Showing papers by "Anita Solar published in 2011"

Roasting affects phenolic composition and antioxidative activity of hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.).

Abstract: The potential effect of skin removal and roasting on individual and total phenolic content, and on antioxidative potential of 6 hazelnut cultivars were investigated. HPLC-MS identification of individual phenolics confirmed the presence of 7 flavan-3-ols (catechin, epicatechin, 2 procyanidin dimers, and 3 procyanidin trimers), 3 flavonols (quercetin pentoside, quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside, and myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside), 2 hydrobenzoic acids (gallic acid, protocatechulic acid), and 1 dihydrochalcone (phloretin-2'-O-glucoside). Flavonols were only detected in whole hazelnut kernels. The content of individual phenolics, with the exception of gallic acid, was always highest in whole unroasted hazelnuts and was significantly reduced after skin removal. Similarly, total phenolic content and antioxidative potential decreased when skin was removed. Roasting had a significant negative effect on individual phenolics but not on the total phenolic content and antioxidative potential of kernels. From a health promoting phytochemical composition of hazelnuts the consumption of whole unroasted kernels with skins should be preferential to peeled kernels either roasted or unroasted. Practical Application: A significant reduction in the antioxidative potential and total phenolic content is detected after hazelnut skin removal but not after roasting, suggesting that hazelnut kernels should be consumed whole. In hazelnut skin, many phenolic compounds are located, which are not present in flesh and, therefore, the health properties of hazelnuts are strongly affected by skin removal. Thermal processing and roasting conditions used in this study had a lesser effect on the individual phenolic composition of the kernel and thus roasted and unroasted hazelnuts without skin contain comparable amounts of health promoting compounds.

Characterisation of selected hazelnut cultivars: phenology, growing and yielding capacity, market quality and nutraceutical value.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Sixteen hazelnut cultivars growing in the continental climate of Slovenia were analysed over 15 years for their phenology, growth habit, yield potential, susceptibility to hazelnut weevil and the pomological traits and phenolic content of their nuts in order to obtain a complex value of these cultivars for growers, the confectionary industry and consumers. RESULTS: Blooming occurred over an interval of 10–23 days for female (pistillate) flowers and 11–22 days for male (staminate) flowers. Nocchione, Romai, Pauetet, ID and Daria were the most productive cultivars, with a nine-year cumulative yield ranging from 31.8 to 44.7 kg per plant. Pauetet, F. Coutard, Nocchione and Segorbe were less susceptible to unfavourable weather conditions during blooming and fertilisation, in terms of maintaining acceptable yields with limited blank production. Under integrated pest management, less than 2% of the nuts of Romai, Daria, TGDL and Nocchione were affected by hazelnut weevil, compared with an average of 5.5% for the other cultivars. Daria, Pauetet and T. Giffoni performed best with regard to kernel percentage and blanching ratio. The results suggest that raw kernels are a good source of the natural antioxidants gallic acid and epicatechin. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide direction when choosing hazelnut cultivars for planting, consuming or processing. They can be applied not only in Slovenia and nearby countries but also in other parts of central and northern European countries with similar climates and growing conditions. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry

Branching of annual shoots in common walnut ( Juglans regia L.) as affected by bud production and indol-3-acetic acid (IAA) content

Abstract: Relationship of bud production (axillary and terminally) of annual shoot (1Y) and/or the content of bud-derived indol-3-acetic acid (IAA) to branching of the 1Y was studied in common walnut (Juglans regia L.), cvs. Franquette and Lara. Cultivar-related branch architecture was determined. Lara tended to branch more densely than Franquette (53 vs. 42%). Significantly more fruiting off-spring shoots (FO) than vegetative ones (VO) grew-out per 1Y in both cultivars, whereas the ratio FO/VO of Lara exceeded that of Franquette by four times. An acrotonic branching pattern was more strongly expressed in Lara compared to Franquette. Bud-derived IAA was influenced by the cultivar (Franquette had 3.6 times more cumulative IAA along the 1Y than Lara), and by the relative position (terminal, subterminal, medial and basal) of the buds along 1Y. An opposite relationship between branching density and cumulative IAA content was established in both cultivars. At the 1Y relative position level, the opposite ratio between branching density and IAA content was clearly shown only on the basal position of the bud along 1Y in the Lara cultivar. Such an inconsistent linkage between bud production and the IAA spatial distribution along the 1Y illustrated that hormonal factors probably weakly affect the branching of Franquette and Lara. The length of the parent 1Y, the position of the buds along the 1Y-length, and the fate of the buds seemed to have a stronger influence on the bud out-growth and further development of the off-springs. In further analyses, seasonal fluctuations of the IAA, and the following activity of the buds should be investigated in order to improve the understanding of a complex branching phenomenon in walnut.

