Sustainable Tourism in Campania Region: Statistical Analysis and Metrics for the Development of Tourist Destinations

This paper deals with the issue of the sustainable tourism in Campania region and its touristic offer in the four territorial clusters: art cities, marine, thermal and hilly locations. In the paper it is pointed out that the way the regional authorities incentivize or assist touristic firms to diversify into tourism may have implications for sustainability. In this work we measured the potential of tourism by the aggregation of 11 indicators. In this study was estimated by the Global Tourism Index (G) for the region and for the four territorial areas (cluster), obtained from the combination of structural variables (number of accommodation facilities and of beds) and of flows (arrivals and presences) registered in Campania tourism. Finally, some emerging territorial strategies are proposed for the integrated development of a tourist system in the Campania Region. That is, the tourist destinations and the territorial brand. The final aim of this research is to develop and test a new Global Index for evaluating the sustainable development in tourism industry context to address the integration of social, economic, and ecological elements of sustainable development

Kiwifruit under plastic covering: impact on fruit quality and on orchard microclimate

Italy has a preeminent rank in kiwifruit industry, being the first exporter and the second largest producer after China. However, in the last few years kiwifruit yields and the total cultivated area considerably decreased, due to the disease spread of the bacterial canker caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). Bacterial canker has affected significantly orchards productivity and consequently has caused severe economic losses in all major areas of kiwifruit cultivation, including Italy,and considerable damage to the international kiwifruit industry.Several climatic conditions and cultural practices affect the development of the bacterial canker.Orchard hygiene, restrictions on the movement of nursery plants, orchard management and cultural practices, chemical and biological controls and breeding programs are being employed to limit the diffusion of the disease and help kiwifruit orchards to survive and produce. A possible way seems to be the modification of environmental conditions and it is being explored through the building of plastic covers over the orchards. This research work is focused on the impact of plastic cover on fruit quality, microclimate conditions and incidence of Psa. To evaluate the impact of plastic cover on microclimate, quality of fruits and disease incidence the following parameters were evaluated: climatic parameters (temperature, PAR), quality parameters (color, fruit firmness, titratable acidity, °Brix, vitamin C), disease incidence (%).  The use of a permanenttunnel modify light intensity and microclimate without any negative consequences on kiwifruits quality. Covering a kiwifruit orchard with a protective canopy reduces the spread of Psa throughout the orchard when covers are constructed over vines with low levels of infection.The use of plastic covers ensure the production of the current and future kiwifruit without compromising the quality of the fruit, but future trials will provide further information clarifying the effectiveness of the actual crop covers

The efficacy of different postharvest treatments on physico-chemical characteristics, bioactive components and microbiological quality of fresh blueberries during storage period

In recent years, there is increasing consumption and interest in berry fruits in general and blueberries in particular due to their nutritional and health characteristics. However, blueberries are highly susceptible to microbial contamination and loss of product quality. In this study, the effects of postharvest washing treatment and cold storage (15 days) on the quality of blueberries were examined. The blueberries were treated with mineral water, aqueous chlorine dioxide, electrolyzed water and Berry Very®, a new commercial product. During the storage, physicochemical and microbiological analysis were carried out in order to compare the efficacy of treatments. The results indicated that chlorine dioxide treatment and electrolyzed water had a positive effect on the reduction of yeast and mold proliferation, postharvest decay and weight loss