Alessandro Kim Cerutti

A review of studies applying environmental impact assessment methods on fruit production systems.

Although many aspects of environmental accounting methodologies in food production have already been investigated, the application of environmental indicators in the fruit sector is still rare and no consensus can be found on the preferred method. On the contrary, widely diverging approaches have been taken to several aspects of the analyses, such as data collection, handling of scaling issues, and goal and scope definition. This paper reviews studies assessing the sustainability or environmental impacts of fruit production under different conditions and identifies aspects of fruit production that are of environmental importance. Four environmental assessment methods which may be applied to assess fruit production systems are evaluated, namely Life Cycle Assessment, Ecological Footprint Analysis, Emergy Analysis and Energy Balance. In the 22 peer-reviewed journal articles and two conference articles applying one of these methods in the fruit sector that were included in this review, a total of 26 applications of environmental impact assessment methods are described. These applications differ concerning e.g. overall objective, set of environmental issues considered, definition of system boundaries and calculation algorithms. Due to the relatively high variability in study cases and approaches, it was not possible to identify any one method as being better than the others. However, remarks on methodologies and suggestions for standardisation are given and the environmental burdens of fruit systems are highlighted.

Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review

Compared to their vertebrate counterparts in traditional husbandry, insects are extremely efficient at converting organic matter into animal protein and dietary energy. For this reason, insects for food and feed show great potential as an environmentally friendly choice in future food systems. However, to obtain a true assessment of this, more information is needed about the production systems. Currently, only six studies applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to insect production systems have been published. The studies are heterogenous and thus difficult to compare. The aim of this paper was to establish a versatile reference framework that would allow for the selection of standardized settings for LCA applications in insect production systems, taking both the peculiarity of each system and the latest developments in food LCA into account. It is recommended that future LCAs of insect production systems take the following into account: (1) clear definition of the insect species and life stages included in the LCA, (2) use of at least two of the following types of functional units: nutritional, mass, or economic-based, (3) collection of empirical data in situ (e.g., on farms/production sites), (4) comparative analysis where production systems produce products that are realistic alternatives to the insect species under investigation, (5) inclusion of additional or previously unconsidered unit processes, such as processing and storage and waste management, and (6) use of a wide range of impact categories, especially climate change, resource consumption, nutrient enrichment potential, acidification potential, and impacts on land and water consumption in order to allow for comparison between studies.

Currants and strawberries as bioactive compounds source: determination of antioxidant profile with HPLC-DAD/MS system

*summary Among plant foods, berry fruit shows a high antioxidant capacity. Medical research has pointed out the medicinal properties of certain pigmented polyphenols, such as flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins and other phytochemicals, which are mainly found in the skin and seeds of the berries. The aim of this work was to contribute to the study of the nutraceutical features of some berry fruit (currants, gooseberries and strawberries). The different antioxidant compound contents of the fresh fruit of different cultivars and selections of Ribes spp. and Fragaria x ananassa Duch have been analyzed. The fruit of 29 cultivars from 3 different species of Ribes spp. and 5 strawberry cultivars have been analysed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a UV/Vis detector and a mass detector (MS) to identify and quantify the main antioxidant compounds. As far as the Ribes spp. cultivars are concerned, the presence of a high content of phenolic compounds has been confirmed, and they represent therefore an important source of antioxidant compounds. Moreover, the results have shown that the considered cultivars and selections of strawberries are good sources of bioactive compounds, especially phenolic substances. The results of this study could contribute to offer new insights into the nutraceutical aspects of the considered berry fruit species.

