Incidencia de alteraciones fisiológicas en postcosecha en cítricos ecológicos y convencionales

Las prácticas abusivas de fertilización química, en concreto la nitrogenada, repercuten directamente sobre la calidad de las frutas y verduras, provocando la disminución de la cantidad de materia seca del alimento, porque éste asimila más agua, siendo el exceso de agua en el producto uno de los factores de más repercusión sobre la conservación de estos alimentos en postcosecha, debido a la mayor facilidad de pudrición que presentan. Este trabajo pretende llevar a cabo un estudio sobre el efecto que los distintos métodos de producción (ecológica y convencional) tienen sobre la incidencia, en el desarrollo de determinadas alteraciones durante el período de postcosecha de frutos cítricos. Para ello se controló la aparición y evolución de las alteraciones fisiológicas de los frutos cítricos de las variedades Navelina y Newhall, durante 10 semanas, analizando la repercusión sobre la calidad en la conservación de los frutos. Los resultados indican que, por término medio, los frutos cítricos ecológicos son más resistentes a la incidencia de alteraciones durante el período de postcosecha

La calidad de los frutos cítricos de producción ecológica

El valor nutricional de los frutos cítricos es una característica diferencial para valorar los alimentos obtenidos de producción agroecológica e incide de manera directa en la salud. En este trabajo se evalúa la calidad intrínseca y nutricional de dos variedades de cítricos, Navelina y Clemenules, en función del sistema productivo (ecológico y convencional) y de la parte del fruto (zumo o fracción comestible de fruta fresca). Los sistemas agroecológicos producen frutos cítricos altamente competitivos por su calibre, diferenciándose positivamente algunos atributos organolépticos, como el índice de color. La fracción de zumo y pulpa es superior en los cítricos de procedencia agroecológica, y sus jugos presentan mayor fracción en sólidos solubles y por tanto un mayor equilibrio en la madurez. Los niveles en vitamina C son superiores en los frutos de producción ecológica, con mayor incidencia para Navelina. La densidad nutritiva es mayor en los cítricos ecológicos y la repercusión en el gasto alimentario menor

Efecto de cubiertas vegetales permanentes en la fertilidad del cultivo de cítricos ecológicos

Se han estudiado diferentes cubiertas vegetales permanentes en mandarinos ecológicos y convencionales de Alzira, en suelo arenoso, para comprobar su comportamiento fertilizante y su crecimiento. En plantación joven, con aspersión, se sembró alfalfa (Medicago sativa), sola y junto a ray-grass inglés (Lolium perenne), trévoles (Trifolium subterraneum+T. repens) y mielgas (Medicago rugosa+M. truncatula+M. polymorpha). En Clemenules adultos a goteo se estudiaron las silvestres en la conducción ecológica, y el no laboreo con herbicidas en la convencional. La evolución muestra como trévoles y mielgas degeraron muy deprisa, dando paso a silvestres (grama -Cynodon dactylon- en verano, y Bromus spp. y otras en invierno), descartándolos como coberturas en estas condiciones. La alfalfa es la que mejor ha resistido la competencia de las hierbas en condiciones de insolación alta y aspersión. En biomasa y cobertura no se han encontrado diferencias entre alfalfa y grama, mientras que las demás eran menores, sobre todo en los adultos, por su sombreado

Diversity for chemical composition in a collection of different varietal types of tree tomato (Solanum betaceum Cav.), an Andean exotic fruit

[EN] We evaluated 23 tree tomato (Solanum betaceum) accessions from five cultivar groups and one wild relative (Solanum cajanumense) for 26 composition traits. For all traits we found highly significant differences (P < 0.001) among the materials studied. The high diversity found within S. betaceum for composition traits was matched by a high diversity within each of the cultivar groups. We found that sucrose and citric acid were the most important soluble sugar and organic acid, respectively, in tree tomato. Fruit in the anthocyanin pigmented (purple) group had a carotenoid content similar to that in the yellow-orange cultivar groups. Total phenolic content was significantly correlated (r = 0.8607) with antioxidant activity. Analyses of mineral content showed that tree tomato is a good source of K, Mg, and Cu. Multivariate principal components analysis (PCA) confirmed that an important diversity exists within each cultivar group. The results we have obtained indicate that the high diversity found within the tree tomato could be exploited for selection and breeding for developing the tree tomato as a commercial crop. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work was partially financed by the Ecuadorian Secretaria Nacional de Educacion Superior, Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion from Ecuador (SENESCYT).Acosta-Quezada, P.; Raigón Jiménez, MD.; Riofrío-Cuenca, T.; García Martínez, MD.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Burneo, J.; Figueroa, JG.... (2015). Diversity for chemical composition in a collection of different varietal types of tree tomato (Solanum betaceum Cav.), an Andean exotic fruit. Food Chemistry. 169:327-335. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.07.152S32733516

