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BACKGROUND: In the Mediterranean basin, the solar radiation received is very high for many tree species over several hours of the day during the summer. Using a photoselective net can improve the climatic conditions and also modify the quality of light received. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the colour of photoselective nets on the yield and quality of Actinidia chinensis. MATERIALS: The experiment was carried out in Southern Italy on an orchard of Jintao kiwifruit. Photoselective nets of different colours were used: black, red, yellow, white, and grey. The resulting fruits were compared to those of plants in the open field. A randomised block design was adopted. Environmental, vegetative, and leaf gas exchange parameters; yield; and fruit quality were defined. All data were analysed using the Variance Analysis (ANOVA) and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). RESULTS: Photoselectivity influenced production. The best results were obtained under the red net in terms of production and fertility indices. Fruit size, maturation indices, and nutraceutical parameters were also higher under the red net. Among the nets, the grey net induced the worst tree productivity results and the worst fruit quality parameters. However, all nets showed better results compared to the open field. CONCLUSION: The photoselective net strongly influenced the yield and quality of Jintao kiwifruit and the better results compared to the open field. The red net proved to be the best performer for the environment where the experiment was carried out.

BACKGROUND: In the Northern hemisphere kiwifruit harvest time is conditioned by low temperatures occurring during the harvesting season while in Southern Italy minimum temperatures in autumn are high enough to support fruit growth and ripening. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of delayed harvest time on kiwifruit quality attributes. METHODS: The experiment was carried out in a commercial kiwifruit, 'Hayward', orchard located in Southern Italy. In this area, the conventional harvest time occurs 160 days after full bloom (DAFB), during the first decade of November. Fruits were collected from 130 DAFB to 192 DAFB. Fresh fruit and dry weight, flesh color, firmness, total soluble solids content (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid (AA), total polyphenols content (TPH) and antioxidant capacity (TAC) were determined. RESULTS: After 120 days of storage, fruit harvested 178 DAFB, had higher fresh and dry weight, flesh firmness, TSS, TA and lower water loss than fruit harvested at 160 DAFB, with no significant differences in AA, TPH and TAC. TAC was correlated more to TPH than to AA. Early (130-158 DAFB) harvests, resulted in poor fruit quality and scarce post harvest maintenance. CONCLUSIONS: Delaying fruit harvest time, in mild winter areas such as Southern Italy, resulted in an improved fruit quality and increased the commercial value of the fruit

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Decrease in photosynthesis results from high leaf temperature, photosynthetic photon flux density, and UV-B. Here, we investigated whether a reflective material (kaolin) could improve photosynthetic performance and yield of clementine (Citrus clementina Hort. ex Tan., "Comune" cultivar) in southern Italy. Kaolin was sprayed on tree canopies every month during two summers; gas exchange, fluorimetry, and qualitative and productive parameters were measured. Kaolin increased the total average yield per tree and improved fruit color. PCA indicated that the best performances were obtained with kaolin in the last harvest. Kaolin affected the final fruit price by 3%, justifying its use.

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Kiwifruit is currently cultivated in temperate areas with latitudes between 25° and 45°. China, Italy, New Zealand, counting for 87% of global production (Zhang et al., 2020a). Italy ranks second in kiwi production worldwide, with 316,443 tons produced in 2019 (Balestra and Costa, 2020;Zhang et al., 2020b).A few decades ago, the Italian kiwi market was domi-'Hayward' cultivar, belonging to A. deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang & A.R. Ferguson. However, the last decade. Out of a total of 24,859 ha, green kiwi occupies 19,859 ha (79.89%) with 257,295 tons (81.3% of the total production), and yellow kiwi occupies 5,000 ha (20.11%) with 59,148 tons (18.7% of the total Italian kiwifruit production) (Balestra and Costa, 2020). Among the main green kiwi cultivars are three A. chinensis Planch cultivars, namely tetraploid genotype (2n =4x = 116) (Huang et al., 2002), bred at the Wuhan Institute of Botany (WIB). It has a low cooling demand (approximately 350-450 h), making it well adapted to a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and producing high-quality fruit. It was released to European kiwifruit growers in 2001 (Cipriani and Testolin, 2007) and is widely preferred for its productivity, good fruit quality, and shelf life. 'Gold3' or 'G3', also known as 'Zesy002', has replaced 'Hort16A' because of its increased tolerance to bacterial kiwi cancer caused by Pseudomonas syringae (Scortichini, 'Donghong' is a new cultivar widely cultivated in the Chinese provinces of Hubei and Sichuan (Cozzolino et al., 2020; Nie et al., 2020).• with a red endocarp; this cultivar is designated as red-What is the expected impact on horticulture?• Flesh richer in nutraceutical components may change the kiwi market.