Оптимізація рецептурного складу зернових хлібців з поліпшеними споживними властивостями

A promising direction in the development of the production of prophylactic food is the creation of enriched cereal-based products. Due to the relatively low cost of raw materials, they are available to a wide range of people and are able to compensate for the lack of biologically active substances (BAS) in the diet. They have a particular interest among cereal-based products, are ready-to-eat foods – crispbread. They have a long shelf life, are convenient for transportation and consumption, are in demand among various segments of the population, do not contain residual fermentation products, and are characterized by high food and biological value.To optimize the formulation composition of crispbread, the methodology of the response surface is used. Simulation and processing of experimental data is performed in the environment of the software package Statistica 10 (StatSoft, Inc., USA). Raw material is wheat grain, powder of milk thistle concentrate, salt and vitamin-mineral mixture.On the basis of methods of mathematical modeling, the optimal mass fractions of the powder of milk thistle concentrate and table salt are 5.27 and 0.92 %, respectively, as components of crispbread. In the laboratory conditions, experimental samples of crispbread are made with addition of raw ingredients in the formulation at optimum concentrations. On the basis of the conducted researches it is established that the products differ with improved consumer properties, characterized by good organoleptic properties, normalized physical and chemical indicators, high food and biological value and absolutely safe.Рассмотрены вопросы оптимизации рецептурного состава зерновых хлебцов с улучшенными потребительскими свойствами. Обоснованы оптимальные массовые доли порошка расторопши и поваренной соли – 5,27 и 0,92 % соответственно в качестве компонентов целевых продуктов. Доказано, что зерновые хлебцы с оптимальным составом характеризуются улучшенными органолептическими, нормированными физико-химическими показателями, высокой пищевой, биологической ценностью, являются безопасными.Розглянуто питання оптимізації рецептурного складу зернових хлібців з поліпшеними споживними властивостями. Обґрунтовано оптимальні масові частки порошку розторопші та кухонної солі – 5,27 та 0,92 % відповідно як компонентів цільових продуктів. Доведено, що зернові хлібці з оптимальним складом характеризуються поліпшеними органолептичними, нормованими фізико-хімічними показниками, високою харчовою, біологічною цінністю, є безпечними

Iron Biofortification of Greenhouse Soilless Lettuce: An Effective Agronomic Tool to Improve the Dietary Mineral Intake

The present experiment addressed the effects of different iron (Fe) concentrations in the nutrient solution supplied as Fe-HBED, i.e., 0.02 (Fe0, control), 1.02 (Fe1), and 2.02 mmol L-1 (Fe2) on lettuce ('Nauplus' and 'Romana') yield and compositional traits. This experiment was carried out in a greenhouse using an open soilless cultivation system, at the experimental farm of the University of Catania (Sicily, Italy: 37 degrees 24'31.5 '' N, 15 degrees 03'32.8 '' E, 6 m a.s.l.). The addition of Fe-HBED reduced the plants' aboveground biomass (-18%, averaged over Fe1 and Fe2), but promoted their dry matter content (+16% in Fe2). The concentration of chlorophylls, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidants peaked at Fe2, along with the antioxidant capacity and concentration of stress indicators in leaves. The Fe content in leaves was promoted in the Fe-treated plants (+187% averaged over Fe1 and Fe2). 'Romana' showed the highest Fe accumulation (reaching 29.8 mg kg(-1) FW in Fe1), but 'Nauplus' proved a higher tolerance to the Fe-derived oxidative stress. The Fe2 treatment maximized leaf N, P, K, S, and Zn contents, while those of Ca, Mg, Mn, and B peaked at Fe1. Overall, our study revealed the effectiveness of Fe-HBED in increasing the Fe content and improving the nutritional quality of lettuce grown in soilless cultivation systems

