Open research questions in Horticultural and Viticultural Research

What the literature leaves open

• We conduct a systematic evaluation establishing the enhanced robustness and adaptability of LGVM-YOLOv8n under challenging, previously under-investigated orchard conditions.

  LGVM-YOLOv8n: A Lightweight Apple Instance Segmentation Model for Standard Orchard Environments · 2025 · DOI

• The multifaceted roles of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) forests in Portugal have been increasingly recognized, but several promising avenues remain unexplored. Future research should not only deepen our understanding of the ecological and socio-economic functions of this species, but also translate that knowledge into practical applications supporting sustainable development.

  Exploring the Multifaceted Aspects of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) Forests in Portugal · 2025 · DOI

• Moreover, the performance of BMDNet-YOLO in other natural conditions such as heavy rain, fog, or extremely low illumination has not yet been systematically validated, and potential degradation in these scenarios remains an open challenge for future work.

  BMDNet-YOLO: A Lightweight and Robust Model for High-Precision Real-Time Recognition of Blueberry Maturity · 2025 · DOI

• Pomegranates, rich in phenolic compounds with anthocyanins in the seed coat and pericarp, causing their color variation, have known core structural genes and some TFs involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis, but the role of BBX genes remains unclear.

  Identification and Characterization of the BBX Gene Family in Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) and Its Potential Role in Anthocyanin Accumulation During Fruit Ripening · 2025 · DOI

• Adverse conditions for growing table grapes in certain regions caused by climate change and the poor suitability of arid soils highlight the need for more sustainable solutions. Ca has proven to be an effective tool in preventing physiological disorders in table grapes and other crops.

  Enhancing Calcium Transport in Table Grapes Using Sorbitol: A Sustainable Strategy for Promoting Fruit Quality · 2025 · DOI

• Further investigations are required to better understand the long-term implications and potential limitations of its use under diverse pedoclimatic conditions and across different grapevine cultivars. Future research should aim to clarify the molecular signaling pathways modulated by zeolite during water stress, with particular attention to hormone regulation, osmotic adjustment, and antioxidant defense systems.

  Zeolite in Vineyard: Innovative Agriculture Management Against Drought Stress · 2025 · DOI

• Future research could focus on: (1) A comparative economic analysis of different thinning intensities and patterns; (2) Applying the model developed in this study to other main production regions and walnut cultivars.

  Impacts of Tree Thinning on Overall Productivity in Densely Planted Walnut Orchards · 2025 · DOI

• Future research should focus on testing exogenous CK application on different grape cultivars and how endogenous CK could ease bud dormancy release and facilitate the double cropping technique in temperate climates.

  Exogenous Cytokinins and Auxins Affect Double Cropping in Vitis vinifera L. cv. ‘Ortrugo’ Grown in a Temperate Climate: Preliminary Results · 2025 · DOI

• In this regard, the recovery phenomenon also remains highly cultivar-dependent and should be further investigated in order to determine its causes.

  Flavescence Dorée and Grapevine Susceptibility: From Host–Pathogen Interaction to Cultivar Categorization · 2025 · DOI

• Integrating additional data sources, such as multispectral or hyperspectral imaging, could enhance the diagnostic Accuracy beyond symptom recognition. Developing a mobile application or a cloud-based system could enable real-time analysis for grapevine growers, thereby facilitating the efficient monitoring of their vineyards.

  Deep Learning-Based System for Early Symptoms Recognition of Grapevine Red Blotch and Leafroll Diseases and Its Implementation on Edge Computing Devices · 2025 · DOI

• The need for alternative methods to sulphur dioxide in preventing enzymatic browning. The lack of understanding of the effect of glutathione on oxygen consumption rate and hydroxycinnamic acid oxidation. The need for effective methods to prevent browning in white grape must, especially in the presence of grey rot.

