The Somma–Vesuvius volcanic complex emitted huge quantities of volcanic materials over a period from before 18,300 years BP to 1944. The activity during the last period, from post-AD 1631 to 1944, ...primarily produced lava and pyroclastics via effusive and strombolian eruptions. We investigated the pedogenesis on rocks formed from post-AD 1631 to 1944, occurring on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius up to Gran Cono Vesuviano and in the northern valley separating Vesuvius from the older Mt. Somma edifice. Pertinent morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical (XRD and FT-IR) soil properties were studied. The results indicated the existence of thin and deep stratified soils on lava, as well as the presence of loose detritic covers formed via pyroclastic emplacement and redistribution. The soils showed minimal profile differentiation, frequently with layering recording the episodic addition of sediments. We found that the dominant coarse size of primary mineral particles was preserved, and there was a low level of clay production. The main mineralogical assemblage present in sands also persisted in clays, indicating the physical breaking of the parent material. Chemical weathering produced mineral modifications towards the active forms of Al and Fe and was also attested in selected soils by glass alteration, allophane production, and the presence of analcime in clay as a secondary product from leucite. The differences in glass alteration and analcime production found in the selected soils on lava were related to soil particle size and soil thickness. Concerning the youngest soil present on Gran Cono Vesuviano, other factors, such as the substratum’s age and site elevation, appeared to be implicated.
Esca disease, the most common grapevine wood disease in Europe, causes yield losses correlated with the foliar symptoms’ expression. In two vineyards located in the Abruzzo Region of Italy, each of ...which were investigated for esca symptoms after 1994, different applications of macro- and microelements were performed in two consecutive growing seasons. The main aim of the work consisted of verifying the effects of the fertilizer applications on the foliar symptoms’ expression, in order to deepen knowledge of the nature of the symptom, which is still unclear. For each treatment, in each year, the leaf content of macro- and microelements and the composition of berries and musts were assessed. The effects of these applications on vegetative growth and yield quantity were also verified. The trials were carried out on symptomatic, asymptomatic and apparently healthy vines. All applications, in particular those with microelements, increased the foliar symptoms’ expression, and a greater vegetative growth was detected only in vines treated with NPK fertilizers. The symptoms’ increase was always associated in the leaf with a decrease of calcium, and to a lesser extent, magnesium, reinforcing the hypothesis of the plant’s hypersensitive reaction in the development of foliar symptoms, given the role of calcium in the defense response. The vineyards were in nutritional balance regardless of the fertilizer applications. The general increase in foliar symptoms and the decrease in sugars in the musts of asymptomatic treated vines underlined the importance of the vegetative-productive balance, in Esca infected vineyards especially, in order to limit the symptoms’ expression and the decrease in yield.
Research was carried out in southern Italy with the aim to assess the quality of faba bean residual biomass and its potential for biorefinery application. Faba bean is a sustainable crop, due to its ...ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, and a large amount of biomass remains after harvest which can be valorised for energy production. Greenhouse and early planting are known to affect pod yield and, in this respect, even the residual biomass quality needs to be assessed. For this purpose, the effects of five planting times (i.e. the dates of transplants ranging from 27 September to 22 November at two-week interval, earlier and later than the common planting date of 25 October in Naples province) on pods yield, residual biomass, and saccharification potential were evaluated in faba bean grown in open field and in greenhouse. The third planting time resulted in the highest fruit and residual biomass yield under greenhouse, whereas the fourth was the best in open field. Harvest index was best affected by the third and fourth planting times in open field. Greenhouse grown biomass showed higher values of lignin, hemicellulose and pectin, compared to open field, whereas the opposite trend was recorded with cellulose. Lignin content showed a gradual decrease from the first to the last planting time (17.7%–13.7% biomass fraction respectively), as well as pectin (from 14.1 to 11.5% biomass fraction); conversely, cellulose increased from the first to the last planting time (from 41.1 to 48.7% biomass fraction). Glucose was the most represented monosaccharide (46.7 mol%), followed by xylose (27.4 mol%) and galactose (9.9 mol%). Overall, the potential of faba bean residual biomass for energy production was best affected by open field growing, the latest planting time and alkali pre-treatment, the latter giving the highest value of saccharification (60.7 g kg−1 h−1 compared to 27.6 relevant to hot water pre-treatment).