Quality determinants of fruit and vegetables productions

Nowadays, the main goal for modern horticultural production is the increase of quality. Furthermore, in consideration of the new consumer demand, always more attracted by a diet based on a larger consumption of fruit and vegetables without risks of pesticides residues and with increased nutritional value, new important features in addition to the traditional quality attributes are now requested. For a program of qualification and valorisation of modern horticultural productions, it is fundamental a study of the major quality determinants organized by following a heuristic approache useful to identify the contribution of each factor in defining the quality of the product. The genetic knowledge applied to all available techniques useful for the creation of new genetic variability surely represent the most important starting point for the release of new varieties with increased nutritional quality without limitation in plant productivity. About agronomic practices, new opportunities are offered by the sustainable management of the production factors able to improve the plant-environment interaction, to well address the reduction of inputs needed for the production, and finally to induce specific stress conditions able to promote higher quality at reduced inputs. Much more attention is also addressed to the post-harvest technologies, this because of the increased needs to guarantee the preservation of the high quality obtained in the field until the consumer use. Taking in account such complexity of the horticultural production systems and examples of some major model crops, an outlook of the main determinants and potential valorisation of high quality horticultural products are attempted

High vapour pressure de®cit in¯uences growth, transpiration and quality of tomato fruits

Abstract Plants were grown in two glasshouse compartments under two vapour pressure de®cit (vpd) levels: low vpd was obtained by increasing air humidity with a fogging system, and high vpd was obtained during sunny hours in a greenhouse where air humidity was not controlled. The mean value, of the six driest hours of the day concerning the growing period of the fruits considered, was 1.6 kPa under low vpd and 2.2 kPa under high vpd conditions. Over the whole experimental period, the difference in mean hourly temperature never exceeded 0.88C. The oldest leaves were removed to different extents in different plots to analyse whether a different leaf/fruit ratio could modify the effect of high vpd. Fruit growth and transpiration rates greatly varied during daylight hours; these variations were enhanced under high vpd condition. The increase in vpd produced a signi®cant reduction in fruit fresh weight and in fruit water content, and an increase in soluble solids, while fruit dry weight was not affected. High vpd also enhanced the variability of fruit weight. When more leaves were removed the effect of vpd on soluble solids and water content was less important. The study shows that during summer, as vpd increases from 1.6 to 2.2 kPa, effects can be observed both on tomato growth and quality characteristics. Therefore, an improvement of the control of vpd for the optimisation of greenhouse tomato production is discussed.

The effects of sodium chloride on ornamental shrubs

The use of saline waters is an option for the irrigation of salt tolerant ornamentals as competition for high quality water increases. However, despite the importance of ornamental shrubs in Mediterranean areas, salt tolerance of such species has received little attention. The aims of our investigation were to quantify the growth response and any injury symptom of 12 widely cultivated ornamental shrubs to irrigation with saline water and to investigate any possible relation with the concentration of Na(+) and Cl(-) in the plants. Species were irrigated with different salinities (10, 40, and 70 mM NaCl) for a 120-day period. At the end of salt treatment, plants were sampled and dry biomass recorded; the relative growth rate (RGR) was also calculated. Root and leaf samples from each species were used to evaluate Na(+), K(+) and Cl(-) concentrations. Growth rates were significantly reduced in Cotoneaster lacteus, Grevillea juniperina and Pyracantha 'Harlequin'. which also showed the highest percentage of necrotic leaves. The increasing external NaCl lead to an increase of Na(+) and Cl(-) in roots and leaves of the different species, although less Na(+) was accumulated than Cl(-): growth reduction well correlated with the concentration of Cl(-) and/or Na(+) in the leaves. The most sensitive species (i.e. C lacteus, G. juniperina and Pyracantha 'Harlequin') had high concentrations of Na(+) and/or Cl(-) in their leaves and also showed a decrease in their leaf K(+)/Na(+) ratios. Even though other species (i.e. Bougainvillea glabra, Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, Leptospermum scoparium, Leucophyllum frutescens and Ruttya fruticosa) demonstrated a high ion concentration in their leaves, they could be considered relatively salt tolerant as there was little growth reduction and few symptoms of injury in the leaves. In some other cases (i.e. Cestrum fasciculatum, Escallonia rubra and Viburnum lucidum) the observed tolerance was related to higher ion concentration in the roots compared to the leaves, probably indicative of a limited transport to the shoots. Only in Eugenia myrtifolia was the absence of symptoms associated with a limited Na(+) and Cl(-) uptake from the rhizosphere. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Role of grafting in vegetable crops grown under saline conditions

