A cultura do lúpulo em Bragança. Aspetos agronómicos inovadores e potencial e expansão

O lúpulo foi uma cultura de elevada importância na economia Nacional, apesar de a produção estar restringida a duas pequenas zonas de cultivo no norte de Portugal. Na década de 1970, a produção chegou a ultrapassar as necessidades da indústria cervejeira Nacional, tendo-se exportado lúpulo. Razões de conjuntura internacional desfavoráveis e um sistema produtivo que terá demorado a adaptar-se às novas exigências dos mercados nacional e internacional conduziram a cultura a uma importância económica residual. No presente cultiva-se lúpulo em duas explorações, num total de 12 ha. No entanto, Portugal tem boas condições ecológicas para produzir lúpulo. Se for possível restruturar o setor e lançá-lo em bases tecnológicas mais competitivas, é possível voltar a ter um setor florescente em Portugal. Seria também importante intervir já, enquanto os dois produtores atuais pudessem partilhar os seus conhecimentos com novos produtores. Perdida esta fonte de conhecimento, a ilusão de voltar a haver em Portugal produção significativa de lúpulo reduz-se grandemente. Neste trabalho discutem-se alguns aspetos da adaptação ecológica do lúpulo à região norte de Portugal, avalia-se o potencial de expansão de cultura e os constrangimentos e lançam-se algumas ideias base sobre as quais deveria estar suportado o “novo” setor do lúpulo em Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O lúpulo: da cultura ao extrato. Técnica cultural tradicional

Este trabalho consiste numa breve revisão sobre a cultura do lúpulo em Portugal, com incidência na técnica cultural tradicional. Faz-se um breve apontamento histórico sobre a cultura do lúpulo, em particular do desenvolvimento inicial da cultura em Portugal. Segue-se uma descrição sumária dos principais aspetos botânicos da planta e da sua adaptação ecológica. Na descrição da técnica cultural tentam destacar-se aspetos importantes como instalação da cultura, fertilização, poda, rega, proteção sanitária e colheita.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Macrozonagem da Aptidão do Solo para a Cultura do Lúpulo no Distrito de Bragança

Existem em Portugal excelentes condições para o lúpulo, cuja cultura já teve uma dimensão importante nas regiões de Bragança e Braga. À presente data restam apenas cerca de 12 hectares pertencentes a 2 produtores de Bragança. O abandono desta cultura acompanhou o gradual abandono doutros sistemas tradicionais de agricultura, como os terrenos de regadio e pastagens permanentes. No contexto actual, podem existir possibilidades favoráveis para o regresso da cultura do lúpulo. Neste trabalho fez-se inicialmente uma revisão sobre os aspectos culturais do lúpulo e da sua adaptação ecológica. Foram consideradas as possibilidades de modernização desta cultura – instalação, fertilização, poda, rega, protecção sanitária e colheita, que permitam considerar o alargamento para outras áreas potenciais além das outrora ocupadas com lúpulo. Considerando as exigências edafoclimáticas desta cultura modelou-se a informação geográfica digital disponível através de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) e pesquisaram-se as áreas de Bragança potencialmente mais favoráveis para a instalação do lúpulo. O conhecimento que venha a adquirir-se futuramente acerca da cultura do lúpulo na região poderá refinar esta análise. Foi produzida uma simulação da aptidão de uso do solo para a cultura do lúpulo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hop dry matter yield and cone quality responses to amino acid and potassium-rich foliar spray applications

The use of amino acid and K-rich foliar sprays was evaluated in a commercial hop field in North-eastern Portugal. Four applications of an amino acid-rich foliar spray were performed in place of a second side dress N application of “70 kg N ha−1, which is usually applied by the farmer. The K-rich foliar spray was applied once at the cone developing stage as a supplement to the farmer’s fertilization plan. The amino acid-enriched foliar spray maintained crop dry matter yield at the levels of the control treatment and increased cone alpha-acids concentration (41.8% in 2018 and 9.3% in 2019). Foliar K did not increase cone dry matter yield, cone size or bitter acid concentration. Tissue K concentration was not significantly affected by foliar treatments whereas the application of K seemed to increase N uptake, with leaves and stems being the predominant allocation tissues. Both foliar treatments increased leaf and stem Mg concentrations. The results seem to emphasize the importance of amino acids in the biosynthesis of bitter acids, while K and Zn seemed to play an important secondary role, maybe related to N metabolism and its reduction into amino acids. The concentrations of total phenols in cones and leaves were lower in the foliar treatments in comparison to the control, and the higher values registered in leaves. In this study, the use of amino acids as a foliar spray provided an interesting result, since they maintained cone dry matter yield and increased cone bitter acid concentration with reduced N use.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2020) and Sandra Afonso doctoral scholarships (BD/116593/2016).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Strawberry-tree, blackthorn and rose fruits: detailed characterization in nutrients and phytochemicals with antioxidant properties

The chemical composition and biological properties of three wild fruits (strawberry-tree berries, sloes and dog rose hips) were evaluated, in order to valorise these products as sources of nutrients and nutraceuticals. The analysed fruits contain very useful bioactive phytochemicals such as phenolics, vitamins (ascorbic acid and tocopherols) and carotenoids. All the samples proved to have antioxidant activity (measured by four different in vitro assays) being more significant for rose fruits (EC50 values lower than 90 lg/ml). The combination of bioactive compounds and rich nutritional composition (high contents in carbohydrates, low contents in fat with the precious contribution of polyunsaturated fatty acids, precursors of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids) of the studied wild fruits make them a very special food

