Effects of water activity (aW) on the growth of some epiphytic micro-organisms isolated from grape berry

It is well known that wet weather often induces microbial deterioration of grape berries by Botrytis cinerea during the noble rot process, and that heavy rainfall increases the number of epiphytic micro-organisms. To better understand the influence of environmental conditions, we investigated the effects of water availability on the in vitro growth of 7 yeast strains, 10 strains of bacteria and one strain of the fungus Botrytis cinerea, isolated from grape berries. The results confirm that growth of Botrytis cinerea is inhibited at water activities (a sub(W))