Salinity isoneofthemajorabioticstressesthatreduceplantgrowthandcropproductivityinmanyveg- etable productionareasoftheworld.Graftingcanrepresentaninterestingtooltoavoidorreduceyield losses causedbysalinitystressinhigh-yieldinggenotypesbelongingto Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae families. Graftingisanintegrativereciprocalprocessand,therefore,bothscionandrootstockcaninflu- ence salttoleranceofgraftedplants.Graftedplantsgrownundersalineconditionsoftenexhibitedbetter growth andyield,higherphotosynthesisandleafwatercontent,greaterroot-to-shootratio,higheraccu- mulation ofcompatibleosmolytes,abscisicacidandpolyaminesinleaves,greaterantioxidantcapacity in leaves,andloweraccumulationofNa+ and/or Cl− in shootsthanungraftedorself-graftedplants. This reportgivesanoverviewoftherecentliteratureonthesalinityresponseofgraftedplantsandthe mechanisms ofsalttoleranceingraftedplantsrelatedtothemorphologicalrootcharacteristicsandthe physiological andbiochemicalprocesses.Thereviewwillconcludebyidentifyingseveralprospectsfor future researchesaimingtoimprovetheroleofgraftinginvegetablecropsgrownundersalineconditions

Tomato fruit quality in relation to water and carbon fluxes

This review is about the involvement of the water and carbon fluxes in the formation of tomato fruit quality. This approach has provided new insights that help in understanding and controlling some of the major variables of fruit quality. Variations in the concentration of dry matter and sugars have been coupled with the conditions of climate and root medium: these concentrations increase under high radiation, high vapour pressure deficit (VPD) or high nutrient concentration. Dry matter and sugar concentrations would not be affected by the availability of assimilates (CO$_2$ concentration or fruit load). Such increases in dry matter or sugar concentration could be associated with variations in the balance between water and assimilate influx to the fruit i.e. between the fluxes of the phloem and xylem saps and of fruit transpiration. Similarly, the observed relation between the occurrence of blossom-end rot (BER) and conditions of osmotic or water stress can be explained by variations of Ca transport to the fruit by the xylem influx. Fruit cracking could be related to high variations in fruit growth and water influx under changing conditions of temperature or VPD. In contrast, acids and products of the secondary metabolism that are synthesised during the maturation stages could not be linked to the water and carbon fluxes between the plant and the fruit.Qualité du fruit de tomate en relation avec les flux d'eau et de carbone. Cette synthèse s'intéresse aux rôles des flux d'eau et de carbone dans la formation de la qualité du fruit de tomate. L'approche considérée a donné de nouveaux aperçus qui permettent de mieux comprendre et contrôler des variables majeures de la qualité du fruit. Les variations de concentration en matière sèche et en sucres ont été mises en relation avec les conditions climatiques et le milieu racinaire : ces concentrations augmentent sous fort rayonnement, fort déficit de pression de vapeur (DPV) ou en présence de fortes concentrations en minéraux. Les concentrations en matière sèche et en sucres ne seraient pas affectées par la disponibilité en assimilats (liée par exemple à la concentration en CO$_2$ ou la charge en fruits). De telles augmentations des concentrations en matière sèche et en sucres ont pu être associées à des variations de l'équilibre entre les entrées d'eau et d'assimilats dans le fruit, c'est-à-dire entre les flux de sève phloémienne et xylémienne et la transpiration. De la même manière, la relation observée entre l'apparition de la nécrose apicale ou blossom-end rot (BER) et les conditions de stress osmotique ou hydrique peut être expliquée par des variations de l'apport de calcium dans le fruit par le flux xylémien. Les craquelures du fruit seraient liées à des variations importantes de la croissance du fruit et de l'entrée d'eau sous des conditions variables de température et de DPV. Par contre, les acides et les produits du métabolisme secondaire qui sont synthétisés pendant la phase de maturation, n'ont pas pu être reliés aux flux d'eau et de carbone entre la plante et le fruit

Shelf-Life of Bunched Carrots as Affected by Nitrogen Fertilization and Leaf Presence