Phenolics content, fruit flesh colour and browning in cultivated eggplant, wild relatives and interspecific hybrids and implications for fruit quality breeding

[EN] Increasing the content in bioactive phenolics in the eggplant (Satanum melongena) fruit is of interest, but may result in enhanced browning. We evaluated six varieties of S. melongena, 22 accessions of wild related species and 42 interspecific hybrids between cultivated eggplant and wild relatives for phenolics content, fruit flesh colour, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, and fruit flesh browning. Wild relatives generally had a higher content in phenolics and a broader range of variation than cultivated eggplant. Chlorogenic acid was the predominant ( > 65.0%) phenolic acid in cultivated eggplant and its primary genepool wild ancestor S. insanum, while for the other wild species on average represented < 50% of the chromatogram peak area. Fruit flesh colour was lighter in S. melongena than in the wild species, while PPO activity and browning was much higher in wild species of the secondary and tertiary genepools. Interspecific hybrids between S. melongena and S. insanum were intermediate in their characteristics, while those with secondary and tertiary genepool species were more similar to the wild species. No significant correlations were found between total phenolics or chlorogenic acid contents and fruit flesh browning, but PPO activity was correlated to both the degree of browning (r = 0.404) and colour difference (r = 0.458). The results indicate that wild species can contribute to improving the bioactive properties of eggplant without affecting negatively fruit flesh colour and browning.This work has been funded in part by the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway (GS13044 and GS17011). This project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information see the project website: http://www.cwrdiversity.org/. Funding has also been received from the European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement No 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops) and from Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755-R from MINECO/FEDER). Prashant Kaushik is grateful to ICAR for a pre-doctoral grant. Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a pre-doctoral (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call) contract.Kaushik, P.; Gramazio, P.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Raigón Jiménez, MD.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO. (2017). Phenolics content, fruit flesh colour and browning in cultivated eggplant, wild relatives and interspecific hybrids and implications for fruit quality breeding. Food Research International. 102:392-401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.09.028S39240110

Diversity for olive oil composition in a collection of varieties from the region of Valencia (Spain)

Olive (Olea europaea) has a long history of cultivation in the Mediterranean region of Valencia (Spain) and many local varieties exist in the area. According to their economic importance, varieties are classified as National, Principal, Secondary, Local, Disseminate, and Minor. We have evaluated during four seasons the olive paste moisture content, fat content, and olive yield, and the olive oil acidity, peroxide index, K232 and K270 parameters, total phenolics, K225 parameter, and fatty acids content in 45 varieties from the Collection of Olive Varieties from the Region of Valencia. Considerable diversity existed among varieties for all traits studied, and the variety effect was much greater than the season effect. Wide ranges of variation have been found for most traits, with differences among varieties being of more than 10-fold for total phenolics. The coefficient of genetic variation and heritability values have been generally high, in particular for fatty acids content. A few varieties were found to present values outside the ranges established in the regulations for several olive oil composition traits, although in some cases, like a variety with above the limit content of oleic acid, they are of interest for breeding. Several correlations were found to be significant between the K232 index and fatty acids profile, in particular with oleic acid. The values obtained for variety averages as well as the principal components analysis show that economically relevant varieties present a lower diversity for composition than varieties with low economic importance. In this respect, selection among traditional materials can be of interest to recover neglected varieties with specific composition profiles, as well as to identify sources of variation for breeding programmes. Discriminant analysis allowed a correct classification of 99.4% of samples, showing that composition profiles, in particular fatty acids content, is a powerful tool for chemometry and fingerprinting of olive oil. Overall, the results show that the wide diversity found in the collection studied, in particular in the less economically important varieties, is of interest for the selection and breeding of olive varieties with improved quality.Authors are grateful to Sergio Paz (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Moncada, Spain) for his technical help, and also to the Laboratorio Agroalimentario de la Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca, Alimentacion y Agua of the Generalitat Valenciana for the providing the facilities and funds for this research.Ruiz Dominguez, ML.; Raigón Jiménez, MD.; Prohens Tomás, J. (2013). Diversity for olive oil composition in a collection of varieties from the region of Valencia (Spain). Food Research International. 54(2):1941-1949. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2013.06.023S1941194954

