Massimiliano D'ImperioItalian National Research Council | CNR · Institute of Sciences of Food Production ISPA
Massimiliano D'Imperio
Ph.D
About
32
Publications
7,097
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546
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Additional affiliations
September 2016 - present
September 2014 - July 2015
Position
- PhD Student
Description
- Silicon and bone
January 2013 - June 2016
Position
- PhD Student
Description
- Biofortification plant for human nutrition (Silicon, Calcium and Iodine) Biofortification in silicon and evaluate the bioaccessibility, bioavailability and biological activity.
Education
February 2009 - July 2012
October 2005 - December 2008
Publications
Publications (32)
It has been widely assessed that the quality and quantity of nutrient supply and the growing system can strongly affect the growth and development of plants, the nutritional quality, and the levels of minerals, phytochemicals, and vitamins. The study was conducted on leaves of wild rockets grown in soil and soilless to examine the effect of growing...
Golden thistle (Scolymus hispanicus L.) is a wild edible plant belonging to Asteraceae family, with a great potential for food applications. The aim of this study was to identify the best cooking procedure able to provide a high-quality, ready-to-use product. For this purpose, leaf midribs (the most used edible part of the plant) were cooked by boi...
Propelled by an ever-growing awareness about the importance of following dietary recommendations meeting specific biological requirements linked to a person health status, interest in personalized nutrition is on the rise. Soilless biofortification of vegetables has opened the door to the potential for adapting vegetable production to specific diet...
The world population is projected to increase to 9.9 billion by 2050 and, to ensure food security and quality, agriculture must sustainably multiply production, increase the nutritional value of fruit and vegetables, and preserve genetic variability. In this work, an Apulian landrace of Cucumis melo L. called “Carosello leccese” was grown in a gree...
Zinc (Zn) is an essential key nutrient in different biochemical and physiological processes. The nutritional deficit of this mineral element is estimated to affect the health of over 3 billion people worldwide. Several strategies are available to reduce the negative impact of mineral malnutrition; among them, biofortification is the practice of del...
Zinc (Zn) plays a crucial role for human health. Zn deficiency is a common problem worldwide, causing health problems specifically related with detrimental effects on immune system. In this study we used hydroponic floating system and nutrient solutions (NS) with different levels of Zn (0.13 – control, 1.3, 2.6 and 5.2 mg/L Zn) in order to test a b...
To address sustainability challenges, agricultural advances in Mediterranean horticultural systems will necessitate a paradigmatic shift toward smart technologies, the impacts of which from a life cycle perspective have to be explored. Using life cycle thinking approaches, this study evaluated the synergistic environmental and economic performance...
Real-time monitoring of substrate parameters in the root-zone through dielectric sensors is considered a promising and feasible approach for precision irrigation and fertilization management of greenhouse soilless vegetable crops. This research investigates the effects of timer-based (TIMER) compared with dielectric sensor-based irrigation manageme...
The aim of this study was to test Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile seagrass residues (leaves and fibers) as growing media component to improve the nutritional quality of two different brassica microgreens (Mizuna and Rapini). We hypothesized that addition of posidonia residues in the substrate would result in higher concentration of certain mineral n...
One of the challenges for agriculture in the coming years will be producing more food avoiding reducing the nutritional values of fruits and vegetables, sources of nutraceutical compounds. It has been demonstrated that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used as a supplementary light (SL) technology improve tomato yield in Mediterranean greenhouses, but f...
Anaerobic digestion represents an interesting approach to produce biogas from organic waste materials contaminated by mycotoxins. In this study a shotgun metagenomic analysis of lab-scale bioreactors fed with mycotoxin-contaminated silage has been carried out to characterize the evolution of microbial community under the operating conditions and th...
A biotechnological protocol to produce a focaccia (a typical Italian flat bread) without bakers' yeast addition and with reduced salt was developed, to meet the current needs of the consumer. Based on its leavening capability, the Leuconostoc citreum strain C2.27 was selected to be used as a starter instead of the baker's yeast and inoculated in a...
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is a wild edible plant, traditionally consumed in the Mediterranean area and recently proposed as a new ready-to-eat vegetable; it is also called the “vegetable for long life” because of the high contents of several healthy compounds. Although boron (B) is not considered to be essential for humans, a daily intake of...
The Opuntia ficus indica (L.) (OFI) is used as a nutritional and pharmaceutical agent in various dietary and value added products. This study underlines the possible use of native prickly pear cladode powder as a functional ingredient for health-promoting food production. To summarise, chemical characterization of polyphenols, minerals and soluble...
Barattiere, belonging to the Cucumis melo L. species, is a local variety of Puglia (Southern Italy), which is consumed as a vegetable at the immature stage, like cucumber. In this study, three Barattiere populations (‘Monopoli’, ‘Carovigno’ and ‘Fasano’) were evaluated for the main quality traits. All genotypes showed a very light green-yellow colo...
