Luca Mazzoni

• PhD
• Researcher at Marche Polytechnic University

Water scarcity is an ecological issue affecting over 10% of Europe. It is intensified by rising temperatures, leading to greater evaporation and reduced precipitation. Agriculture has been confirmed as the sector accounting for the highest water consumption globally, and it faces significant challenges relating to drought, impacting crop yields and...

The flowering time (FT), which determines when fruits or seeds can be harvested, is subject to phenotypic plasticity, i.e. the ability of a genotype to display different phenotypes in response to environmental variations. Here, we investigated how the environment affects the genetic architecture of FT in cultivated strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) a...

In the last decades, the world population and demand for any kind of product have grown exponentially. The rhythm of production to satisfy the request of the population has become unsustainable and the concept of the linear economy, introduced after the Industrial Revolution, has been replaced by a new economic approach, the circular economy. In th...

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) comprise chronic debilitating inflammatory disorders that can affect different parts of the gastrointestinal tract and are commonly correlated to two main diseases: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) [...]

BACKGROUND Strawberries are a delicate, high nutritional value fruit with an extremely short shelf life and high susceptibility to tissue infection, mainly by Botrytis cinerea. Control of the disease requires an extensive amount of fungicide that is applied in varying complexes because the pathogen easily develops resistance against the active comp...

The flowering time, which determines when the fruits or seeds can be harvested, is known to be sensitive to plasticity, i.e. the ability of a genotype to display different phenotypes in response to environmental variations. In the context of climate change, strawberry breeding can take advantage of phenotypic plasticity to create high-performing va...

Abstract: In recent years the lifestyle modification in modern society has put remarkable view in nutritional fruits. Among them strawberries are a very rich source of bioactive compounds (vitamin C and B9) and phenolic compounds (phenolic acids, flavonoids and anthocyanins). The nutritional properties of strawberries depend on the amount and chara...

Nitrogen plays a vital role in plants’ biochemical and physiological functions, and it contributes significantly to increasing plant yield and fruit quality. Plants that efficiently absorb and utilize nitrogen enhance the efficiency of fertilizers, reducing their input costs and preventing ecosystem damage. Thus, an adequate nitrogen supply can sig...

The present study assessed the responses, in terms of vegetative, productive, qualitative, and nutritional features, of plants and berries of three remontant strawberry cultivars cultivated in soil and irrigated using three irrigation regimes: standard irrigation regime (W100), 20% (W80) less irrigation than the standard irrigation, and 40% (W60) l...

Strawberry is the most cultivated berry fruit globally and it is really appreciated by consumers because of its characteristics, mainly bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. During the breeding process, it is important to assess the quality characteristics of the fruits for a better selection of the material, but the conventional approac...

Consumer awareness regarding the significance of a well-balanced diet in preventing chronic diseases has increased significantly in recent years [...]

Strawberries are considered as a very rich source of bioactive compounds (vitamin C and B9) and phenolic compounds (phenolic acids, flavonoids and anthocyanins). Moreover, the total antioxidant capacity (TAC), which measures the radical scavenging activity, is related to the amount of antioxidant compounds in strawberries and is a good parameter fo...

A comprehensive lexicon is a necessary communication tool between the panel leader and panelists to describe each sensory stimulus potentially evoked by a product. In the current scientific breeding and trading scenario, a multilingual sensory lexicon is necessary to ensure the consistency of sensory evaluations when tests are conducted across coun...

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) fruits are an excellent source of L-ascorbic acid (AsA), a powerful antioxidant for plants and humans. Identifying the genetic components underlying AsA accumulation is crucial for enhancing strawberry nutritional quality. Here, we unravel the genetic architecture of AsA accumulation using an F1 population derived f...

Strawberry fruits are particularly appreciated by consumers for their sweet taste related to their soluble solids content (SSC). However, strawberries are characterized by a short shelf-life and high susceptibility to tissue infection, mainly by Botrytis cinerea. The SSC determination of strawberry fruit through traditional destructive techniques h...