  Use of Glutathione, Pure or as a Specific Inactivated Yeast, as an Alternative to Sulphur Dioxide for Protecting White Grape Must from Browning · 2024 · DOI

• The lack of knowledge on the impact of the wine supply chain on the phenolic profile of pomace extracts. The need to adopt circular patterns of production and consumption. The potential of agri-food by-products and wastes as valuable resources.

  From Field to Waste Valorization: A Preliminary Study Exploring the Impact of the Wine Supply Chain on the Phenolic Profile of Three Sardinian Pomace Extracts · 2024 · DOI

• There is a need to study the behavior of grapevines under different soil management treatments. The research gap also includes the lack of understanding of the importance of previous soil and organic mulch analysis in detecting vineyard requirements and selecting the most appropriate soil management treatment.

  Organic Mulching Versus Soil Conventional Practices in Vineyards: A Comprehensive Study on Plant Physiology, Agronomic, and Grape Quality Effects · 2024 · DOI

• The lack of effective methods to improve soil water retention and apple tree growth in aged orchards. The need to increase apple yield and quality in aged orchards.

  Effect of Biochar on Apple Yield and Quality in Aged Apple Orchards on the Loess Plateau (China) · 2024 · DOI

• The study identifies challenges in optimizing application parameters for UAV-based liquid pollination, including the need for uniform and effective distribution of the pollination solution. The research highlights the importance of considering the nuanced physiological attributes of pear tree flowers during their pollination phase.

  Optimization of Application Parameters for UAV-Based Liquid Pollination in Pear Orchards: A Yield and Cost Perspective · 2024 · DOI

• Current pollination methods have limitations, and there is a need for more efficient and cost-effective methods.

  Optimization of Application Parameters for UAV-Based Liquid Pollination in Pear Orchards: A Yield and Cost Perspective · 2024 · DOI

• There is a need to understand the effects of deficit irrigation on spring wheat lignification and yield productivity. There is a lack of studies comparing the responses of different wheat varieties to drought stress.

  Effects of Deficit Irrigation on Spring Wheat Lignification Process, Yield Productivity and Stalk Strength · 2024 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of climate change in Mediterranean agriculture and the need for adaptation strategies. The paper recognizes the technical challenge of evaluating the effects of regulated deficit irrigation and cover crops on almond yield and soil properties. The research acknowledges the domain challenge of promoting sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices in almond orchards.

  Integrating Deficit Irrigation Strategies and Soil-Management Systems in Almond Orchards for Resilient Agriculture · 2024 · DOI

• There is a need to compare different in-row soil management techniques in high-density olive orchards. The effects of synthetic mulching and hoeing on weed control, tree growth, and yield in high-density olive orchards are not well understood. The eco- and economic-efficiency of the two techniques are not well studied.

  Differentiated In-Row Soil Management in a High-Density Olive Orchard: Effects on Weed Control, Tree Growth and Yield, and Economic and Environmental Sustainability · 2024 · DOI

• To date, few studies have reported on the optimal sampling time when ‘Sweet Scarlet’ is used as the female parent, with only one study reporting that the highest plantlet formation rate was achieved at 35 DAP for hybrid fruits of ‘Sweet Scarlet × Kyoho’.

  Optimization of Embryo Rescue System for Different Ploidy Crosses and Creation of Triploid Germplasm in Grape · 2026 · DOI

• Furthermore, it is highly probable that subtractive, additive, and/or synergistic relationships (scarcely studied) exist among the various factors, potentially leading to highly specific phenolic expression and representing a significant derivative that would further exacerbate the problem addressed in this study.

