Sweet Potato Is Not Simply an Abundant Food Crop: A Comprehensive Review of Its Phytochemical Constituents, Biological Activities, and the Effects of Processing

Nowadays, sweet potato (Ipomoea batata L.; Lam.) is considered a very interesting nutritive food because it is rich in complex carbohydrates, but as a tubercle, contains high amounts of healthpromoting secondary metabolites. The aim of this review is to summarize the most recently published information on this root vegetable, focusing on its bioactive phytochemical constituents, potential effects on health, and the impact of processing technologies. Sweet potato is considered an excellent source of dietary carotenoids, and polysaccharides, whose health benefits include antioxidant, antiinflammatory and hepatoprotective activity, cardiovascular protection, anticancer properties and improvement in neurological and memory capacity, metabolic disorders, and intestinal barrier function. Moreover, the purple sweet potato, due to its high anthocyanin content, represents a unique food option for consumers, as well as a potential source of functional ingredients for healthy food products. In this context, the effects of commercial processing and domestic cooking techniques on sweet potato bioactive compounds require further study to understand how to minimize their loss

The Effects of Differentiated Organic Fertilization on Tomato Production and Phenolic Content in Traditional and High-Yielding Varieties

The challenge of sustainable agriculture is to increase yields and obtain higher quality products. Increased antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols in harvest products may be an added value for sustainable agriculture. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether three organic fertilization treatments with different levels of carbon and nitrogen, i.e., N-rich, N-rich+C, and N-poor+C, affected the phenolic content of different tomato varieties. The examined parameters were productivity, plant nutritional status, δ13C, and tomato phenolic content as an indication of the antioxidant capacity. The best production was obtained with 'Cornabel', a high-yielding Pebroter variety. The total phenolic content was highest in the traditional 'Cuban Pepper' variety regardless of treatment, while naringenin levels were high in all the Pebroter varieties. In N-poor+C fertilized plants, a lower N-NO3 content in leaves was correlated with higher levels of total polyphenols in the fruit. The high-water stress suffered by Montserrat varieties coincided with a low total phenolic content in the tomatoes. In conclusion, organic fertilization with reduced N did not influence the tomato yield but positively affected phenolic compound levels in varieties less sensitive to water stress

Aplicación de la biotecnología en cítricos para el desarrollo de plantas libres de patógenos en Paraguay

The objective of this work was to review the status of citrus in Paraguay and to evaluate the biotechnological strategies applied to obtain plants free of pathogens. There are two main research centers in Paraguay: The Paraguayan Institute of Agrarian Technology (IPTA) and the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences of the National University of Asuncion (UNA), through which the main diseases are reported. These include psorosis, cancrosis, the citrus sadness virus (CTV) and the Huanglongbing virus (HLB). Through the Citrus Improvement Program, disease-free plants have been obtained by applying biotechnological techniques, mainly the in vitro shoot apex micrografting, which allows the development of a more efficient and productive citrus crop, in short periods of time compared with the conventional techniques.El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo realizar una revisión acerca del estado de la citricultura en Paraguay y evaluar cuáles son las estrategias biotecnológicas que se aplican para la obtención de plantas libres de patógenos. En Paraguay, existen dos centros principales de investigación, el Instituto Paraguayo de Tecnología Agraria (IPTA) y la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA), a través de los cuales se da a conocer las principales enfermedades, la psorosis, cancrosis, el virus de la tristeza de los cítricos (CTV) y el Huanglongbing (HLB). A través del Programa de Mejoramiento Cítrico se han obtenido plantas libres de enfermedades mediante la aplicación de técnicas biotecnológicas principalmente el microinjerto de ápices caulinares in vitro, que permite el desarrollo de una citricultura más eficiente y productiva, en períodos de tiempo cortos comparado con las técnicas convencionales