Strawberry fruit is a very rich source of vitamins and phenolic compounds, which determine its nutritional properties. Strawberries are a highly perishable non-climacteric fruit, and their perishable nature can lead to physical and chemical damage during storage. Therefore, the large market of fresh fruit relies on the capacity of fast distribution...

This study reports a characterization of the nutritional quality of several vegetables belonging to Brassica genus and other species cultivated in the central Italy. The aim of this trial is to investigate the antioxidant capacity and phytochemical content of several vegetable products during two consecutive years. The sensorial quality is investig...

Brassicaceae plants are rich with antioxidant compounds that play a key role for human health. This study wants to characterize two Italian broccoli cultivars (Roya and Santee) and black cabbage, evaluating the variation of antioxidants in different portion and at different developmental stage of the plants: for broccoli, heads and stems were sampl...

Genotype, environment, and cultivation system strongly influence strawberry yield and quality. Specifically, the growth of strawberry plants is dependent on the water supply. Nevertheless, the abuse of water in agriculture is necessitating the choice of the lowest water-consumptive plants. The following study showed the performance of ‘Romina’, ‘Si...

Organic farming is characterized by the prohibition of the use of chemical synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, feed additives and genetically modified organisms and by the application of sustainable agricultural technologies based on ecological principles and natural rules. Organic products are believed to be more nutritious and safer foods compared...

Thinning and pruning are expensive cultural practices in peach cultivation, but essential to obtain adequate production. This study evaluated the effects of combining two pruning (four and six scaffold branches) and three thinning (low, medium, and high crop load) levels on yield and fruit quality of four different flat peach cultivars, trained as...

In recent decades, the consciousness of consumers regarding the importance of a balanced diet to prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases has significantly increased [...]

Recently, the consumption of healthy foods has been related to the prevention of cardiovascular, degenerative diseases and different forms of cancers, underlying the importance of the diet for the consumer’s health. Fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals that act as protective factors for the human body, through different mechanisms of action...

Background The increasing evidences on the relation between diet and human health are driving the consumers toward the choice of foods with high amount of nutrients, considered the molecules responsible for the regulation of several metabolic and biochemical processes, and for the prevention of many chronic diseases. Among food products, fruits rep...

BACKGROUND Cultivation of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) has been increasing in Europe in recent years, in particular due to the availability of new genotypes suitable for cultivation in many different environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the resilience and nutritional quality of 11 highbush blueberry cultiv...

The determination of strawberry fruit quality through the traditional destructive lab techniques has some limitations related to the amplitude of the samples, the timing and the applicability along all phases of the supply chain. The aim of this study was to determine the main qualitative characteristics through traditional lab destructive techniqu...

The strawberry breeding is now aimed to produce new cultivars combining high plant adaptability and yield with high sensorial and nutritional quality of the fruit. The aim of this study is to assess the breeding progress achieved in 3 backcross generations (BC1, BC2, BC3) from F1 Fragaria x ananassa (Fxa) x F. virginiana glauca (FVG) interspecific...

The growing awareness of the key role of nutrition to human health status has greatly contributed to the spread of a new feeding concept: the functional nutrition. Nowadays, the foods are not exclusively a source of energy for the performance of normal metabolic processes of the body, but also the unique source of bioactive compounds. These compoun...

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the effects of strawberry anthocyanin extracts treatment on two in vitro models of murine breast cancer cell line, trying to detect a specific pathway (AMP-activated protein kinase, or AMPK) through which strawberries exert their anticancer activity. The anticancer activity of anthocyanin purified extract...

Uterine leiom yomas are benign tumors highly prevalent in reproductive women. In thecurrent study, initially, we aimed to screen five different strawberry cultivars (Alba, Clery, Portola, Tecla, and Romina) to identify efficient cultivars in terms of phytochemical characterization and biological properties by measuring phenolic and anthocyanin cont...

BACKGROUND New sweet cherries rootstocks and cultivars can be valorized on the market if they express improved plant yield efficiency and fruit quality, and also including highest content of antioxidant compounds (mainly anthocyanins but also significant amounts of phenolic acids and flavonols). OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to compare the...

