Davide Neri

Cherry Antioxidants: From Farm to Table

The dietary consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower incidence of degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers. Most recent interest has focused on the bioactive phenolic compounds found in vegetable products. Sweet and sour cherries contain several antioxidants and polyphenols that possess many biological activities, such as antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammation properties. The review describes the effect of environment and other factors (such as production, handling and storage) on the nutritional properties of cherries, with particular attention to polyphenol compounds. Moreover the health benefits of cherries and their polyphenols against human diseases such as heart disease, cancers, diabetes are reviewed.

Strawberry production in forced and protected culture in Europe as a response to climate change

Neri, D., Baruzzi, G., Massetani, F. and Faedi, W. 2012. Strawberry production in forced and protected culture in Europe as a response to climate change. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 1021-1036. In Europe, the production of strawberry for fresh market in forced and protected conditions is increasing. These techniques were initially aimed at enhancing the earliness of June-bearing short day varieties. Nowadays, the objective is to have year-round fruit availability, forcing and preserving strawberry crops against adverse weather conditions. The new high-quality low-chilling varieties widely expanded winter-spring strawberry production in the Mediterranean climate with autumn planting, while the diffusion of day-neutral ever-bearing varieties increased spring-summer yields in more continental climates, avoiding the extremely cold winter with spring planting. Finally, the use of tray-plants significantly increased late summer-fall strawberry production with summer programmed planting. The present review analyzes the recent evolution of strawberry cultivars and cultivation systems under plastic tunnels and in greenhouses. The physiological effects on plant architecture and propagation are discussed. In conclusion, we can affirm that strawberry growers are facing climate change with innovations in cultivated varieties and cultural techniques, and by the integration of the different production areas, with their specific optimum yield seasons, to continuously fulfill the demands of the European market.

Strawberry plant relationship through the stolon.

Stolon is an elongated, two-node, vegetative, axillary shoot, which supports the ramet (rooted rosette) until it is completely independent on its own roots. The reciprocal capacity of the ramets, in a single runner chain, to sustain the growth and share locally abundant resources or to tolerate a local stress, is still in debate. This capacity may play an important role for improving nursery plant production and for better understanding the natural clonal multiplication. To describe strawberry stolon action, in plant-to-plant relationship, bare-rooted Camarosa ramets, joint in couples by their own stolons (generally, second and third ramet in a runner chain) were transplanted in two pots. The couples of ramets were treated in a factorial experiment with decortication (peeling a 2-mm ring of bark from the stolon), removal of root system or glyphosate application to one of the two ramets. In the studied system, the older ramet was referred as mother and the other as daughter. The two ramets were very similar in age and seem to act with a very limited hierarchic prevalence of the mother. When the root system of one ramet was eliminated, leaf number and chlorophyll content had a very slight decrease, independently in the mother ramet or in the daughter. The decortication did not reduce water integration, in any group of plants, but limited assimilate allocation towards the daughter ramet when the mother ramet had a severe root cut (not vice versa). The glyphosate action resulted localized in the sprayed ramet, which reduced chlorophyll content within 2 days and expired after 4 days.

Relationship between plant architecture and fruit production of the short-day strawberry cultivar Gariguette

This research was carried out to assess the relationship between the architecture of strawberry plants before chilling and winter-spring fruit production in a soilless forced culture system. On 11 September 2008, trayplants of the cultivar Gariguette were placed in a heated glasshouse and either exposed to long-day photoperiodic conditions or short-day photoperiodic conditions for 53 days. In addition, plants were held 26 days under short-day photoperiodic conditions followed by 27 days of long-day photoperiodic conditions or 26 days under long-day photoperiodic conditions followed by 27 days of short-day photoperiodic conditions. Architecture prior to chilling gave indications about the first fruit production period in winter-spring (1 March to 30 April 2009). The earliest short-day photoperiodic condition treatments produced the earliest fruits. These treatments exhibited the most developed inflorescences in the pre-chilling architectural analysis and the fewer nodes between the youngest expanded leaf and the terminal inflorescence. The plants that received 53 days of long-day photoperiodic conditions treatment had the least developed terminal inflorescence before chilling and the latest production. The architecture analysis of Gariguette trayplants could predict the earliness rank (first to last) but not the yield rank during the first harvest period.

