Objective: This study was carried out to obtain data about the sugar-, acid-and phenol content of apple cultivars from organic and integrated fruit cultivation, with reference to their role in human health and especially for diet recommendations. Setting: Styria (Austria) and Slovenia. Interventions: HPLC, Spectral Photometry, organoleptic and olfactory tests. Results:The total sugar content of most cultivars from integrated cultivation ranged between 115 and 160 g/kg. Some cultivars from organic growing reached higher values. The acid content of both cultivar types was similar. The phenol content in organically grown cultivars was much higher than that of the ones from integrated cultivation. Conclusion: Knowledge of the sugar content is very important for diabetic patients, owing to the assumption of general diet recommendations that 100 g fruit contain 12 g carbohydrates. This applies to most well-known cultivars like Golden Delicious or Gala, but not to most of the regional cultivars. For diabetics, it is necessary to know the carbohydrate content of food precisely, in order to adapt the amount of insulin to the ingestion. So, it is helpful to know the sugar content of each regional cultivar. Moreover, very high levels of phenolic compound in organically grown cultivars, and with it its importance for human health leads to the recommendation to eat regional fruits from organic fruit growing instead of those grown under integrated cultivation.

-Microclimate and tree age have been suggested to be factors influencing the defense capacity against oxidative stress. Therefore, 5-year-old Fagus sylvatica seedlings were grown on a scaffolding in the sun and shade crown of 55-year-old trees throughout one growing season. Independent of tree age sun leaves had a lower specific leaf area, lower pigment contents and a more capacitive antioxidative system than shade leaves. In addition, in the sun crown leaves of seedlings displayed a higher specific leaf area than leaves of adult trees. Age dependent changes in leaf morphology were related to changes in the defense capacity against oxidative stress, with area based concentrations of antioxidants and pigments increasing with tree age. Thus our results suggest that differences in the response to oxidative stress may be attributed to age and crown position related differences in the specific leaf area, the latter influencing the biochemical and physiological performance of Fagus sylvatica leaves.Fagus sylvatica / tree age / exposure to light / antioxidative defense / specific leaf area Résumé -L'influence du microclimat et de l'âge de l'arbre sur la capacité défensive du hêtre européen (Fagus sylvatica L.) contre le stress oxidatif. Le microclimat et l'âge de l'arbre sont considerés comme des facteurs qui influencent la capacité défensive contre le stress oxidatif. Par conséquent, des plants de Fagus sylvatica de cinq ans ont grandi sur un échafaudage à la couronne des arbres âgés de 55 ans, une fois au soleil, une autre fois à l'ombre pendant une période de croissance. Indépendamment de l'âge de l'arbre, le feuillage exposé au soleil avait une surface spécifique de la feuille inférieure, un contenu de pigment inférieur et un système antioxidatif plus puissant que le feuillage à l'ombre. De plus, au niveau de la couronne la plus haute, le feuillage des plants a développé une surface spécifique plus élevée que celui des arbres adultes. Des transformations de morphologie du feuillage, qui dépendent de l'âge des feuilles, ont été comparées avec des transformations de la capacité contre le stress oxidatif. À cela la teneur en substances antioxidatives relative à la surface de la feuille a augmenté avec l'âge de l'arbre. Donc nos résultats suggèrent que les différences de réaction au stress oxidatif peuvent être attribuées aux différences de la surface spécifique de la feuille -dépendant de l'âge et de la position à la couronne -ce qui influence la performance biochimique et physiologique des feuilles du Fagus sylvatica.Fagus sylvatica / âge de l'arbre / exposition à la lumière / défense antioxidative / surface spécifique de la feuille / stress oxidatif

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Trees at high elevations are exposed to a combination of high irradiance, extreme climate and increasingly higher ozone concentrations. As a defense, trees are equipped with an antioxidative system protecting them from reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced directly (by e. g. ozone) or via interaction of stress with primary plant metabolism. Although the effect of high elevation stress on growth and the antioxidative metabolism of spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) has been studied widely, very little information exists for European larch trees (Larix decidua Mill.). Therefore, we investigated the content of the antioxidants glutathione, ascorbate and tocopherol, and of photoprotective pigments of larch needles growing at valley (1000 m a.s.l.) and timberline (2000 m) stands of the northern (Austrian) and southern (Italian) Limestone Alps. The glutathione content of larch needles increased with elevation in the northern and southern Alps. Larch needles contained higher contents of oxidized glutathione at all high elevation sites. In addition, the glutathione content in larch needles of the southern Alps was higher than that in the north, suggesting a higher antioxidant defence capacity. In the Austrian Alps, the ascorbate content increased with elevation. Xanthophylls in larch needles grown at the timberline were in a more de-epoxidized state than those from lower elevation. Our study points out that the protective systems of larch needles along elevational gradients are largely comparable to evergreen conifers. Foliar biochemical attributes of larch can be used as a system to monitor the stress status of trees.