‘Nebbiolo di Gubbio’ and its fellows: a time box of Piedmontese grape varieties in the region of Umbria (central Italy)

In the Gubbio area (Umbria region, central Italy) the cultivation of 'Nebbiolo' has been attested since the end of the 19th century and attributed to the import of cuttings from Piedmont (northwestern Italy). Morphological tests carried out in three old vineyards in Gubbio confirmed that this ‘Nebbiolo’ is in fact ‘Dolcetto’, another important cultivar from Piedmont. Plants of other Piedmontese and Umbrian varieties, often rare or at risk of extinction, were identified in the inspected old vineyards, giving evidence of the poly-varietal composition of the ancient plantings. Seven genotypes not yet inventoried or described were also discovered

La metafora laica dei poeti

La metafora poetica: un andar a tentoni capace di conoscere empaticamente le cose trasportandole in un Altro senso

Le grazie dell'acqua

Le grazie dell'acqua(Selezione di testi dall’omonima raccolta

Abitare la lingua maternale. Appunti sulla poesia

Le parole nel poema narrano il loro tentativo di farsi comprendere e nella loro espressività diventano appigli per una comprensione lirica. Ma per fare in modo che ciò sia possibile, il poeta deve «sapere» di loro, della loro natura; conoscere la loro impronta, il loro carattere, la loro postura ma soprattutto comprendere da dove arrivino e da chi, oltre che da che cosa. Bisogna, come ebbe a dire più volte Antonio Porta, «mettersi a bottega», cioè entrare in un'officina scritturale operativa, dove la materia e il materiale sanno come essere compresenti sul tavolo della lingua e del linguaggio, sparsi e impilati tra gli attrezzi del mestiere che, ogni poeta dovrebbe possedere e saper adoperare. Il “mestiere” del poeta è un dedicare tempo alla parola, e il «compito» della poesia è restituirla rigenerata/reinventata dalla propria lingua maternale. Qui la lingua poetica deve farsi più aderente a ciò che si dovrà portare alla luce, a ciò che dovrà mostrare: far vedere. Pensare in poema significa anche rimanere connessi al «luogo dell'elaborazione», in quell'esatto punto in cui la lingua e il linguaggio si installano tra l'esperienza e la sua decifrazione in parola. In tutto ciò la parola esperisce la vita che gli verrà concessa. Essa saprà rendere ciò che gli è stato dato.In the poem the words narrate their attempt to make themselves understood and, in their expressiveness, become holds for a lyrical understanding. But to make this possible, the poet must “know” about them, about their nature; know their imprint, their character, their posture but above all understand, where they come from and from whom, as well as from what. It is necessary, as Antonio Porta said so many times, to “go to shop”, that is, to enter an operational scriptural workshop, where matter and material know how to be present together on the table of language and language, scattered and stacked among the tools of the profession that every poet should possess and know how to manage. The poet's “job” is to dedicate time to the word, and the “task” of poetry is to give it back regenerated / reinvented from one's mother tongue. Here the poetic language must become more adherent to what must be brought to light, to what it must show: to let other people see and seize. Thinking in a poem also means remaining connected to the “place of elaboration”, in that exact point where language is installed between the experience and its deciphering in word. In all this the word experiences the life that was deemed to be its own. It will repay what it has been given

La lingua maternale della poesia

In the poem the words narrate their attempt to make themselves understood and, in their expressiveness, become holds for a lyrical understanding. But to make this possible, the poet must “know” about them, about their nature; know their imprint, their character, their posture but above all understand, where they come from and from whom, as well as from what. It is necessary, as Antonio Porta said so many times, to “go to shop”, that is, to enter an operational scriptural workshop, where matter and material know how to be present together on the table of language and language, scattered and stacked among the tools of the profession that every poet should possess and know how to manage. The poet's “job” is to dedicate time to the word, and the “task” of poetry is to give it back regenerated /reinvented from one's mother tongue. Here the poetic language must become more adherent to what must be brought to light, to what it must show: to let other people see and seize. Thinking in a poem also means remaining connected to the “place of elaboration”, in that exact point where language is installed between the experience and its deciphering in word. In all this the word experiences the life that was deemed to be its own. It will repay what it has been given

Candida freyschussii: an oleaginous yeast producing lipids from glycerol

A surplus of glycerol is obtained from biodiesel manufacturing and represents a waste product whose applications are lacking. Thus, the use of glycerol as substrate for fermentation processes yielding valuable products is very attractive. In this study, the utilization of glycerol as a growth substrate for the cultivation of oleaginous yeasts was explored with the aim to produce microbial oils. Forty strains of environmental non-conventional yeasts belonging to 19 different species were screened for the ability to grow on glycerol and produce intracellular lipids in a medium containing an excess of this carbon source (C:N = 48:1). Three strains, belonging to the species Candida freyschussii, Pichia farinosa, and Saccharomyces spencerorum, depleted 40 g/L glycerol within 120 h and produced intracellular lipids. C. freyschussii yielded the highest amounts, lipids accounting for the 33 % of biomass on dry basis. 1H-NMR analysis revealed that the lipid extract did not contain detectable free fatty acids and was composed mostly of triacylglycerols. Lipid composition, determined by GC-MS analysis, was similar to plant oils, and may be optimal feedstock for biodiesel production, being dominated by monounsaturated C16 and C18. As in other oleaginous yeasts, lipid production by C. freyschussii sp. increased with the increase of the C:N ratio of the medium, but growth was inhibited at glycerol concentrations higher than 40 g/L. As a result, lipid production was the highest with 40 g/L glycerol, yielding 4.7 g/L lipids, with a mean volumetric productivity of 0.15 g/L/h. In order to prevent growth inhibition over 40 g/L glycerol and extend the lipogenic phase, different fed-batch strategies were tried. The best performing processes took advantage from the feeding with concentrated media exhibiting the same C:N ratio of the basal medium, leading to very productive high cell density cultures. With the continuous feeding of 20X-concentrated medium, 29 g/L lipids (i.e. the 32 % of biomass) were obtained in 100 h of cultivation, with a mean volumetric productivity of 0.30 g/L/h. The values herein reported are among the highest yield and productivity values ever obtained for fermentative processes exploiting oleaginous fungi to produce lipids from glycerol. Therefore, C. freyschussii could be considered as an interesting microorganism to convert glycerol into microbial oils for biofuel industr