•The fourth planting time (8th November) in open field gave the highest fruit and residual biomass yield.•Harvest index was highest under the third to fourth planting time in open field.•The latest planting time (22nd November) and open field best affected residual biomass quality.•Saccharification was positively correlated with total and crystalline cellulose.•Alkali pretreatment resulted in the highest biomass enzymatic digestibility efficiency.
Goethite and lepidocrocite are considered the stable species of Fe oxyhydroxides formed from Fe2+ oxidation in mildly acidic soil environments, while maghemite is formed in mildly alkaline ...conditions. Complexing ligands, especially humic acid (HA), can change the pathway formation of these iron oxyhydroxides from Fe2+ oxidation. This research aimed to assess the influence of HA on Fe2+ oxidation and its effect on crystalline Fe mineral products. Ferrous iron was added to HA at increasing initial COOH/Fe(II) charge ratios (R) at pHs of 5.0 and 8.0 and aged at 70°C for 1month and up to 8years at room temperature. The precipitated products after aging were analysed using XRD, FT-IR, TEM and AFM. The results indicate that oxidation of Fe2+ at pH5.0, in the presence of large amounts of HA (R=0.1) promoted the formation of goethite together with ferrihydrite. Oxidation of Fe2+ in slightly alkaline conditions (pH8.0) yielded maghemite with small amounts of goethite. Further, long-term aging of HA coprecipitated with Fe2+ perturbed the stacking of the Fe hydroxyl sheets at pH5.0, favouring the formation of ferrihydrite. At pH8.0 the presence of humic acid does not influence the crystallinity of the precipitation products and maghemite was still stable after 8years of aging. This research confirms that the oxidation of Fe2+ in soil and its subsequent hydrolysis is a very common process of Fe hydroxides/oxide formation in acidic soil environments. The type of Fe oxide formed depends strictly on the pH and secondly on the rate of oxidation, especially on the presence and amount of organic compounds that inhibit crystal growth. Humic acid are the main organic molecules in soils, particularly in cool, humid weathering environments where they lead to a decrease in crystalline perfection and promote the formation of ferrihydrite instead of goethite or lepidocrocite. These results provide significant insights into the effect of the mobility of HA in association with Fe minerals.
•Influence of humic acid on Fe2+ oxidation is investigated at pH5 and 8.•Humic acid can change the pathway formation of Fe oxides from Fe(II) oxidation.•Maghemite was dominant with small amounts of goethite at pH8.0.•Aging improved the crystallinity of Fe oxides at low COOH/Fe(II) ratios.•Ferrihydrite-HA coprecipitate at pH5 could favour the carbon stabilisation.
•Onions were grown under a range of transplanting times and plant densities.•The crops planted in February gave the highest production.•Some of the bulb quality traits improved with late ...plantings.•Pungency, as pyruvic acid, decreased with late planting.•Vitamin C and polyphenol content were unaffected by transplanting time.
The aim of this research was to evaluate the effects of four transplanting times (1 February, 16 February, 3 March, 18 March) and three plant densities (21.2, 27.2 and 38.1ptm−2) on the growth, productivity and bulb quality indicators (size, dry weight, soluble solids content, sugars, acids, amino acids, antioxidants, mineral composition) of long-day onion crops, cultivar “Ramata di Montoro”.
Crop yield, bulb mean weight and calibre decreased significantly from the earliest to the latest transplanting time. Plant density did not affect production significantly but the most spaced crop (21.2ptm−2) produced bulbs of the biggest size.
The bulb quality indicators responded differently to transplanting time: dry weight, glucose, fructose, raffinose, citric and malic acids and vitamin C content did not change; soluble solids content, sucrose, and oxalic acid increased from the 1 February to the 18 March transplanting time, while pyruvic acid, calcium, chlorides and nitrates content decreased. The sequence of transplanting times resulted in complex pattern of variations of the mineral composition and of the free amino acid content of the bulbs. The bulb total polyphenol content did not vary with the transplanting time and it was about 7mgg−1 dry weight, with the outer skins containing more than double polyphenols compared to the inner fresh scales.
This research on “Ramata di Montoro” onion has shown that early transplanting increases bulb yield and size, whereas some aspects of bulb quality improve with late transplants.