Influence of applied drying methods on phytochemical composition in fresh and dried goji fruits by HPLC fingerprint

Lycium spp. fruit (goji or wolfberry) has become more popular due to its public acceptance as a functional food or “super food/fruit”. The aim of this study was to describe the influence of two different drying systems (air-thermal and freeze drying) on fresh and dried goji fruit nutraceutical traits and report on the level of potentially bioactive compounds and their effects on total fruit phytocomplex and antioxidant activity. Spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods coupled to multivariate analysis were performed on all the goji samples. In this research, goji fresh and dried fruits were identified as a source of compounds with potential health-promoting properties. The results of this study showed that freeze drying allowed to preserve most of the phytochemical characteristics of the fresh fruits, as phenolic acids (ferulic and ellagic acids) and vitamin C content. Moreover, polyphenols could be selected as biomarkers in order to distinguish different Lycium species or the same Lycium genotype from different geographical areas. This research emphasizes that an adequate evaluation of nutraceutical traits is necessary in order to select the higher-quality raw materials (cultivated varieties): as a cost-effective and efficient way to trace food, this study showed that HPLC fingerprint can be used to identify and track different raw materials (fresh fruits) and derived food products (dried fruits).

Life Cycle Assessment in the Fruit Sector

Fruit products are generally considered to be some of the less environmentally damaging foods in occidental diets. In fact studies investigating the carbon footprint of different food choices have reported that fruit is the category with the least environmental impact. However, these studies use data from environmental assessments of generic fruit production, which take no account of specific issues within orchard systems and fruit supply chains. Indeed, modern food production is very diverse, with high levels of specialisation and complexity. These features inevitably affect methodologies in the application of LCA to food products and agro-systems. It is therefore important to study what has already been done regarding standardisation of application protocols in order to make appropriate comparisons between products. In the present chapter, a review of LCA application in fruit systems is presented: papers from international journals, national journals, and conference proceedings have been reviewed. In particular, it can be assumed that mainstream research on the LCA applied to fruit production systems began around 2005; most of the papers were published in 2010 and 2012 in conjunction with international conferences on LCA in the agri-food sector. The review covers all the main criteria for conducting an LCA in fruit production systems. Specific issues considered are: aims and scopes, system boundaries, product considered, functional unit, data origin, life cycle-based methodology adopted, and environmental impact assessment method used. Furthermore this chapter investigates two aspects that are rarely considered in LCA studies of fruit systems: the role of nurseries in determine environmental impacts and the carbon storage properties of orchards.

Improving the nutritional value of kiwifruit with the application of agroindustry waste extracts

*Summary The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the application of an agro-industrial waste extract (AWE) on the quality of kiwifruit. The AWE was obtained by extraction from apple seeds, rapeseed and rice husks and then boron (0.6 %) and zinc (1.4 %) were added. The effect of AWE as a fertilizer/biostimulant on several parameters of kiwifruit quality (weight, total soluble solids, firmness, dry matter percentage, pH, titratable acidity, antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid) was then evaluated. The application was carried out on two cultivars of Actinidia deliciosa, cv. Hayward and cv. Green Light, and also in two different cultivation environments. AWE increased the fruit weight in cv. Green Light and in cv. Hayward fruits grown in Piedmont but no increase was observed in dry matter percentage for fruits of both cultivars. The most relevant effect of AWE was the significant increase of the ascorbic acid (AA) content in the fruits of cv. Hayward of all the tested orchards. Fertilization with biostimulants shows a promising future in functional plant nutrition linked to an increase in food quality parameters.

Botanicals in Ribes nigrum bud-preparations: An analytical fingerprinting to evaluate the bioactive contribution to total phytocomplex

