifera cultivars rather than V. sylvestris populations. Among the cultivated cultivars, Sangiovese and Tosta antica resulted to be cultivars most similar cultivars to the archaeological ones. The morphometric analysis of grape seeds proved to be a valuable resource for investigating the evolution of vine cultivars throughout history. Combining image analysis techniques with genetic data will open new perspectives for studying the origins of and variations in grape cultivars, contributing to the conservation and enhancement of viticultural heritage.

The Flat White Onion of Fara Filiorum Petri is a traditional Italian landrace that represents the agrobiodiversity and gastronomic heritage of the Abruzzo region. However, its volatile composition has not yet been characterized. In this study, the volatile profile of 31 samples of Flat White Onion of Fara Filiorum Petri and other (53) Italian white onions was investigated by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). A total of 51 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were tentatively identified as characteristic of onion aroma. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a characteristic volatilomic fingerprint for the Flat White Onion of Fara Filiorum Petri and highlighted a high degree of consistency between the two harvest years, indicating that seasonal variability mainly affected the relative abundance of selected VOCs while preserving the overall volatile profile. Authentication was subsequently investigated using Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA). The optimal model correctly recognized 88.9% of Fara samples in the external test set while rejecting all non-Fara onions, achieving 100.0% specificity. These findings demonstrate that HS-SPME-GC-MS combined with chemometric analysis provides an effective approach for the characterization and authentication of the FlatWhite Onion of Fara Filiorum Petri, supporting the conservation of this Italian landrace.

Garlic (Allium Sativum L.) is a source of organosulphur compounds with well-known sensorial and biological activity. Organosulphur precursors of garlic aroma are also detected in the plant leaves, but limited literature on this subject is available. This study is aimed at the characterization of the volatile profile of the floral scapes of Sulmona red garlic (aglio rosso di Sulmona) cultivated in the Abruzzo region (Italy). Floral scapes are manually removed from the plant before flowering and used as an ingredient of local gastronomy. The organosulphur volatile profile of the scapes is investigated by HS-SPME-GC-MS and compared to that provided by the clove. The GC-MS chromatogram of garlic clove, which is characterized by the predominant contribution of a few organosulphur organic compounds, is significantly more intense than that of the scapes. Almost all the organosulphur compounds contributing to the clove aroma were detected in the scape volatile profile, which, however, exhibits a more balanced contribution of major and minor organo sulphur compounds. Moreover, a significantly higher relative abundance of terpenes and aldehydes is observed in the scape aroma. The geographical/varietal origin of clove seeds (Sulmona versus Spain or France) and cultivation area interactively influence the aroma profile of Sulmona red garlic scapes.