Reintroducing hemp cultivation in Mediterranean areas (DiverIMPACTS Practice Abstract)

Low-input cultivation of available hemp cultivars has shown the robustness of the crop in harsh Mediterranean agro-climatic conditions. In rainfed conditions the crop is well adapted as a succession to wheat or pulses. The crop shows limited fertilisation requirements (in succession to pulses it requires no fertilization; especially when production is targeting flowers and grains), good water stress resilience (except for when in the germination phase), the ability to improve soil structure and a significant weed suppression capacity persisting up to the subsequent crop in the rotation. More suitable varieties (Picture 2 shows a variety trial in a DiverIMPACTS farm), hemp-related know-how (especially relating to the harvesting and management of the crop) and harvesting machinery still need to be further developed in order to improve the quality and competitiveness of the hemp food chains

Improvement of Fatty Acid Profile in Durum Wheat Breads Supplemented with Portulaca oleracea L. Quality Traits of Purslane-Fortified Bread

The addition of functional ingredients to breads could have effects on preventing cardiovascular diseases, cancers and inflammation. The incorporation of 0–5–10–15% of three populations of dried purslane flour on the rheological, sensorial and nutritional quality of fortified durum wheat breads were evaluated. The increase in dried purslane (up to 15%) caused an increase in the resistance to the mixture and a consequent reduction in its extensibility. The “panel test” gave a largely positive evaluation in 10% of enrichment. The fatty acids in breads resulted higher with the 5% substitution. Contrary to what has been imagined, the increase in percentage of substitution to 10 and 15% did not lead to an increase in linoleic (omega-3) and α-linolenic (omega-6) acid and probably the cause is in the cooking. The total phenols content and the antioxidant potential, evaluated by ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) and 2,20 -azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays of the enriched breads increased with the percentage of the dry purslane substitution. The enrichment of the durum wheat flour with 5% purslane resulted in a good compromise to obtain good rheological characteristics of loaves and breads with decreased omega-6/omega-3 ratio and good antioxidant properties

A Comparative Assessment of Agronomic and Baking Qualities of Modern/Old Varieties and Landraces of Wheat Grown in Calabria (Italy)

The cultivation of wheat has been part of the evolution of human civilisation since ancient times. Wheat breeding has modified some of its characteristics to obtain improved varieties with high production potential that better meet the demands of the bread and pasta industry. Even today, there are still old varieties, landraces, adapted to particular environments. They are still cultivated in some areas because of the interest shown by the market in typical bakery products expressing the cultural heritage of local communities. The aim of this work was to evaluate the bio-agronomic and bakery characteristics of four modern genotypes, one old cultivar and two landraces of wheat typically grown in Calabria (Southern Italy). The experiment was carried out over two years in two different locations, during which the main bio-agronomic and quality traits related to bread making aptitude were detected. A marked difference was found between the landraces and the other genotypes in both agronomic and technological characteristics. Despite the higher protein and gluten content, landraces were found to have a significantly lower gluten index

Rheological and nutritional profile of spaghetti and bread fortified with hemp flours

In recent years, the demands of food consumers have changed considerably. Food today is not only intended to satisfy hunger and provide the necessary nutrients, but also to prevent food-related diseases and improve the physical and mental well-being of consumers. Functional foods are formulated to contain healthy components, which when consumed daily as part of the diet, can have beneficial health effects. Cereal-based products, especially pasta and bread, are well suited for adding nutrients. Both bread and pasta, traditionally produced using durum wheat flour, can be prepared also using "non-wheat flours" in variable percentages or by incorporating food by-products, capable of increasing their nutritional value [1]. Unfortunately, fortification often affects the quality of cereal-based products, in terms of texture, color, cooking quality and sensory properties. Therefore, one of the main challenges of the food industry is to increase the healthiness of foods without sacrificing sensory attributes. In this study the rheological and chemical qualities of spaghetti and bread samples were evaluated, obtained by using a durum wheat cultivar, called "Ciclope", fortified with different percentages of hemp flour, called "Futura 75". The hemp flours, obtained after grinding the seeds and the subsequent separation of the oil, were sieved at 0.530 mm (Hemp -1) and 0.236 mm (Hemp -2)

An Actor-Oriented Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework to Support a Transition towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems Based on Crop Diversification

International audienceSustainability 2020, 12, 5434 2 of 30 implemented crop diversification strategies. Key issues include trade-offs occurring between optimizing economic and environmental performance

Environmental effectiveness of GAEC cross-compliance standard 2.2 "Maintaining the level of soil organic matter through crop rotation" and economic evaluation of the competitiveness gap for farmers

Within the Project MO.NA.CO was evaluated the Environmental effectiveness of GAEC cross-compliance standard 2.2 “Maintaining the level of soil organic matter through crop rotation” and economic evaluation of the competitiveness gap for farmers who support or not the cross-compliance regime. The monitoring was performed in nine experimental farms of the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) distributed throughout Italy and with different soil and climatic conditions. Were also evaluated the soil organic matter and some yield parameters, in a cereal monocropping (treatment counterfactual) and a two-year rotation cereal-legume or forage (treatment factual). The two-years application of the standard “crop rotations” has produced contrasting results with regards to the storage of soil organic matter through crop rotation and these were not sufficient to demonstrate a statistically significant effect of treatment in any of the farms considered in monitoring, only in those farms subjected to more years of monitoring was recorded only a slight effect of the standard as a trend. The variations of organic matter in soils in response to changes in the culture technique or in the management of the soil may have long lag times and two years of time are not sufficient to demonstrate the dynamics of SOM associated with the treatment, also in consideration of the large inter annual variability recorded in different monitored sites