An integrated approach for the characterization of wild Crocus species adopting phenotypical and phytochemical traits.

Crocus is a taxonomically complex genus, characterized by high intra- and inter-specific variability. Five wild Crocus taxa - Crocus biflorus, C. longiflorus, C. neapolitanus, C. siculus and C. thomasii from three different areas of Southern Italy (Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily) have been investigated. We considered both flower morphological traits (inner and outer perigone segments, style branches and anthers) and the chemical profile of specialised metabolites (apocarotenoids: crocins; flavonoids: flavonols) in style branches, which were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, coupled with a diode array detector and mass spectrometry (HPLC-UV-DAD-ESI-MS). Saffron (C. sativus) was also included as the 'control' species. The length of perigone tube, outer and inner tepals, anthers and style branches gave the highest contribution to the discrimination of different taxa. Concerning the specialised metabolite profiles, 20 flavonols and 24 crocins have been identified and quantified in the Crocus extracts and used to discriminate among samples, confirming that Crocus taxa can be considered as an important natural source of these substances. The chemical profiles of the different populations showed some distinctive qualitative and quantitative patterns that contributed to a certain degree of discrimination among species, in fact, flavonoids content range is comprised between 2.7 and 145.9 mg/g, whereas crocins range between 19.8 and 604.0 mg/g. It is thus hypothesized that the combination of morphological and phytochemical screenings may be an effective methodology to characterize wild Crocus genotypes from Southern Italy, also in comparison to C. sativus (saffron).

Amaranthus grain as a new ingredient in diets for dairy cows: productive, qualitative, and in vitro fermentation traits.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, grain amaranths have attracted attention due to their valuable combination of nutritional traits, with higher protein and oil content than conventional cereals. Before they can be proposed as an unconventional ingredient in animal feed, many aspects still need to be investigated from field production to nutritive value. The present research aimed to study the agronomic traits, proximate composition, and digestibility/degradability, fatty acid profile, antioxidant activity, and total phenolic content of two grain amaranth species, Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus hypochondriacus (for a total of six accessions), grown in a Mediterranean environment. RESULTS: Both species showed seed yields comparable to or higher than the traditional cereal crops in the same environment. On the whole, A. cruentus resulted in a higher seed production than A. hypochondriacus. Mexico and Montana accessions, both belonging to A. cruentus, showed the highest yield (3.73 t ha-1 , on average). Few differences emerged in nutritive value between species and accessions: the Illinois accession of A. cruentus showed the best performance in terms of in vitro degradability and gas production, but not for volatile fatty acid production; the fermentation kinetics was slowest in the Illinois accession and fastest in the Montana accession of A. cruentus and the India accession of A. hypochondriacus. CONCLUSION: From a health perspective, the Nebraska accession of A. hypochondriacus represents the best accession, with the lowest saturated fatty acid content and the highest polyunsaturated fatty acid content. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. as a Sustainable Source of Nutrients and Bioactive Compounds for Animal Feeding.

With the aim to explore the use of A. hypochondriacus seeds for animal feeding, the agronomic traits, nutrients, and bioactive compounds of four accessions with different origin (India, Nebraska, Iowa, and Pennsylvania) grown in a Mediterranean environment were studied. Proximate composition was determined using the official methods of analyses, fatty acid profile by gas chromatography, total phenolic content (TPC) and the scavenging activity (DPPH• and ABTS•+) by colorimetric method. A one-way ANOVA model was performed to determine the differences between accessions. The four A. hypochondriacus accessions showed interesting seed yield results. No significant differences were observed for crude protein and crude fiber; the oil content showed the significant highest values in the seeds from Nebraska and Pennsylvania, but their nutritional characteristics were significantly different. The accession from Nebraska showed the highest oleic and linoleic acid levels, the highest values of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the best atherogenic and thrombogenic indices and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolaemic ratio, and the highest TPC content. The accession from Pennsylvania showed the highest antioxidant activity and lowest peroxidation index. On the whole, A. hypochondriacus seeds can be used as pseudo-cereal to balance the animal diet and the accession should be chosen according to the different metabolic pathways of unsaturated fatty acids in ruminant and monogastric animals.

Effects of Environment and Sowing Time on Growth and Yield of Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Cultivars in Sicily (Italy).

