In Northeastern Brazil, the sweet potato is cultivated in small farms, in a family farming systems, constituting themselves an alternative way for the generation of food, employment and income. This study aimed to assess the effect of cattle manure levels and biofertilizer concentrations on the sweet potato cultivar White Queen productivity. The experiment was carried out from March to September 2007 at the EMEPA Experimental Station in Lagoa Seca, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks, in split split plot 6 x 4 x 2 + 1 scheme, with four replications. The plots consisted of cattle manure levels (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 t ha -1 ), the subplot of biofertilizer concentrations (0, 15, 30 and 45%) and the sub subplots consisted of methods of biofertilizer application, to the soil or leaves. Also, there was an additional control treatment using N, P and K mineral fertilizer. Commercial and total root productivity was evaluated. The levels of 30.8 and 31.2 t ha -1 of cattle manure were responsible for the highest commercial and total sweet potato root productivity (17.4 and 13.1 t ha -1 , respectively). Biofertilizer concentrations of 29 and 28%, applied to soil and to leaves provided, respectively, the greatest productivities of total roots (15.4 and 13.1 t ha -1 ), whereas concentrations of 30 and 27%, also applied to soil and leaves were responsible, respectively, for the highest commercial root productivity (11 and 9.7 t ha -1 ).

Berry fruits are a good source of phenolic compounds and thus, potentially beneficial to health. Phenolic compounds are mainly present as a variety of conjugated forms, either with sugars via O-glycosidic bonds or with other polyols as esters. This chemodiversity makes characterization and identification highly demanding. Selected varieties of commercial blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and the two wild berries Portuguese crowberry and strawberry tree fruits were characterized for individual phenolic content by liquid chromatography-diode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS) after hydrolysis by a novel combination of the fungal glycosidases hesperidinase and cellulase. This approach is shown to be a simple alternative to other existing methods for analysis of plant phenolic compound aglycones. The hydrolysis of glycosides and organic acid esters is efficient and less aggressive than acid and alkaline hydrolysis. This method is able to disclose new sources of dietary phenolic compounds, and the potential usefulness of Portuguese crowberry and strawberry tree fruit is herein demonstrated.

The spring shoots of `Autumn Bliss' red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. var. idaeus; primocane-fruiting type) were cut on 2, 16, 31 July and 15 and 30 Aug. with the objective of delaying fruit harvest into the off-season under mild winter climatic conditions. Cutting shoots in August delayed fruit harvest until February and April of the following year, but shoot growth was weak and fruit yield low (4.8 and 2.1 g/cane). July cuttings delayed harvest until October to January with acceptable fruit yield (63.5, 52.8, and 26.5 g/cane for 2, 16, and 31 July, respectively). The differences in cane height and total node and fruiting node count between the three cutting dates of July were small, but there was a constant decrease in leaf area per cane from the first to the third date and a sharp decrease in fruit yield from the second to the third date. Vegetative shoot growth was less affected than yield when summer cutting was delayed until the end of July to induce a later harvest. Fruit quality always reached acceptable standards. This study confirms the practicability of using summer-cutting of primocane-fruiting red raspberries to induce off-season fruit production under protected cultivation in mild winter climates.

Corema album (Ericaceae), 'Camarinhas', or the 'white crowberry', is a white-berried perennial adapted to sandy soils in the Iberian Peninsula which has been consumed by humans for many centuries. It occurs naturally on sand dunes and cliffs of the Atlantic coast from Gibraltar to Finisterre, and in the Azores on volcanic lava and ash fields. It has the possibility to become a new niche berry crop, because its fruits have a distinct colour (white), and provide high nutritional value. It has the potential to spread throughout southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The round, white, berry-like drupes (0.3-0.5 g), have a strong skin, and usually have three large seeds with a thick endocarp. The fruits can be marketable after five days at room temperature, and some samples have been acceptable after five months at 4 • C. Here, the taxonomy, biology, and potential production system are discussed and a potential marketing name, the Beachberry, introduced.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of date of summer pruning and cane densities on growth and fruiting characteristics of the raspberry (Rubus idaeus) plant. Three summer-pruning dates (early, middle, and late July) and four cane densities (8, 16, 24, and 32 canes/m row) were imposed to the greenhouse-grown primocane-fruiting raspberry `Autumn Bliss' in 2 consecutive years (1994 and 1995). A higher light microclimate and CO2 assimilation rate were measured within the canopy at the lowest density. Some compensation in CO2 assimilation rates were observed in the upper leaves of the high-density treatments, probably in response to low light. Delayed pruning decreased yield per cane and per row. The highest yields per cane were always observed at the lowest cane density. Densities of 16 and 24 canes/m produced the highest fruit yield. Light conditions appeared to be the most important environmental factor affecting plant productivity. Fruit were a weaker sink than roots; therefore, the role of carbohydrate reserves should be investigated.

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Abstract. Corema album (Ericaceae), "Camarinhas", endemic of the Atlantic dunes of the Iberian Peninsula has the possibility to become a new niche berry crop. Considering the agronomic and market possibilities for this species, the initial research step is the development of a seed germination protocol. We characterized C. album populations along its biogeographical area. The results show that different seeds characteristics differ significantly between sites. We also tested the effect of pretreatments on the germination of C. album seeds (subsp. album) from Duna de Quiaios in 2011, from Comporta in 2011 and Aldeia do Meco in 2011 and in 2012. The results show that there is site-to-site variation in the same year and year-to-year variation in a particular site in percentage of germinated seeds. Acid scarification (30, 60 and 120 minutes) followed by 1000 ppm of gibberellic acid was the most effective pretreatment in breaking dormancy of C. album and this pretreatment promote the best germination from seeds collected from Aldeia do Meco 2011 (30.3%) after 175 days. Our results suggest that the seeds had physiological dormancy. Considering the 2800 seeds collected: 54.5% ruptured the seed coat and 7.7% germinated.

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