  The High Dispersion of Phenolic Concentration in the Seeds, Skins and Wines of Vitis vinifera L. Cultivars Limits Comparative Analysis and Varietal Categorization Under Heterogeneous Conditions · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should investigate molecular mechanisms underlying M2’s growth resilience and 1103 Paulsen’s…

  Physiological Response to Salinity in Novel M-Series Grapevine Rootstocks: A Comparison with Commercial Standards · 2025 · DOI

• Further research is needed to study the effects of GSH and IDY-GSH in different grape varieties and wine production conditions, - Further research is needed to study the effects of different types of yeast and laccase on browning prevention, - Further research is needed to optimize the use of GSH and IDY-GSH in wine…

  Use of Glutathione, Pure or as a Specific Inactivated Yeast, as an Alternative to Sulphur Dioxide for Protecting White Grape Must from Browning · 2024 · DOI

• Study on the long-term effects of biochar on apple yield and quality. Research on the optimal amount of biochar for different types of apple trees. Investigation of the effects of biochar on other fruit trees.

  Effect of Biochar on Apple Yield and Quality in Aged Apple Orchards on the Loess Plateau (China) · 2024 · DOI

• Further studies could investigate the effects of different soil management techniques on various olive tree cultivars, - Research could explore the long-term environmental and economic impacts of synthetic mulching in olive orchards, - Studies could examine the potential of integrating synthetic mulching with other conservation…

  Differentiated In-Row Soil Management in a High-Density Olive Orchard: Effects on Weed Control, Tree Growth and Yield, and Economic and Environmental Sustainability · 2024 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Horticultural and Viticultural Research

• The grapevine genome sequence suggests ancestral hexaploidization in major angiosperm phyla · Nature · 2007 · 3,245 citations
• A Review of the Potential Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options for European Viticulture · Applied Sciences · 2020 · 470 citations
• An overview of climate change impacts on European viticulture · Food and Energy Security · 2012 · 266 citations
• Dual domestications and origin of traits in grapevine evolution · Science · 2023 · 261 citations
• The complete reference genome for grapevine (Vitis viniferaL.) genetics and breeding · Horticulture Research · 2023 · 255 citations
• Grapefruit–medication interactions: Forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences? · Canadian Medical Association Journal · 2012 · 239 citations
• Two divergent haplotypes from a highly heterozygous lychee genome suggest independent domestication events for early and late-maturing cultivars · Nature Genetics · 2022 · 239 citations
• Changes in the composition of phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties of grapevine roots and leaves (Vitis vinifera L.) under continuous of long-term drought stress · Acta Physiologiae Plantarum · 2014 · 229 citations
• Grape Berry Secondary Metabolites and Their Modulation by Abiotic Factors in a Climate Change Scenario–A Review · Frontiers in Plant Science · 2021 · 224 citations
• Drug Interactions with Grapefruit Juice · Drug Safety · 1998 · 195 citations

Most recent work

• Seasonal growth and gas exchange of conventionally and minimally pruned Chardonnay canopies · Julius Kühn-Institut · 2026
• Abiotic Stress Effects on Phenolic Metabolism in Vitis vinifera: Implications for Grape Quality · Journal of Plant Growth Regulation · 2026
• Grape expectations: disentangling environmental drivers of microbiome establishment in winegrowing ecosystems · npj Biofilms and Microbiomes · 2026
• Hydraulic Efficiency, Root Allocation, and Photosynthetic Regulation in Young Grapevine Rootstocks Under Controlled Conditions · Horticulturae · 2026
• Detection of SSC in ‘Shine Muscat’ grapes using Vis/NIR and NIR spectra with characteristic wavelengths · Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy · 2026
• Polyphenol profiling unveils time-dependent responses of grape berries to high temperature · Scientia Horticulturae · 2026
• Transcriptomic analysis reveals a coordinated stress response and metabolic reprogramming in ‘Muscat Hamburg’ grape berries subjected to partial root-zone irrigation · Scientia Horticulturae · 2026
• Dissecting the genetic architecture of early root-related traits in grapevine rootstocks across propagation methods and different scion · Theoretical and Applied Genetics · 2026
• Regulatory Mechanisms and Developmental Dynamics of Flower Bud Differentiation in Grapevine ( Vitis spp. ) · Physiologia Plantarum · 2026
• Overcoming yield gaps in organic and biodynamic viticulture: insights from an 18-year field trial · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · 2026

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