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is essential for adequate earliness and the commercial attractiveness of carrots, but its excess could generate fast decay during postharvest, mostly in bunched carrots exhibiting their highly perishable leaves. A field experiment was conducted over the 2016–2017 growing season to address the effects of two N fertilization rates (120 and 240 kg N ha−1, hereafter N120 and N240, respectively) and leaf presence/absence (leaf+ and leaf−) on physicochemical and compositional traits of carrots cv. ‘Dordogne’, after storage at 4.0 ± 0.5 °C, 95–96% relative humidity (RH) for 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 days (hereafter S0–S24). Before storage, carrots were arranged in bunches and packaged in common low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pouches (thickness 95 μm), 54 × 24 cm size, with 16 holes of 5 mm size. N240 carrots compared to N120 showed higher cumulative weight loss (CWL) and firmness reduction, with differences at S24 equal to 108 vs. 41 g kg−1 fresh weight (FW) and 13.3 vs. 14.5 N, respectively. N240 compared to N120 increased also the color deviation (ΔE*ab, +126%) and nitrates content (+93%) of carrots and slowed down their temporal increase of total polyphenols and antioxidant activity. Leaf+ carrots compared to leaf boosted CWL and firmness reduction, with differences at S24 equal to 90 vs. 58 g kg−1 FW and 12 vs. 17 N, respectively. In addition, leaf presence increased reducing sugars (+17%) and decreased nitrates (−24%) contents. This research has shown the possibility of improving the desirable quality and shelf-life of carrots by halving the N dose commonly supplied by growers and marketing bunched carrots within 12 days from the start of storage

Is the vigour of grafted tomato plants related to root characteristics?

WOS: 000272054400071This research was carried out to assess the effects of root characteristics on vigour of grafted tomato plants. The trial was carried out in a cold greenhouse during spring seasons. Tomato plants (cv. Durinta F-1) were grafted on three rootstocks (Beaufort, Heman and itself) and grown in two different pot sizes (5 and 10 L per plant). At the full ripening stage of the 1(st) truss, dry matter production, leaf area, scion and rootstock diameter, transpiration and root length were measured. Root density, distribution and substrate exploitation were measured only in plants in the 5 L pot size at three depths. To evaluate hair root characteristics (root diameter, number and length of root hair), plants were transplanted and grown in water culture (15 L pots) in order to avoid any damage determined by separation of the root sample from the substrate. The plants grafted on Beaufort produced 9.8% more epigeous dry matter than those grafted on Heman and no differences were observed in both rootstocks compared to the control. The mean density of roots was higher in both grafted plants (+25.3% in the mean of rootstocks) with respect to the self-grafted one. The roots of self-grafted plants were about 18% shorter than the other rootstocks when cultivated in 5 L pots. This difference was reduced when the plants were cultivated in the 10 L pot volume. No significant differences were found in root diameter and root hair length whereas Beaufort gave the highest number of root hairs (45% and 71% higher than Heman and Durinta, respectively). Grafted tomato grown under optimal conditions of soilless cultivation showed only slight differences due to the genotype of rootstock in spite of differences in root characteristics.Ministero Italiano dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita a della RicercaResearch Supported by the Ministero Italiano dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita a della Ricerca (Progetto PRIN 2007; coordinatore Prof C. Leonardi)

Arsenic accumulation in grafted melon plants: Role of rootstock in modulating root-to-shoot translocation and physiological response

The bio-agronomical response, along with the arsenic (As) translocation and partitioning were investigated in self-grafted melon ′’Proteo′’, or grafted onto three interspecific (’‘RS841′’, ‘‘Shintoza′’, and ′’Strong Tosa′’) and two intraspecific hybrids (′’Dinero′’ and ′’Magnus′’). Plants were grown in a soilless system and exposed to two As concentrations in the nutrient solution (0.002 and 3.80 mg L−1, referred to as As− and As+) for 30 days. The As+ treatment lowered the aboveground dry biomass (−8%, on average), but the grafting combinations differed in terms of photosynthetic response. As regards the metalloid absorption, the rootstocks revealed a different tendency to uptake As into the root, where its concentration varied from 1633.57 to 369.10 mg kg−1 DW in ′’Magnus′’ and ‘‘RS841′’, respectively. The high bioaccumulation factors in root (ranging from 97.13 to 429.89) and the low translocation factors in shoot (from 0.015 to 0.071) and pulp (from 0.002 to 0.008) under As+, showed a high As mobility in the substrate–plant system, and a lower mobility inside the plants. This tendency was higher in the intraspecific rootstocks. Nonetheless, the interspecific ‘‘RS841′’ proved to be the best rootstock in maximizing yield and minimizing, at the same time, the As concentration into the fruit