Australia’s grape and wine industry directly employs over 68,000 people, largely in regional areas, generates $4 billion in sales, $2 billion in exports and underpins a $9 billion wine tourism industry. Undertaking research to tackle the many challenges faced by vineyards and training the next generation of wine scientists are crucial to help maintain the sustainability and competitive edge of the Australian wine industry.

Breastmilk is the optimal and complete source of nutrition for infants during the first 4-6 months of life. Infant formula is the recommended alternative and the first choice for providing nutrition to infants who cannot be exclusively breastfed. However most infant formula is cow’s milk based missing critical nutrients of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) . HMOs as prebiotics play a significant role in the development and function of the infant gut microbiota, which in turn affects various aspects of gut development and behavior.

This project explores how the presence of metals can influence the ageing process of bottled wine, and provide options to minimise the detrimental influence of metals through wine production process.