Effect on growth and quality of berries of wine grapes by the Soil Conditioner
FFC-Ace©
Kazuhiro Ichikawa, Tadao Fujimori
Institute of Biological Process Research, Akatsuka Garden Co., Ltd.,
1868-3 Takanoo-cho, Tsu, Mie 514-2293, Japan
E-mail:kazu.ichikawa@akatsuka.gr.jp
1. Introduction
We focused our attention on the behavior of certain ions, especially iron ion inwater or interactions of water molecules with them.

Since 1984, Akatsuka Garden

Company has continued research on various solutions to not only accelerate plant
growth, but also activate physiological functions of plants.

Based on this research,

we have developed FFC materials such as “FFC-Ceramics” (a water improvementdevice), “FFC-Ace” (a soil conditioner) and so on.

On the other hand, many

agricultural producers in Japan have been utilizing FFC materials to rejuvenate plants,
and increase profits.

Those producers have also explored many other original

methods for using FFC materials, and consequently found good ways to fit them into
their actual production sites.

As a result, it turned out that they obtained many

advantages over years of use, for instance, productivity enhancement, cost reduction,
decreased amount of agricultural chemicals required and so on.

In addition to that, it

is reported that “FFC-Ace” enhances the growth of plants under laboratory conditions,and improves disease resistance, and drought and salt stress tolerance of plants(Ichikawa et. al., 2013; Fujita et. al.,2010; Hasegawa et. al., 2006; Konkol et. al.,2012; Shiraishi et. al., 2010; Toyoda et. al., 2010).

In this paper, we will report a partof the results on the effectiveness of FFC-Ace for a woody vine under field conditions.
Yamanashi Prefecture is Japan’s top producer of grapes.

However, the highquality grape berries for brewing are not cultivated easily in the cultivation
environment of Japan (Asai, 1993; Nakayama, 1993).

Therefore, we started theexaminations for promotion of the growth of the Chardonnay and quality improvementof the berries by using the FFC materials.

In addition, we also examined about theother kind of grape, called ‘Koshu (Vitis vinifera cv.)’.

‘Koshu’ grapes are widely

cultivated in Central Japan, particularly Yamanashi Prefecture.

‘Koshu’ is anindigenous grape cultivar and are known as raw materials of the ‘Koshu’ wine, which
is a special product of Yamanashi Prefecture.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Field experiments of FFC-Ace by using Chardonnay and ‘ Koshu’ grapevines.
18 Chardonnay grapevines (guyot-style cultivation) were tested.

2 holes ofapproximately 50 cm depth were dug at the place approximately 0.5m away from themain trunk of the grapevines. The required amount of FFC-Ace was put into the holes,and also scattered on the ground surface of the range of approximately 1m in diameterfrom the main trunk of the grapevines.
6 ‘Koshu’ grapevines (shelf-style cultivation (overhead trellis)) were tested.
4 holes of approximately 50 cm depth were dug at the place approximately 2 m awayfrom the main trunk of the grapevines. The required amount of FFC-Ace was put into
the holes, and scattered on the ground surface of the range of approximately 4 m fromthe main trunk of the grapevines.

The FFC-Ace was annually applied in theexamination fields every February from 2008 to 2011.
FFC-Ace which was applied each year.

Table 1 shows the amount of

20 berries were randomly sampled from eachgrapevine to measure grape berry compositions, and divided into two groups.

Eachfresh berry’s weight, the average of total soluble solid (expressed as degrees Brix), theaverage of pH, the average of titratable acidity, and the average of total phenolics
concentration in juice extracted from the two groups were measured.
2.2 Pot experiments by using young plants of Chardonnay and ‘Koshu’ grapes
Young one year old plants of Chardonnay and ‘Koshu’ grapes were tested.
We cultivated the young plant in Wagner pot (1/2000a) holding field soil mixed withFFC-Ace (3% w/w) or in untreated field soil.