Breeding Vegetables with Improved Bioactive Properties

[EN] Vegetable crops contain significant amounts of many bioactive compounds which prevent and/or protect against chronic diseases. Consumers increasingly demand vegetables with improved bioactive properties and this is stimulating the development of new cultivars with enhanced content in bioactive compounds. Generally, breeding programmes of specific crops are aimed at increasing the most relevant bioactive compounds of each crop. The success of these breeding programmes depends on the availability of sources of variation for bioactive compounds. Traditional varieties and wild relatives collections are generally very variable for these compounds and in many cases it is possible to identify sources of variation of great interest among these materials. There are several breeding strategies for improving the content in bioactive compounds, including conventional strategies based on phenotyping, as well as modern strategies that rely on marker assisted selection or genetic transformation. Breeding for the enhancement of bioactive compounds may affect vegetables in a positive (e.g., extended shelflife)or negative (e.g., browning, bitterness) way other relevant traits for the success of a cultivar. The negative side effects may be circumvented by using complementary breeding strategies aimed at reducing or removing the negative impact on the characteristics and performance of a new cultivar. In summary, breeding can contribute to the development of a new generation of vegetable crops with enhanced bioactive properties and therefore to the development of the horticultural sector.This project has been funded by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad grant AGL2012-34213 and by Conselleria d’Educació i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana (grant ACOMP/2014/191). Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politècnica de Valencia for a predoctoral fellowshipPlazas Ávila, MDLO.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Andújar, I.; Gramazio, P.; Herraiz García, FJ.; Raigón Jiménez, MD.; Soler Aleixandre, S.... (2014). Breeding Vegetables with Improved Bioactive Properties. Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca : Horticulture. 71(2):165-172. https://doi.org/10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:10295S16517271

Establecimiento del tamaño de raciones de consumo de frutas y hortalizas para su uso en guías alimentarias en el entorno español: propuesta del Comité Científico de la Asociación 5 al día

Introduction: Food servings are standard amounts of food stuffs or drinks to help dietetic advice to promote and preserve health. The aim is to establish the serving size of fruits and vegetables (FH) to be used in food based dietary guidelines (FBDG). Material and Methods: Methodology of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was adapted to establish serving sizes for FBDG, along of the followed by the food exchange system. Data was collected from the FH portion sizes reported in nutritional surveys and common sizes available in the Spanish market, and they were adjusted to an easily recognisable quantities of food with equivalence on key nutrients: the compliance with public health goals for FH consumption was evaluated. Results: Portion sizes typically reported in Spanish nutrition surveys are scarce and not homogeneous, and no data published in scientific journals on portion sizes were available. The Spanish FBDG, in spite of showing a range of serving size for FH, do not assure that they are interchangeable nor specify the method to obtein them.The serving of vegetables was 139,44g (DS:+/- 21.98, CV:0.16), 137,68g (DS:+/- 49,61, CV:0,36) for fruits and 28.00g (DS:+/- 7,53, CV:0.27) for dried fruits. Conclusions: With the established servings, the recommendation of consuming "at least 5 servings of FH a day" would allow reaching the Public Health goals for FH established in 600g (net weight)/person/day. It is recommended that the Spanish Agency for Consumers, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) uses this methodology to establish serving sizes for the rest of food groups that make up the FBDG for the Spanish population.Introducción: Las raciones de consumo son cantidades estándar de alimentos o bebidas sugeri-das para asesorar sobre la cantidad de alimento a consumir para preservar un estado de salud adecuado. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es establecer los tamaños de ración de consumo de frutas y hortalizas (FH) para uso en guías alimentarias.Material y Métodos: Se adaptó la metodología de la United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) para el establecimiento de los tamaños de ración de consumo para guías, y la del Sistema de Intercambios. Se recopilaron datos de porción reportados en encuestas y calibres comunes en el mercado, se ajustó a cantidades de alimento fácilmente reconocibles y con equivalencia de nutrientes clave y se evaluó el grado de cumplimiento de los objetivos de salud pública para el consumo de FH. Resultados: Los tamaños de porción típicamente reportados en encuestas españolas son escasos y poco homogéneos, y no se encontraron datos publicados en revistas científicas sobre los cali-bres. Las guías alimentarias españolas, a pesar de mostrar un rango de tamaño de ración para FH no aseguran que sean intercambiables ni especifican el método para llegar a las mismas. La ración de hortalizas obtenida ha sido de 139,44g (DS:±21,98; CV:0,16), de 137,68g (DS:±49,61; CV:0,36) para frutas y 28,00g (DS:±7,53; CV:0,27) para frutas desecadas. . Conclusiones: Con las raciones establecidas, el mensaje “consume al menos 5 raciones entre FH al día” permitiría alcanzar los objetivo de Salud Pública para FH establecidos en 600g (peso neto)/persona/día. Se recomienda a la Agencia Española de Consumo, Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AECOSAN) que use esta misma metodología para el establecimiento de raciones en el resto de grupos de alimentos que configuran la Guía Dietética Basada en Alimentos para la población española