Berry fruits are rich in nutrients and polyphenols, providing potential health benefits. Understanding the factors that affect their bioavailability is becoming of utmost importance for evaluating their biological significance and efficacy as functional food. In this study, the phytochemical composition and the total antioxidant capacity of differe...

Skin and chronic wound infections are an increasing and urgent health problem worldwide. Their management is difficult and the development of antibiotic resistance by both planktonic and biofilm-associated bacteria necessitates the use of alternative treatments. The purpose of this study was to compare the antimicrobial activity of four honeys from...

One strain for each species was assessed for its biofilm-forming ability after 24 h. OD690 values above the red line indicate strong biofilm producer strains. The cut-off was deduced as suggested by Stepanovic et al. (2000).

Manuka honey has been widely researched regarding its biological properties, in particular its antimicrobial and antioxidant capacities. We tested the genotoxic and genoprotective properties of Manuka honey, ranging from 25-1000 μg/mL, by performing an in vitro comet assay after exposure to human whole blood. No genotoxic effect on whole blood cell...

We analyzed guava fruits (Psidium guajava L. cv. Red Suprema) from Cuba to determine their chemical composition, total antioxidant capacity, as well as their protective effect against oxidative damage using an in vitro model of human dermal fibroblasts. The guava fruit is a natural source of bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, vitamin C, fola...

Quality of berries is a difficult concept to describe objectively. The aim of this review is, to better define the concept of quality in berries, and summarize the main pre-harvest factors that influence quality of the fruit. Berry quality could be defined as a set of agronomic/commercial, organoleptic and nutritional qualities: the first one compr...

Food fortification through the increase and/or modulation of bioactive compounds has become a major goal for preventing several diseases, including cancer. Here, strawberry lines of cv. Calypso transformed with a construct containing an anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) gene were produced to study the effects on anthocyanin biosynthesis, metabolism and...

Acerola fruits (Malpighia emarginata DC.) from the central region of Cuba were analyzed to determine their chemical composition and protective capacity against oxidative damage using an in vitro model of human dermal fibroblast (HDFa). The chemical composition analyses showed high content of vitamin C, total polyphenols, β-carotene and folates in a...

Regulation of lipid metabolism is essential for treatment and prevention of several chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, which are responsible for most deaths worldwide. It has been demonstrated that the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has a direct impact on lipid metabolism by modulating several downstream-s...

Uterine leiomyomas are highly prevalent benign tumors in reproductive aged women. Unfortunately, medical treatments are still limited and no preventive therapies have been developed. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of strawberry extract on uterine leiomyoma cells. Leiomyoma and myometrial cells were treated with strawb...

A common denominator in the pathogenesis of most chronic inflammatory diseases is the involvement of oxidative stress, related to ROS production by all aerobic organisms. Dietary antioxidants from plant foods represent an efficient strategy to counteract this condition. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effects of strawber...

Commercial strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) are one of the most investigated berries for nutritional and nutraceutical properties. A strawberry breeding program, including inter-specific back-crosses, is now producing new genotypes with increased vitamin C, folates, and phenols combined with important commercial traits. The release of new cultiva...

BACKGROUND: Strawberry, one of the most commonly berries consumed in the Mediterranean diet, is a rich source of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that exert beneficial effects on human health. However, to date, there is a lack of investigation about its cytotoxic effects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the cytotoxicity of...

The two cultivars (Romina and Cristina) recently released from the Marche Polytechnic University (Ancona, Italy) strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) breeding program, show high adaptability to non-fumigated soil. Furthermore, ‘Romina’ showed very early ripening, conic or bi-conic fruit shape, good taste with high sweetness, high firmness and shelf lif...

We describe the biological effects of a polyphenol-rich strawberry extract (PRSE), obtained from the “Alba” variety, on the highly aggressive and invasive basal-like breast cancer cell line A17. Dose-response and time-course experiments showed that PRSE is able to decrease the cellular viability of A17 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. PR...

Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus) plants of a typical landrace (‘Montelupone A’) from the Marche region (Italy) and three commercial cultivars (‘Apollo’, ‘Romanesco C3’, ‘Exploter’) were compared as a detailed analysis of their productive, morphological, qualitative, and nutritional parameters was carried out to characterise the...

Strawberries are highly appreciated for their taste, nutritional value and antioxidant compounds, mainly phenolics. Fruit antioxidants derive from achenes and flesh, but achene contribution to the total fruit antioxidant capacity and to the bioaccessibility after intake is still unknown. In this work, the content of total phenolic compounds, flavon...

Excessive amounts of free radicals are deleterious for cells, resulting in cell damage, affecting the wound healing process and causing premature ageing or even neoplastic transformation. Here the capacity of Manuka honey (MH) to protect against oxidative damage and improve the process of skin wound healing was investigated. Up to 16 compounds were...

The key to obtain high quality processed products with improved appeal for the consumer and/or added value for new market sectors is to use raw materials with high sensorial and nutritional traits. Fruit puree is commonly treated by thermal pasteurisation, although the major limitation of this treatment is the effect on the stability of the nutrien...

AMPK is a serine/threonine protein kinase that has the function of maintaining the balance between ATP production and consumption in most eukaryotic cells. It plays a relevant role in regulating cellular metabolism, preserving cellular energy homeostasis, and is involved in many other cellular processes as well as metabolic ones, including cell cyc...

The results of this research could contribute to a better understanding of the role of food antioxidants against oxidative stress and cell cycle aberrations and may also address some mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative processes thus providing guidance to the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of AD. The potential evidence o...

Berries are a relevant source of micronutrients and nonessential phytochemicals such as polyphenol compounds, that play a synergistic and cumulative role in human health promotion. Several systematic analyses showed that berry phenolics are able to detoxify ROS/RNS blocking their production, to intervene in the cell cycle, participating in the tran...

Honey has been used as a food and medical product since the earliest times. It has been used in many cultures for its medicinal properties, as a remedy for burns, cataracts, ulcers and wound healing, because it exerts a soothing effect when initially applied to open wounds. Depending on its origin, honey can be classified in different categories am...

This study investigates the protective effect of the Sveva strawberry polyphenol-rich extract on human dermal fibroblasts against AAPH-induced oxidative stress. The HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS analysis was used for evaluating the phenolic composition of the fruits. Sveva strawberry presented a high anthocyanin content (639.79 mg per kg fresh fruit), representi...

Strawberry bioactive compounds are widely known to be powerful antioxidants. In this study, the antioxidant and anti-aging activities of a polyphenol-rich strawberry extract were evaluated using human dermal fibroblasts exposed to H2O2. Firstly, the phenol and flavonoid contents of strawberry extract were studied, as well as the antioxidant capacit...

This study evaluated 20 advanced selections, derived from a strawberry inter-specific back-cross program, and their parents, for fruit weight, commercial yield, acidity, sugar content, antioxidant capacity, phenol and anthocyanin content. Phytochemical profiling analysis was performed to determine the compositional characteristics of the improved s...

In the last years, the nutritional quality of fruits has been widely evaluated and requested by consumers, mainly because of the health effects they provide. As known, these benefits can be due to micronutrients, as vitamins and minerals, but also to phenolic compounds, as flavonoids and ellagitannins. In this context, strawberries represent a very...

BACKGROUND: Berries are raising increasing interest in the last years because of their nutritional quality and the several bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties that contain. Many studies reported significant increases in the plasma antioxidant capacity after long term and acute consumptions of antioxidant-rich foods. OBJECTIVE: The aim o...

The strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa, Duch.) represents a relevant source of micronutrients, such as minerals, vitamin C, folate and phenolic substances, most of which are natural antioxidants and contribute to the high nutritional quality of the fruit. All these compounds are essential for health and, in particular, strawberry phenolics are best kn...

The association of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and a reduction in the incidence of several chronic pathologies, including obesity, infections, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and cancer has been often highlighted by many epidemiologic studies. In particular, berries have an important role among fruits because of their high phytoch...