Abstract Context. Ribes nigrum L. (Grossulariaceae) is among the most commonly used herbal medicines and it is popularized for its alleged tonic effect and curative and restorative properties. The current practice of identifying herbal extracts is by measuring the concentration of the main botanicals. Their concentrations are used to characterize the herbal preparations and fingerprinting is recommended by the main Pharmacopeias as a potential and reliable strategy for the quality control of complex mixtures. Objective: The aim of this research was to perform an analytical study of R. nigrum bud-preparations, in order to identify and quantify the main bioactive compounds, obtaining a specific chemical fingerprint to evaluate the single class contribution to herbal preparation phytocomplex. Materials and methods: The same analyses were performed using a high-performance liquid chromatograph-diode array detector both on University lab preparations and on commercial preparations from different Italian locations. Different chromatographic methods were used to analyse the macerated samples, two for polyphenols and one for terpenic compounds. Results. Ribes nigrum was identified as a rich source of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. The observed analytical firgerprint demonstrated that these bud-preparations represent a rich source of terpenic and polyphenolic compounds, especially catechins and phenolic acids. Discussion and conclusion: Analytical fingerprinting could be an important tool to study the assessment of chemical composition and bioactivities of plant-derived products, helping to find new sources of natural health-promoting compounds: this study allowed the development of an effective tool for quality control through botanical fingerprinting of bud preparations.

Insights in the chestnut genetic diversity in Canton Ticino (Southern Switzerland)

Abstract Castanea sativa Miller displays a high variability of morphological and ecological traits, vegetative and reproductive habits, nut morphology, wood characteristics, adaptability, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The present range of distribution of the species has been strongly influenced by human migrations and it is thought that Romans played a crucial role in the spread of the cultivation in Europe, although in some areas there is also evidence of local domestication and spontaneous spread of the tree after the last glacial period. In Switzerland chestnut stands are found mostly in the South (Canton Ticino), a region where the debate about the origin of the local germplasm, whether derived from the survival or spontaneous migration of C. sativa on the territory or due to the introduction of the tree during the Roman colonisation, is still open. This study aims contributing to depict the chestnut genetic situation of the species in Canton Ticino as a contribution to the debate about the native character of the species. The study area is located in Switzerland, on the southern slopes of the Alps, where 3 C. sativa populations were sampled and analysed at 9 SSR loci. Populations showed a high degree of diversity, as it is observed in most natural population of tree species: all nine SSR loci were polymorphic (no fixed alleles were detected), and genetic diversity, measured by expected heterozygosity, was high ranging in the populations between 0.647 and 0.721, on average. Results suggest that three homogeneous gene pools contributed to the formation of the 3 populations sampled. The genetic germplasm structuring of the analysed chestnut stands is very mild as confirmed by the relatively low level of genetic differentiation and divergence observed among sites.

Assessing Environmental Sustainability of Different Apple Supply Chains in Northern Italy

The application of environmental assessment methods in the fruit sector is conventionally divided into a field phase and a retail phase. Although there are important differences in the environmental impacts in field phase, a major part of the impacts is related to the management of the fruit and the distribution chain in the retail phase. In this paper, the environmental impact of fruit production is quantified in the production and retail phase of apple production in Piedmont in Northern Italy. Three main scenarios have been identified: (I) direct selling, (II) distribution to local markets and (III) distribution to national markets. A complete life cycle assessment (LCA) has been performed on the three apple supply chains. Results show the importance of retailing strategies for the environmental sustainability of such food item.

Serviceberry, a berry fruit with growing interest of industry: Physicochemical and quali-quantitative health-related compound characterisation

Abstract Amelanchier canadensis (L.) Medik., commonly called serviceberry, is a potential functional food that is also used for its medicinal purposes. This work evaluated the potential of a cultivated serviceberry species as a functional food by characterising its physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant capacity, vitamin C, phenolics and other phytochemicals selected as health-promoting biomarkers, using high-performance liquid chromatography. The most important compound class identified was polyphenols (62.10%), followed by organic acids (22.63%), monoterpenes (7.95%), and vitamins (7.32%). Results showed that serviceberry fruits could be good sources of phenolic constituents, as catechins (343.46 ± 29.46 mg/100 gFW), anthocyanins (220.66 ± 17.43 mg/100 gFW), and tannins (209.29 ± 7.81 mg/100 gFW) (FW = fresh weight). These results highlight the potential role of A. canadensis fruits as a functional food. Further studies are needed to identify several genotypes for breeding to get suitable cultivars for fresh consumption and processing.