Datos preliminares de la flora en los márgenes y campos adyacentes obtenidos en 2023 y 2024

Creado dentro del Plan Complementario de Agroalimentación AGROALNEXT en el marco del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia y financiado por la Unión Europea – NextGenerationEUPublishedTarea 2.4 .-- Análisis comparativo de la diversidad vegetal en el ecosistema agrícola asociada a la presencia/ausencia de márgenes naturales e identificación de especies vegetales potencialmente perjudiciales para los cultivo

Egg White Protein Film Production Through Extrusion and Calendering Processes and its Suitability for Food Packaging Applications

The goal of this study was to produce a film made of egg white protein (EWP) through extrusion and calendering processes, the most common filmmaking processing technology, and to determine its potential for food packaging applications. The latter was assessed by measuring the mechanical, barrier, thermal, and optical properties; plasticizer leakage; and microbial resistance of the EWP film when exposed to specific combinations of relative humidity (RH) and temperature, and by comparing some of the results to those of commercial polylactic acid (PLA) film, the most commonly used bioplastic for food packaging applications. A transparent, continuous, thin, and uniform EWP film was produced with extruder-zone temperatures of 40 degrees C-50 degrees C-60 degrees C-70 degrees C-75 degrees C from feeder to die and with roller temperatures and speed set to 115-120 degrees C and 0.111rpm. The permeability, lightness, and transmittance of the resulting film were affected by temperature while the RH affected its thickness, tensile properties, permeability, color, transmittance, and glycerol loss. Compared to the PLA film, the EWP film was less breakable and flexible, and had a lower barrier to water and higher rigidity, thermal resistance, and barrier to oxygen. The two materials present similar transparency, lightness, color, barrier to ethanol, and sensitivity to RH. This study proves that EWP film can be produced through extrusion and calendaring processes and can be used as an alternative to other materials for food packaging applications where thermal resistance, rigidity, strength, barrier to oxygen, and avoidance of condensation are desired.The authors thank the Hatch project 1007253 from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA). The authors also thank Abdhi Sarkar with the Michigan State University Center for Statistical Training and Consulting for her advice on the statistical analyses performed in this study. Dr. González-Buesa thanks the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) for a DOC-INIA research contract, and the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), REA grant agreement no. 332201.Publishe

Alternative Method for Determining O-2 and CO2 Transmission Rates Through Microperforated Films for Modified Atmosphere Packs

Most experimental systems for measuring the permeability of microperforated polymeric films are static, mainly because in dynamic systems the small differences in pressure on both sides of the perforation may result in serious errors in the measurements. The O-2 and CO2 transmission rate through microperforations of different sizes (from 40x30 to 350x110 mu m) were determined in a static and in a dynamic system. In the latter case, rather than the diffusive flow, the hydrodynamic flow generated by the difference in pressure was measured (between 5 and 90mbar). This was determined by applying Bernouilli's theorem and an experimental equation potentially relating the area of the microperforation with the transmission rate. A comparison of the transmission rates obtained in both cases gives coefficients of determination close to one (>0.993). This means that measuring the hydrodynamic flow can be considered as an alternative for the quantification of the diffusive flow through a microperforation. This is a simple and quick methodology that does not require expensive equipment. Furthermore, this feature enables commercial leak detection equipment to be used to quantify diffusive transmission rates through microperforations. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.The authors express their gratitude to the “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (Spain) for providing the financial support for the study (project no. PTQ-09-01-00700).Publishe

Leveraging Multispectral and Lidar Uav to Predict Individual Tree Health: A Case Study of Viscum Album in Scots Pine Forests

The presence of mistletoe in pine stands has expanded in recent decades, currently threating Mediterranean forests. Mistletoe outbreaks can make the host trees more vulnerable to intense droughts, which are expected to increase due to climate change. We use multispectral (MS) and LiDAR UAV-derived data to determine Viscum album ssp. austriacum infestation levels at individual tree level in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests. First, spectral and structural differences between four infestation levels were assessed employing Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc Dunn’s test for individual tree crowns. Second, machine learning classification algorithms were applied to evaluate infestation levels at the individual tree scale by comparing or combining UAV-derived datasets. Outcomes revealed significant differences between infestation levels in canopy cover and height based on LiDAR derived metrics. Significant changes in vegetation vigor were also found through spectral and textural metrics. Using two vegetation indices (CIRE and NDVI) an overall accuracy of 0.83 was achieved by applying SVM, while combining a spectral metric (NDRE) and a LiDAR metric (D0) resulted in 0.82 accuracy with SVM. Using only LiDAR variables, we obtained an accuracy of 0.64 with SVM and RF. This approach demonstrates their value for detecting and characterizing morphological changes in up to four levels of mistletoe infestation at individual trees in Mediterranean Scots pine forests, lending support to forest management monitoring.This research was funded by Gobierno de Aragón-Fondo de Inversiones de Teruel (FITE) and Gobierno de España, grant project FITE‐2021‐DRUIDA and by Gobierno de Aragón research groups S51_23R and S74_23R.UAVMultispectralLiDARmachine learningforest healthmonitoringmistletoePublishe

