In this study, we were interested in comparing the amino acid profile in a specific variety of onion, Rossa da inverno sel. Rojo Duro, produced in two different Italian sites: the Cannara (Umbria region) and Imola (Emilia Romagna region) sites. Onions were cultivated in a comparable manner, mostly in terms of the mineral fertilization, seeding, and harvesting stages, as well as good weed control. Furthermore, in both regions, the plants were irrigated by the water sprinkler method and subjected to similar temperature and weather conditions. A further group of Cannara onions that were grown by micro-irrigation was also evaluated. After the extraction of the free amino acid mixture, an ion-pairing reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detector (IP-RP HPLC-ELSD) method allowed for the separation and detection of almost all the standard proteinogenic amino acids. However, only the peaks corresponding to leucine (Leu), phenylalanine (Phe), and tryptophan (Trp), were present in all the investigated samples and they were unaffected from the matrix interfering peaks. The use of the beeswarm/box plots revealed that the content of Leu and Phe were markedly influenced by the geographical origin of the onions (with *** p << 0.001 for Phe), but not by the irrigation procedure. The applied HPLC method was validated in terms of the specificity, the linearity (a logarithm transformation was applied for the method linearization), the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ), the accuracy (≥90% for inter-day Recovery percentage), and the precision (≤10.51 for the inter-day RSD percentage), before the quantitative assay of Leu, Phe, and Trp in the onion samples. These preliminary findings are a good starting point for considering the quantity of the specific amino acids in the Rossa da inverno sel. Rojo Duro variety as a fingerprint of its geographical origin.
This in-farm research study was aimed at evaluating new strategies in the use of plastic protective covers in field grown melon in order to expand the production period and reduce costs. Four experiments were set up in 2010 and repeated in 2011 in Central Italy, in an inland region with a temperate climate. We evaluated: i) the use of high tunnels for two growing cycles per year, i.e. for very early and very late production (target transplanting in late winter and mid-summer, respectively), for either one year or two consecutive years, and the use of grafted plants in the second year as an alternative to normal plants to prevent soil born diseases; ii) the use of ethylene-vinyl-acetate film low tunnels alone or combined with non-woven floating row covers for transplanting in early spring; iii) the use of non-woven low tunnels for transplanting in mid-spring; iv) the use of biodegradable and conventional polyethylene ground mulch films, both in the presence of nonwoven low tunnels. As far as the non-woven cover is concerned, we adopted the strategy of removing later with respect to usual practices, i.e. ten days after the onset of first pistillate flowers. This was based on the evidence that covers hamper honeybee circulation, which may be exploited on a farm-scale to delay pollination until an adequate number of pistillate flowers set, in order to shorten scaled fruit ripening and harvest. Our results demonstrate that high tunnels may be used for at least four consecutive melon growing cycles (early and late productions for two years) with good off-season yields and no appreciable drawbacks in terms of disease scale-up, irrespective of the use of normal or grafted plants. The non-woven low tunnel was effective in hampering honeybee circulation and its delayed removal allowed the harvest period to be halved, a more uniform fruit size to be obtained, and labour productivity of harvest to be increased. This had positive implications on the management of irrigation and chemical disease control close to the harvest period, and on the management of harvest and post-harvest operation schedules, including fruit processing, packaging and delivery to markets. In the presence of a non-woven low tunnel, there was no substantial difference in the biodegradable mulch compared to other mulches in terms of effects on harvest dates, yield and weed control, so that its use can be cost-effective and convenient provided that costs are not higher than those for traditional polyethylene films and their usage/disposal.
Abstract:In the frame of a broader project, we were interested at comparing the amino acid profile origin. In principle, the developed approach might be applied to other onion varieties, thus 28 contributing to their characterization and traceability, also contributing to limit commercial frauds. 29
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