Growth of the young plant wasestimated by measuring the length of young shoots, the number of the young shootleaves, and chlorophyll content (SPAD-unit) in the young shoot leaves.
3. Results and discussions
Degrees Brix in Chardonnay berries were increased by using FFC-Ace (Fig. 1).
Because sugars in berries change to alcohol by fermentation, increase of degrees Brixin berries enhances the value of the wine grape.

Titratable acidity of Chardonnayberries during early growth in the field treated with the FFC-Ace declined earlier than
without FFC-Ace.
grapes.

This result for Chardonnay grapes is similar with that of Koshu

Therefore, it was suggested that the application of the FFC-Ace promoted

maturation of both kinds of berries.

Fresh berry weights, pHs and total phenolics

concentrations of both kinds of grapes were not influenced by the application ofFFC-Ace.

The young plants (1 year-old) of Chardonnay and ‘Koshu’ grapes weretransplanted in Wagner pot (1/2000a) holding FFC-Ace treated soil or untreated fieldsoil. Growths of the young plants were observed (Fig. 2).

The length of the youngshoot of ‘Koshu’ plant in the soil treated with 3 % of FFC-Ace was significantly longer
than without FFC-Ace during early growth (105 days after the planting).

In addition,the ‘Koshu’ young plants treated with FFC-Ace had larger numbers of leaves than
without FFC-Ace, and the SPAD-unit of the grape leaves treated with FFC-Ace ishigher than without FFC-Ace.

On the other hand, the results of Chardonnay werealso similar to those of ‘Koshu’, although no statistically significant difference wasobserved.

These results indicate that the application of FFC-Ace for young grape

plants might stimulate the plant growth in early stages, accelerate maturation of berries,
and increase degrees Brix in the juice of berries.

4. Acknowledgments
This research is collaborative investigation with Dr. Shunji Suzuki (TheInstitute of Enology and Viticulture, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan). We
thank Dr. Suzuki for supplying experimental facilities and helpful advice.

Literature citedAsai, S. 1993. Thinking about Wine Grapes used in Japanese Winery. Journal of thebrewing society of japan, 88(5): 338-343
Fujita, K., T. Suzuki, S. Hasegawa, A. Meguro,S H. Sugiura, K. Toyoda, T.
Shiraishi, E. Sakaguchi, T. Nishimura, and H. Kunoh. 2010. Enhancement of growthand yield of barley by the soil conditioner FFC-ace. Scientific Reports of the Facultyof Agriculture Okayama University, 99: 13-20
Hasegawa, S., A. Meguro, M. Shimizu, T. Nishimura, and H. Kunoh. 2006. Theceramic bead that is suitable for a carrier of plant-rooting accelerator, Streptomyces sp.
MBR-52. Actinomycetologica, 20: 23-29
Ichikawa, K. and T. Fujimori 2013. Effects on Growth of Plants by the Soil
Conditioner FFC-Ace© . (in press)
Konkol, N. R., C. J. McNamara, K. A. Bearce-Lee, H. Kunoh, and R. Mitchell.
2012. Novel method of micronutrient application increases radish (Raphnus stivus) andshirona (Brassica papa var. pekinensis) biomass. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 35(3):471-479
Nakayama, M. 1993. Wine Grape Growing in Japan. Journal of the brewing society ofjapan, 88(9): 654-659
Shiraishi, T., K. Toyoda, T. Suzuki, A. Meguro, S. Hasegawa, T. Nishimura, and H.
Kunoh. 2010. Effect of FFC ceramic water on the infection process of a fungal
pathogen. Scientific Reports of the Faculty of Agriculture Okayama University, 99:27-34
Toyoda, K., S. Matsuoka, A. Meguro, S. Hasegawa, T. Nishimura, H. Kunoh, andT. Shiraishi. 2010. FFC ceramic water TM enhances plant apyrase activity. Scientific
Reports of the Faculty of Agriculture Okayama University, 99: 21-26

Table 1
The weight of FFC-Ace provided to each grape each year.

Fig. 1 Degrees Brix in juice of Chardonnay berries cultivated in field experiments.
(Results of the year 2011)

Fig. 2 Growth conditions of young ‘Koshu’ grapes plants (105 days after the planting)in pot experiments (Results of the year 2009)