Living mulch gives many benefits to agro-ecosystems such as erosion control, nitrogen fixation and nutrient recycling, increasing of organic matter, weed and pest control, and increasing of soil organism. The experiment, carried out in Puglia, Southern Italy on transplanted broccoli raab (cv. Grossa fasanese), evaluated four soil management systems...
Tailored foods are specifically suitable for target groups of people with particular nutritional needs. Although most research on tailored foods has been focused on increasing the nutrient content in plant tissues (biofortification), in populations with specific physiological conditions, it is recommended to reduce the uptake of specific nutrients...
Puglia (Southern Italy), particularly rich in tomato agro-biodiversity, can be considered a typical region of the semi-arid Mediterranean environments. In this study, three local varieties of tomato (Manduria, Giallo di Crispiano and Regina) were characterized by using morphological descriptors according to international standards. Chemical (isopre...
Article available at: https://rdcu.be/bCCrb
A high-precision exact-matching quadruple isotope dilution method (ID⁴MS) was employed for the quantitation of nitrate in an air-dried spinach powder Certified Reference Material (CRM). The analyte was extracted in hot water following addition of ¹⁵NO\({}_{3}^{-}\) internal standard. The blend was then t...
The use of iodine-biofortified vegetables may be a health alternative instead of iodine-biofortified salt for preventing iodine (I) deficiency and related human disorders. In this study, four Brassica genotypes (broccoli raab, curly kale, mizuna, red mustard) were hydroponically grown with three I-IO3− rates (0, 0.75 and 1.5 mg/L) to produce iodine...
Knowledge about quantitative and qualitative characterization of phytochemical contents in Asteraceae leafy vegetables is continuously increasing due to the strong interest from scientists and consumers. This chapter deals with leafy vegetables of Lactuca sativa, Cichorium intybus and C. endivia species, given their relevance within the botanical f...
Regina tomato, a locally cultivated Italian landrace, is listed as an item in the ‘List of Traditional Agri-Food Products’ of the Italian Department for Agriculture and itemised as ‘Slow Food presidium’ by the Slow Food Foundation. It is classified as a long-storage tomato since it can be preserved for several months after harvest thanks to its thi...
The effects of saline stress on the silicon (Si) tissue enrichment (Si biofortification) of ready-to-eat “baby leaf” chicory in hydroponic floating system were studied. Four combinations of Si and NaCl levels in the nutrient solution were compared: i) 0 mM Si - 0 mM NaCl (‘Control’); ii) 3.6 Si - 0 NaCl (‘Si’); iii) 0 Si - 50 NaCl (‘NaCl’); and iv)...
The “Carota di Polignano” (Polignano Carrot – PC, Daucus carota L.) is a multi-colored landrace, cultivated in the Southern Italy, whose colors range from yellow to purple. Iodine is an essential micronutrient for humans, since it is a key component of thyroid hormones, which regulate the growth and development of the human body. The main source fo...
Asparagus represents a nutritious and refined food being very popular to consumers. The effects on the quality of spears cooked by conventional (boiling, steaming and microwaving) and different sous vide (using hot water or microwave) methods were analyzed. Physical, chemical and sensory traits were compared. Microwaving caused the largest weight c...
Food industries are increasingly oriented toward new foods to improve nutritional status and/or to combat nutritional deficiency diseases. In this context, silicon biofortification could be an innovative tool for obtaining new foods with possible positive effects on bone mineralization. In this paper, an alternative and quick in vitro approach was...
Food plants biofortification for micronutrients is a tool for the nutritional value improvement of food. Soilless cultivation systems, with the optimal control of plant nutrition, represent a potential effective technique to increase the beneficial element content in plant tissues. Silicon (Si), which proper intake is recently recommended for its b...
Calcium is an essential nutrient for human health, because it is a structural component and takes part in a variety of biological processes. The aim of this study was to increase Ca content of baby leaf vegetables (BLV: basil, mizuna, tatsoi and endive), as fresh-cut products. For the production of biofortified BLV, a floating system with two level...
Background
The mineral silicon (Si) is an essential element for humans and a general component of the diet found mainly in plant-based foods. The aim of this study was to obtain Si biofortificated leafy vegetables (tatsoi, mizuna, purslane, basil, swiss chard, and chicory) to use for the IV gamma products (ready to use). For the biofortified plants...
Questions
Question (1)
Dear Colleagues,
Biofortification is the process used to increase the concentration of a nutrient in edible portions of plants through genetic selection or agronomic intervention. A novel challenge in agriculture is the production of tailored foods, i.e. foods specifically suitable for target groups of people with particular nutritional needs. In the future, approaches should therefore consider innovative agronomics methods including soilless systems; the application of tailored radiation wavelengths and levels; and biofortification by using nanocarriers, nanoparticles, and/or natural organic matrices as a natural source of essential elements for human health. Finally, possible
secondary effects, such as altered content of other nutrients and antinutrient compounds and effects during post-harvest including long-term storage of produce, as well as the bioavailability of the nutrient in the biofortified crop, need to be considered.
In this Special Issue, contributions, including original research and review articles, are welcome.
Guest Editors