Olive (Olea europaea L.) Root Growth in Soil Sectors with Olive Husks and Hay Residues

ABSTRACT Olive oil by-products have an important fertilizing value due to their high organic matter and nutrient content; however, they also possess a phytotoxic effect. Therefore, it is necessary to study the reaction of plants and, more specifically, the roots of olive trees to the presence of husks used as amendment in olive orchards. In this experimental work olive plants were grown in split-pots in which the roots were divided in four sectors and grown in different substrates. Husks, hay, and a mixture of the two was added to a soil substrate to simulate growing conditions in an olive orchard with green mulching. Results showed that olive roots performed differently in the different substrates. Husk substrates were avoided if a husk-free section was present. If not, the plants stopped growing and half of them perished. If hay was added with husks the toxic effect was reduced. It can be argued that in the field, olive plants, thanks to their great transmigration capacity, may be able to avoid the patches amended with husks, but repeated treatments with husks could cause shoot growth problems because it would be more difficult for roots to find optimal substrate to continue their growth.

Effect of rooting time, pot size and fertigation technique on strawberry plant architecture

BACKGROUND: Flower induction and the reproductive and vegetative behavior of strawberry plants depend on several agronomic and nutritional factors. OBJECTIVE: During propagation in the nursery, several fertigation techniques (nutrient amount and timing), rooting times and pot sizes were used to modify plant architecture. METHODS: Different levels of nutrient applications were tested by setting the fertigation composition at 700 or 1000Scm −1 electrical conductivity. Fertigation was continuous, delayed or temporary during the summer growth of Elsanta and Capri runner plants, for tray and mini-tray plant production. Early and late rooting dates were also compared. RESULTS: The experiments showed the effects of the container type (tray and mini-tray) and the nutritional level on the plant architecture and reproductive behavior, with a major control of plant growth. Rooting time and fertigation timing also had some effects on plant architecture. CONCLUSIONS: Propagation and fertigation techniques can become effective strategies for manipulating the architecture and the reproductive behavior of the plant. However, the interaction between many growing factors and plant growth may reduce the predictability of the effects.

Critical Evaluation of Genetic Manipulation for Improved Productivity: Is This a Sustainable Agenda?

Despite brilliant successes that have been achieved with the applications of genetic improvement in food production to sustain large monocultures and to compete in a global market economy, the chronic crises affecting agriculture have not been resolved. An expansion of mechanized, modern agriculture with intensive chemical use has contributed to the reduction in the farming population worldwide, thus destabilizing local economies and food security. Nevertheless, the emerging bioeconomy is supporting the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops as the most advanced approach to improve the quality of life for all while successfully resolving the foreseeable, global challenges of providing adequate food, fiber, and renewable energy for a growing human population. The global area planted with GM crops has more than doubled worldwide in the last decade, especially in developing countries, and resulted in a reduction of cultivated germplasm due to the diffusion of a limited number of genetically improved varieties whose products are mainly directed toward the global market. Research foci for GM crops are purposefully oriented to make crops withstand harsh environmental conditions as the effects of global climate change rapidly alter the attributes of agricultural landscapes. Also, crops are genetically modified to yield more food, fiber, and renewable energy and to withstand the effects of pests and disease. These are additional, desirable goals of the GM research agenda, yet they can be meaningless if they are not delivered to local farmers with all the advice and integration which are the basis for achieving sustainable agriculture.

Issues of Food Safety and Quality: Are “Organic” Foods Better?

The promotion of diets capable of insuring a balanced nutrient intake to enhance harmonious growth and health has become a priority in developed and in developing countries (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, Geneva, 2003). However, this may occur at the cost of increased levels of contaminants and agriculture no longer being sustainable. Since the 1970s U.S. agricultural systems have been geared towards a maximal “production” focus, yet, in more recent times, food “quality” has also become an important issue. Quality has translated into an increased public awareness of and demand for foods grown under organic conditions. Plants absorb minerals and trace elements from their environment, along with potentially harmful xenobiotics, and synthesize vitamins and other nutrients (fat, protein, fatty acids, amino acids, sugars, and fiber). Animals eat plants thus absorbing nutrients into their own tissues, as well as accumulating xenobiotics from pesticides and other toxins, when these are present in the environment.

Issues of Food Safety: Are “Organic” Apples Better?

Organically grown foods have become increasingly popular with the consumer because of a desire to improve nutrition and prevent environmental contamination. Fruits and vegetables are cultivated according to different approaches: conventional (chemical-based agriculture), integrated farm management, organic agriculture. Experimental evidence suggests that higher levels of micronutrients and antioxidants are associated with organically grown fruit and vegetables. Cultivation systems affect the amount of chemical residues in produce and the risk of its possible biological contamination. Synthetic pesticide and additive residues can be avoided in properly managed organic systems. The differences between foods grown under different agricultural methods may not be enough to declare organic produce as superior quality food relative to their conventional or integrated counterparts.