Fighting the pollinators decline in practice – Farmers’ willingness to accept an eco-scheme for their conservation in Aragon, Spain

We design an eco-scheme under the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027 integrating the two most relevant agricultural practices for pollinator conservation: setting aside conservation land areas and reducing pesticides. Our main objectives are: (i) to measure farmers’ willingness to accept the implementation of pollinators-friendly agricultural practices, and (ii) to assess the effect of farmers’ environmental concerns and the source of recommendation on said willingness. A choice experiment is used to measure farmers’ preference for alternative designs of the eco-scheme in two cropping systems representative of the Aragonese and Mediterranean agriculture: rainfed extensive crops and irrigated/permanent crops. As we find, Aragonese farmers are willing to uptake agricultural practices for pollinator conservation to certain extent if they are paid to do so. This is especially true for setting aside land for conservation where more demanding practices could be accepted within current Spanish unitary payments (per ha payment). The reduction or elimination of pesticides would require payments far beyond current Spanish unitary payments. Irrigated/permanent crop farmers require larger payments than rainfed crop farmers. Farmers with pro-environmental attitudes selected more environmentally-demanding alternative levels both for sparing agricultural land and reducing pesticides. Finally, the uptake of the eco-scheme could be easier if cooperatives play an active role in its promotion. The hypothetical eco-scheme presented here could be readily implemented within CAP eco-schemes while integrating the objectives of the European Pollinators Initiative, the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the Farm to Fork Strategy.Data collection has been funded by the EU project LIFE PollinAction (LIFE19 NAT/IT/000848). Enrique Muñoz-Ulecia is supported by an employment contract under the EU project LIFE PollinAction (LIFE19 NAT/IT/000848).Choice experimentCommon Agricultural PolicyLand sparingPesticide reductionPollinationPublishe

Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress

Lettuce is a crop particularly vulnerable to drought. A transcriptomic study in the variety ‘Romired’ and the wild relative Lactuca homblei was conducted to understand the increase in anthocyanins (only significant in L. homblei) in response to drought previously observed. RNA-seq revealed more differentially expressed genes (DEGs), especially upregulated, in the wild species, in which the most abundant and significant GO terms were involved in regulatory processes (including response to water). Anthocyanin synthesis was triggered in L. homblei in response to drought, with 17 genes activated out of the 36 mapped in the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway compared to 7 in ‘Romired’. Nineteen candidate DEGs with the strongest change in expression and correlation with both anthocyanin content and drought were selected and validated by qPCR, all being differentially expressed only in the wild species with the two techniques. Their functions were related to anthocyanins and/or stress response and they harboured 404 and 11 polymorphisms in the wild and cultivated species, respectively. Some wild variants had high or moderate predicted impacts on the respective protein function: a transcription factor that responds to abiotic stresses, a heat shock protein involved in stomatal closure, and a phospholipase participating in anthocyanin accumulation under abiotic stress. These genetic variants could explain the differences in the gene expression patterns between the wild (significantly up/downregulated) and the cultivated (no significant changes) species. The diversity of this crop wild relative for anthocyanin-related genes involved in the response to drought could be exploited to improve lettuce resilience against some adverse climate effects.The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was funded by the projects PID2022-138484OR-I00 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and State Research Agency (AEI) and LMP148_21 from the Government of Aragón; and by the Operational Programme FEDER Aragón 2023-2025 and 2020-2022, and the European Social Fund from the European Union (A12-23R: “Grupo de investigación en fruticultura: caracterización, adaptación y mejora genética”). IML was supported by a predoctoral contract for training doctors from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) and the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI).abiotic stressantioxidantscrop wild relativesdifferentially expressed genesLactuca sativa L.real-time qPCRRNA-seqresiliencePublishe

Estratègies de lluita contra Xanthomonas spp. per a una agricultura sostenible

El género Xanthomonas comprende especies responsables de enfermedades como la mancha bacteriana de los frutales de hueso y el almendro, y la sarna del tomate y del pimiento, consideradas entre las más graves de estos cultivos. En este artículo se describen las enfermedades y se presentan los primeros resultados obtenidos dentro del proyecto nacional de investigación XANTHERWO.El presente trabajo se está realizando gracias al proyecto coordinado PID2021-123600OR «Modelos de Xanthomonas causantes de enfermedades en importantes en cultivos de plantas herbáceas y leñosas en España, estudios comparativos y nuevas estrategias de control (XANTHERWO)», financiado por MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ y por FEDER, UE.Publishe

Red AgriFoodTe Red de conocimiento e innovación agroalimentaria (AKIS) de Teruel

Actuación subvencionada por el Gobierno de España y el Gobierno de Aragón con cargo al Fondo de Inversiones de Terue