A research was carried out in southern Italy in order to evaluate the effects of two farming systems (open field, greenhouse) and five transplanting times (27 September, 11 October, 25 October, 8 ...November, 22 November) on plant growth, harvest precocity, fresh pod yield and seed quality of organic faba bean. Crop biomass and root expansion were higher in open field than in greenhouse. The fourth planting time resulted in the highest crop biomass, whereas the second crop cycle showed the highest leaf area index. Greenhouse crops showed higher precocity than the open field ones by about two weeks, as well as the first transplant; the delay in harvest beginning increased from the second to the fourth planting time. Both fresh pod and seeds yield were significantly higher in open field than under protected environment with the third and fourth planting times. Seed fiber and protein content showed higher values in greenhouse compared to open field and increased with the transplant delay. Seed polyphenols attained higher concentration in open field and with the two earliest planting times. Overall, 25 October to 8 November planting times in open field best fitted the southern Italy growing conditions in terms of pod yield, but the 27 September to 11 October planting times resulted in the highest harvest precocity, remarkably enhanced under greenhouse growing, whereas seed quality was controversial.
•The NIR spectroscopy on intact lemons was able to predict fruits quality properties.•The NIR spectroscopy on intact PGI lemons was able to discriminate cultivars.•The NIR spectroscopy on intact PGI ...lemons discriminated their geographical origins.•The NIR spectra on intact lemon fruit were affected by annual growing variation.•The NIR spectroscopy was an useful tool to avoid fraud of high-quality products.
The reflectance NIR spectroscopy and chemometric data treatment on mature intact lemons, Limone di Sorrento PGI (cv Ovale di Sorrento) and Limone Costa D’Amalfi PGI (cv Sfusato Amalfitano) from Campania region, collected in 2018 and 2019, were used to predict properties, and discriminate cultivar and geographical provenance. By PCA, lemon NIR spectra grouped for production years due to the year variation of lemon properties attributable to annual climatic differences, homogeneous in all sites. This agrees with lemon chemical and physical differences by production year. Consequently, the relationship of NIR spectra with lemon quality properties by MLR and the cultivar and provenances discrimination by LDA were affected by year climatic difference; therefore, better model reliability was for single production year. NIR detectability of lemon properties did not appear beyond lemon thick peels, therefore the measured properties of lemon juices could derive from measurable properties of peel correlating with pulp properties.
Research was carried out on onion landrace (Ramata di Montoro) for seed production in southern Italy, with the aim to evaluate the effects on yield and quality of four bulb planting times in ...factorial combination with four densities, using a split plot design with three replicates. The number of flower stalks per plant, their height and diameter, and the inflorescence diameter decreased with the bulb planting delay and density increase. The highest plant leaf area and LAI (leaf area index), seed yield, number, and mean weight were recorded with the earliest planting time, with the lowest bulb density eliciting the highest plant leaf area but the lowest LAI and seed yield per hectare. The ratio between seeds and inflorescence weight, and seed germinability, decreased with the planting delay and density increase. Seed oil, protein, and antioxidant content (polyphenols and selenium) were highest with the last crop cycle. The polyunsaturated fatty acids, predominant in oil, increased with planting time delay, whereas the monounsaturated fatty acids decreased. Linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acid prevailed among polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fatty acids, respectively. Planting from 20 December to 10 January with 3.3 cold-stored bulbs per m
was the most effective combination in terms of seed yield per hectare, whereas seed oil content and quality were the best, with the last crop cycle starting on 21 February, independent of bulb density.
The Limone Costa d'Amalfi and Limone di Sorrento lemons from the Sorrento Peninsula have Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and are subject to origin fraud. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio (SrIR) signature ...of lemons and soils was investigated to verify its reliability to trace the PGI lemons and to highlight environmental factors responsible of the lemon SrIRs. The SrIR ranges of each PGI lemon were not discriminating as they overlapped with each other and some non-PGI lemon SrIRs fell within these ranges. The lemon SrIRs were generally not correlated with bulk and bioavailable soil SrIRs, rather, they were the result of plant Sr uptake with different SrIRs depending on interaction between water supplied to soil and soil with different chemical and physical characteristics. The study of lemon SrIRs and the causes of their origin and variability provides a reliable forecast reference for the other PGI agri-food products in the study area.
•Lemon 87Sr/86Sr ratios were not exhaustive for origin discrimination.•Lemon 87Sr/86Sr ratios were not significantly correlated with those of soils.•Lemon 87Sr/86Sr ratios depended by rainwater, sea spray, irrigation water and soil.•87Sr/86Sr ratio trends in lemons and soils depended on volcanic soil properties.•87Sr/86Sr ratios of Sorrento peninsula, Vesuvius, Sele Plain soils were achieved.
PDF