An electronic tongue for juice level evaluation in non-alcoholic beverages

An electronic tongue with 36 cross-sensibility polymeric membranes was built and used for semi-quantitative analysis of beverages. The objective was to differentiate 4 non-alcoholic beverage groups with different added fruit juice contents: higher than 30%, between 14%-30%, 5%-10% and 0.1%-2%. A set of 16 Portuguese beverages (4 for each group), purchased in commercial supermarkets, was analyzed and the respective signal profiles recorded by the electronic tongue device. The data obtained were treated by stepwise linear discriminant analysis, allowing a 100% overall correct classification for the original grouped cases and a 93.8% for the “leaving one-out” cross-validation procedur

An electronic tongue for beer differentiation

In this work an electronic tongue, based on a potentiometric solid-state mufti-sensor array, with 36 polymeric membranes, was built for developing an analytical tool to apply in process monitoring and quality control. As a first approach, this tool was applied together with a supervised pattern recognition tool to semi-quantitatively differentiate beers with different alcoholic levels

Tradifional caffle feeding stuffs: fatty acid profile

Dietary pollunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are perceived to be healthier ïhan sat$ated fatfy acids. Therefore, in order ïo be able to manipulate the faÍty acid prolìle ofmeat and/or miik, to respond to the consumer demands. knorvledge of the fatty acid profile of feeding sfuffs for cattle is of major imponance (LeDoux et al., 20A2', Petit, 2002). In this *'ork a preliminary study viâs made of the fat4" acid profile of the corv's diet in a traditional farm production system

Hop bioactive compounds: spontaneous vs commercial varieties

Humulus lupulus L. is a species belonging to the Cannabaceae family. Hop, as it is commonly known, is a perennial, dioecious and normally diploid (2n = 20) herbaceous plant. It is in beer production that hops have their greatest economic value at the international level. In addition, Hops contain compounds that confer sedative, diuretic anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic properties. In fact, the ethnobotanical uses of the dried flowers in pillows called "hop pads" have been used to combat insomnia while the dried and green hop inflorescences , were used in the Montesinho park area to treat urinary and digestive disorders. Since the middle Ages, it was used in infusions as a tonic; it was considered a medicinal herb. Since there is spontaneous hops in a large part of Portugal, the collection and analysis of the aromas the α and β-acids component, and phenols of these hops may lead to the development of new and more fragrances, with interest in different areas, like beer production or cosmetics. The volatile components extracted from spontaneous hops collected in the Bragança area were analyzed and compared with those of commercial varieties. The results obtained show a certain similarity in the monoterpene component, with β-myrcene as the major compound (more than 64% in cultivar and spontaneous samples) and notorious differences in the sesquiterpene component, evident in cases of α-humulene (12% in cultivars, 0.2% and in spontaneous) and trans-β-farnesene (not detected in cultivars, 9% in spontaneous). Also important is the richness of the sesquiterpene component in spontaneous clone, in particular in the oxygenated compounds. This profile, of both cultivar and spontaneous, shows potential for antimicrobial effects in the digestive tract, especially when these are associated with bacteria Helicobacter pylori, which will be in agreement with ethnobotanical uses of Hop. The higher values, in the cultivars, of the α and β-acids component is expected since the Nugget cultivar is characterized by a bitter taste, due to acids, whereas the aroma cultivars, which are more required by the artisan brewers, are valued for their richness in aromas (essential oils), the richness of the spontaneous in trans-β-farnesene being determinant to the stability of the beer, or used in cosmetic products.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rendimiento e calidad del lúpulo en respuesta a pulverizaciones foliares ricas en aminoácidos y potássio

Se evaluó el uso de fertilizantes foliares ricos en aminoácidos y potasio (K) en un campo comercial de lúpulo en el noreste de Portugal. Se realizaron cuatro aplicaciones de una aspersión foliar rica en aminoácidos en lugar de una segunda aplicación de N ao suelo de 70 kg ha-1, generalmente aplicada por el agricultor. La aspersión foliar rica en K se aplicó una vez en la etapa de desarrollo del cono como complemento del plan de fertilización del agricultor. La aspersión foliar enriquecida con aminoácidos mantuvo lo rendimiento del cultivo a los niveles del tratamiento de control y aumentó la concentración de ácidos alfa (ácidos α) de los conos (41,8% en 2018 y 9,3% en 2019). El K foliar no aumentó la producción de materia seca del cono, el tamaño del cono o la concentración de los compuestos amargos. La concentración de K tisular no se vio afectada significativamente por los tratamientos foliares, mientras que la aplicación de K pareció aumentar la absorción de N, siendo las hojas y los tallos los tejidos de asignación predominantes. Ambos tratamientos foliares aumentaron las concentraciones de magnesio (Mg) en hojas y tallos. Los resultados parecen enfatizar la importancia de los aminoácidos en la biosíntesis de los compuestos amargos, mientras que el K y el zinc (Zn) parecen tener un papel secundario importante, quizás relacionado con el metabolismo del nitrógeno (N) y su reducción a aminoácidos. Las concentraciones de fenoles totales en conos y hojas fueron menores en los tratamientos foliares en comparación con el control, y los valores más altos se registraron en hojas. En este estudio, el uso de aminoácidos como aspersión foliar proporcionó un resultado interesante, ya que mantuvieron el rendimiento del cono y aumentaron la concentración de compuestos amargos del cono con un uso reducido de N.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2015) and scholarship grant of Sandra Afonso (number BD/116593/2016) under the Programme PT2020 (UID/AGR/00690/2019)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio