1,721,318 research outputs found
Cactus pear (O. ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) fruit production: Ecophysiology, orchard and fresh-cut fruit management
No full textCactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Mill.) is cultivated in wide range of
environments with the consequence of large differences in crop potential, orchard systems and management. These differences may be related to temperature and rainfall range (water availability) but also to the day/night length and, of course, to soil characteristics. This leads to considerable variability in the field and in fruit quality. Crop value much depends in crop variability in terms of fruit size, which is the major factor for fruit price in Europe. The increase of crop value very much depends on regular cultural practices such as irrigation and fruit thinning, but it is also dependent on plant crop yield and architecture.
Despite this relative large diffusion, cactus pear marketing is seasonal and, due to the poor postharvest performances of the fruit, covers no more than two months, in each ripening season of each cultivar. The most powerful tool to get a longer fruit marketing season is related to cropping strategies and, eventually to the ability of O. ficus-indica to reflower and to get different crops in the same year; some studies conducted in Sicily demonstrated that double removal induced a third flush of flowers and cladodes during late August with a fruit production that ripened the following winter (January-March); out-of-season fruits obtained, were regular in size and percent flesh with only a slight reduction of total soluble solid content.
Some studies also demonstrated that cactus pear fruit plantations are efficient in terms of carbon sequestration. Research achievements and goal are revised in order to address new research efforts towards orchard efficiency
Linee di sviluppo di nuovi sistemi colturali e di gestione agronomica in olivicoltura
No full textConvegno tenuto nell’ambito di Agrilevante, organizzato dal CRA Centro di Ricerca per l’Olivicoltura e l’industria Olearia di Rende (CRA-OLI), in collaborazione con il Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali, l’ENTE Autonomo Fiera del Levante ed il Dip. PROGESA dell’Università di Bari, con il patrocinio dell’Accademia Nazionale dell’Olivo e dell’Olio”, dell’Accademia dei Georgofili e della Società Orticola italiana
Alberi e arbusti delle Madonie
No full textSono passati quasi cinquanta anni da quando il Club Alpino Siciliano pubblicò un piccolo libretto con piante e fiori delle Madonie, preparato dal Prof. Andrea Di Martino, già Direttore dell’Orto Botanico dell’Università di Palermo. La sua pubblicazione, con altre, fu prodromica alla istituzione del Parco delle Madonie, quando il turismo montano era scelta di pochi. Come responsabili del Sistema Museale dell’Università di Palermo e del nostro Orto Botanico abbiamo scelto di fornire agli appassionati un nuovo strumento di conoscenza della straordinaria biodiversità della flora madonita che è costituita da circa 1800 taxa specifici e infraspecifici (subspecie e varietà), corrispondenti a circa il 55% dell’intera flora della Sicilia.
Il volumetto riporta 72 taxa afferenti a 49 generi di 29 famiglie. Dei suddetti taxa 7 sono endemici esclusivi delle Madonie, 4 endemici della Sicilia, 2 endemici italian
Effect of 1-methylcyclopropene on cactus pear fruit at different maturity stages during storage
No full text1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is an ethylene antagonist widely used to retain quality and prolong the postharvest storage period of various climacteric fruits. To date, there is little information about the effects of 1-MCP on postharvest storage performance of cactus pear fruits. Recently, data revealed that exposure of 1-MCP at 1000 ppb had several beneficial effects in preserving postharvest quality of cactus pear fruits, as indicated by inhibition of peel color change. In this paper, we investigated the effect of 1-MCP on quality of cactus pear fruit harvested from the scozzolatura crop at early and late ripeness stages. Fruit was tested at two different ripening stages: “commercial ripe” (CR; fruit commercially ripe with 90% green ground-color and 10% orange color) and “ripe on tree” (ROT; late fruit ripe on tree with 100% orange color and no green ground-color). Fruit was sanitized by immersion in 200 mg kg-1 sodium hypochlorite for 5 min, and stored at 8°C for 30 days. Color (L* and ΔΕ), visual appearance, crunchiness score, carotenoids, phenolic content and respiration rate were measured at harvest and after 7, 14, 21 and 30 days. The results did not show beneficial effects of 1-MCP in terms of color or visual or crunchiness score; in contrast, significant differences occurred in all samples in terms of carotenoid and polyphenol content
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