European corylus avellana l. germplasm collections

Abstract: The main aim of this work is to gather the maximum information on hazelnut germplasm existing in different European collection s. Each Research Centre keeps its hazelnut material according to its own interest: na tive varieties, suitable material from abroad and promoting the exchange of plant material among research centers from all over the world. At first, a complete list of 264 hazelnut accession existing in 13 different collections was elaborated: one collection in France and Greece, tw o in Slovenia and Spain, three in Portugal and four in Italy. The material of each co llection was accurately observed, morphologically characterized and also identified b y molecular markers (SSR). Some mistakes on cultivar spelling have been noticed. Ch aracterization of hazelnut collections allowed to detect some synonyms in the germplasm st udied and correct the spelling mistakes. A final list of 209 cultivars and 40 selections, gr owing in 13 European hazelnut collections, was elaborated. Cultivars were origina ted from the following countries: Albania (1 cultivar), Balkan area (2 cvs.), Belgium (1 cv.), England (12 cvs.), USA (7 cvs.), France (7 cvs.), Germany (5 cvs.), Greece (1 cv.), Hungary (1 cv.), (Italy (61 cvs.), Portugal (3 cvs.), Romania (4 cvs.), Slovenia (3 cv s.), Spain (83 cvs.) and Turkey (7 cvs.). Eleven cultivars from unknown origin were listed.

The definition of the European almond core collection.