Cotton is one of the most important industrial crops in the world. Though widely cultivated in Sicily (Italy) in the past, cotton growth on the island has disappeared today due to a complex variety of agronomic, economic and socio-political reasons. In recent years, increased interest in natural fibers worldwide has led to a revival in cotton plants in the Mediterranean area. The aim of this paper was to assess the response of Gossypium hirsutum L. cultivars to different environments and sowing times. Elsa and Juncal were selected from the most promising cotton cultivars regarding earliness and productivity. Plants were tested with three sowing times and in two Sicilian environments. Cotton yield and yield components were significantly affected by experimental station, sowing time and cultivar. Lint yield of cultivars was 1.60 t ha-1 on average, and the highest value of 1.99 t ha-1 was obtained from an early sowing time. The three indices of agronomic earliness varied significantly based on treatments. In conclusion, the evaluation of response genotype-by-environment under different sowing times could represent a strategy to obtain optimal cotton seed and lint yields, although other general aspects, such as labor costs, land availability and capital resources, should be also considered when evaluating the reintroduction of the species in Sicily.

Productive and Qualitative Traits of Amaranthus Cruentus L.: An Unconventional Healthy Ingredient in Animal Feed.

Agronomic traits, oil content, fatty acid composition, antioxidant activity, and total phenolic content were studied on eight A. cruentus accessions cultivated in Southern Italy. A one-way ANOVA model was performed to compare accessions and the Principal Components Analysis was applied to identify patterns in our dataset and highlight similarities and differences. A. cruentus showed valuable seed yield (0.27 kg/m2, on average) comparable to the main tradition cereals used for animal feeding. Seed-oil composition showed significant differences among the accessions. Data showed a higher lipid content than most cereal grains (from 5.6 to 7.3%). Approximately 60% of fatty acids were unsaturated; linoleic fatty acid ranged from 19 to 34%, oleic acid from 29 to 36%, and alfa-linolenic fatty acid from 0.3 to 0.5%, respectively. The saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratio ranged from 0.5 to 0.8, the hypocholesterolemic:hypercholesterolaemic ratio from 1.7 to 2.7, the Atherogenic Index from 0.38 to 0.66, the Thrombogenic Index from 0.85 to 1.48, the total phenolic content from 0.14 to 0.36 mg/g seeds, and the antioxidant activity (DPPH•) from 0.30 to 0.50. The studied seed-oil composition evidenced A. cruentus as a healthy ingredient for animal feed and consequently, as a possible substitute for traditional cereals. Accessions from Mexico and Arizona emerged for their high qualitative traits.

Effect of Dietary Olive Cake Supplementation on Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Meat Quality of Beef Cattle.

Dietary partially destoned olive cake supplementation on performance, carcass traits and meat quality of intensively finished bulls was evaluated. Forty-five Limousin bulls, divided into three homogenous groups, received a diet with no supplementation (Control-CTR), 7.5% (Low Olive Cake-LOC), and 15.0% of olive cake supplementation (High Olive Cake-HOC). The trial was realized for 150 days; all bulls were individually weighed at the beginning, middle, and end of the trial, to calculate the individual average daily gain (ADG). At slaughtering, on each carcass, hot weight was recorded and, after 7 days, the pH and temperature were measured. On Longissimus lumborum muscle, color, cooking loss, and shear force of the cooked sample were determined. The chemical composition and the fatty acid content of muscle were determined. Olive cake inclusions (7.5% and 15.0%) increased (p < 0.05) the body weight, ADG, slaughter traits and intramuscular fat content and influenced (p < 0.05) the quality indices. The 15.0% of the inclusion reduced (p < 0.05) the cooking loss and shear force, and increased the unsaturated fatty acid content. The olive cake can be considered as a functional component in beef production and, in substitution to a quote of cereals into the diet of bulls, could be an opportunity to improve agriculture sustainability.

Agronomic characterization and α- and ß-ODAP determination through the adoption of new analytical strategies (HPLC-ELSD and NMR) of ten sicilian accessions of grass pea.

Ten accessions of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) from different Sicilian sites, cultivated in the same environmental conditions, were analyzed for their morphological and productive parameters and for the content of two non-protein amino acids: α- and ß-ODAP (α- and ß-N-oxalyl-l-α,ß-diaminopropionic acid). The ß-isomer is the neurotoxin responsible for the neuron disease known as lathyrism. This analysis was carried out using two common analytical methodologies never applied in their determination, an HPLC separation with evaporative light scattering (ELS) as detector, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The content of the two isomers falls in the range reported for these compounds: 0.42-0.74 and 2.69-4.59 g/kg for α- and ß-ODAP, respectively; and the two methods yield comparable results. High productivity and a high protein content were detected in three Sicilian accessions. Low ß-ODAP content was found to be linked to accessions with heavier seeds and those originating at lower altitudes.