Abstract: The European project 068 AGRI GEN RES 870/2004 has as an aim the definition of the European almond core collection. The methodology for creation of any core collection has to define how best to select entries using complex and incomplete accession data, as well as how and when to revise these decisions over time. The acquisition of data has been based on specific varietal descriptors, including morphological, physiological, phytopathological, genetic and chemical traits, following the descriptors defined by IBPGR/Bioversity, UPOV and the ECP/GR Prunus Working Group. Newly defined traits, not included in these descriptors, have also been considered because they are very important in defining the range of variability of the species. These traits include chilling and heat requirements for blooming, the molecular markers for genotype identification and the different chemical components of the kernel, as possible parameters for defining almond quality. As a result, a strategy to define the almond core collection was identified by highlighting the main steps to achieve in the next future. INTRODUCTION The European project “Safeguard of hazelnut and almond genetic resources: from traditional uses to novel agro industrial opportunities” (SAFENUT, 068 AGRI GEN RES 870/2004) has, among other objectives, the aim of defining the European almond core collection. A core collection of any species consists of a limited set of accessions chosen to represent the genetic variation of the crop with minimum repetition (Brown, 1989). The methodology for creation of any core collection has to define how best to select entries using complex and incomplete accession data, as well as how and when to revise these decisions over time, with the purpose to capture the common and rare alleles within a fraction (5-10%) of the original collection (Brown, 1989). Thus, the following steps must be taking into account (van Hintum, 1999): 1.Definition of the material that should be represented. 2.Division of the domain into groups. Every group of accessions is divided into as genetically distinct subgroups as possible. 3.Choice of the number of entries in the core and allocation of entries over the groups based on their relative importance and expected diversity. 4.Selection of the entries from each group that will be included in the core so that the diversity of groups is represented as well as possible. 5.A preliminary, larger core collection may be created, being characterized further to reduce the number of entries. In this way, not only geographic and phenotypic characteristics may be used in defining the accessions of the core collection, but also genetic data. Furthermore, a large collection may develop targeted subsamples focused on specific traits or localities of interest. Thus, for the period of this project, wild species will be excluded and only cultivars considered, deciding to establish a large base core collection from which to proceed in further steps. MATERIALS AND METHODS The CITA almond collection (Espiau et al., 2002) was taken at the base for the core collection definition because it contains accessions from all over the world and is the GREMPA reference collection. Data from collections of the other participants were also included for the complex analysis. The methodology for creation of any core collection has to define how best to select entries using complex and incomplete accession data, as well as how and when to revise these decisions over time. The traits for accession characterization were reviewed in order to obtain a wide spectrum of almond variability. The acquisition of data has been based on specific varietal descriptors, including morphological, physiological, phytopathological, genetic and chemical traits, following the descriptors defined by IBPGR/Bioversity (Gulcan, 1985), UPOV and the ECP/GR Prunus Working Group. Newly defined traits, not included in these descriptors, have also been considered because they are very important in defining the range of variability of the species. These traits include chilling and heat requirements for blooming (Alonso et al., 2005), the molecular markers for genotype identification (Fernandez i Marti et al., 2009) and the different chemical components of the kernel (Kodad, 2006), as possible parameters for defining almond quality (Socias i Company et al., 2008). Thus, in the CITA collection, representing a very wide range of almond genotypes, molecular analysis have been undertaken for genotype characterization, as well as for chemical analysis. Samples of fruits of some other partners have also been received in order to complete the chemical analysis with a wide range of local cultivars, such as those from Slovenia. The French samples have been analyzed with fruits from the CITA collection RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As a first approach to define the almond core collection, a dendogram of a high number of the CITA genotypes has been constructed utilizing only molecular markers (Fig. 1). This dendogram is showing the wide diversity observed among the almond genotypes, showing in addition a close geographical grouping of cultivars (Fernandez i Marti et al., 2009). The biochemical composition of the kernels may also allow to construct a similar dendogram as it has been done with other genotypes (Kodad, 2006). The morphological and physiological observations will also be added in order to obtain a more reliable dendogram. The final dendogram, combining all the results, will be applied in selecting the genotypes to be included in the almond core collection in order to cover the larger variability with the minimum number of accessions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research is funded by the European project “Safeguard of hazelnut and almond genetic resources: from traditional uses to novel agro industrial opportunities” (SAFENUT, 068 AGRI GEN RES 870/2004). Literature Cited Alonso, J.M., Anson, J.M., Espiau, M.T. and Socias i Company, R. 2005 Determination of endodormancy break in almond flower buds by a correlation model using the average temperature of different day intervals and its application to the estimation of chill and heat requirements and blooming date. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 130:308-318. Brown, A.H.D. 1989. Core collections: a practical approach to genetic resouces management. Genome 31:818-824. Fernandez i Marti, A., Alonso, J.M., Espiau, M.T., Rubio-Cabetas, M.J. and Socias i Company, R. 2009. Genetic diversity in Spanish and foreign almond germplasm assessed by molecular characterization with SSRs. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. (in press). Espiau, M.T., Anson, J.M. and Socias i Company, R. 2002. The almond germplasm bank of Zaragoza. Acta Hort. 591:275-278. Gulcan, R. 1985. Almond descriptors (revised). IBPGR, Rome. Kodad, O. 2006. Criterios de seleccion y de evaluacion de nuevas selecciones autocompatibles en un programa de mejora genetica del almendro (Prunus amygdalus Batsch). PhD Thesis, Univ. Lleida, Spain. Hintum, T.J.L. van. 1999. The general methodology for creating a core collection. p. 1017. In: R.C. Johnson and T. Hodgkin (eds.), Core collections for today and tomorrow. IPGRI, Rome. Socias i Company, R., Kodad, O., Alonso, J.M. and Gradziel, T.M. 2008. Almond quality: a breeding perspective. Hort. Rev. 34:197-238.