Riccardo Lo Bianco

Università degli Studi di Palermo | UNIPA · Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali (SAAF)

The aim of the Special Issue “Precision Management of Fruit Trees” was to collect new insights to support the adoption of advanced, efficient, and sustainable management techniques in the fruit production sector [...]

Exploiting biodiversity must be considered today an effective strategy to improve the sustainability of olive production systems. The evaluation of local cultivars, based on their vegetative and fruiting traits, along with an analysis of product quality, may contribute significantly to the development and diffusion of new olive-growing systems. The...

This study aimed to characterize physiological and structural responses of potted one-year-old olive trees belonging to two cultivars — 'Nocellara del Belice' and 'Cerasuola' — exposed to prolonged drought under greenhouse conditions. Two irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ET) were imposed for 69 days, i.e., well-watered (WW, 100% E...

Two different olive cultivars grown under a high-density hedgerow system were studied to compare their fruiting and branch architecture features and to determine the possibility to use ‘Calatina’ olive trees for intensive plantings, as a local alternative to the international reference ‘Arbequina’. Weights of two-year-old branches, fruits and leave...

Studying mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit development represents one of the most important aspects for the precise orchard management under non-native environmental conditions. In this work, precision fruit gauges were used to investigate important eco-physiological aspects of fruit growth in two mango cultivars, Keitt (late ripening) and Tommy At...

This study aimed at determining how source-sink balance and phloem/xylem flows affect nectarine fruit growth during development. Different levels of water and assimilate availability to growing fruits were induced in vivo by varying leaf:fruit ratio (L:F) of fruiting shoots and by interrupting the phloem stream (girdling) at the base of entire frui...

This study investigated the effects of deficit irrigation (DI) at different fruit growth stages and tree orientation on fruit quality of ‘September Bright’ nectarines (Prunus persica L. Batsch). Control trees were fully irrigated throughout the entire fruit development period, whereas deficit irrigation was supplied at fruit growth stage I (cell di...

Little is known about the best diurnal irrigation timing for maximum fruit growth in stone fruit, despite fruit size being the most important focus for growers to achieve maximum marketable yield. This study investigated the effects of morning and afternoon irrigation on nectarine fruit growth in stage I (cell division) and stage III (cell expansio...

The objective of fully mechanizing olive harvesting has been pursued since the 1970s to cope with labor shortages and increasing production costs. Only in the last twenty years, after adopting super-intensive planting systems and developing appropriate straddle machines, a solution seems to have been found. The spread of super-intensive plantings,...

The present work studied the effect of two consecutive years of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) compared to rain fed management on the vegetative growth, yield, and quality of ‘Nero d’Avola’ grapes. The trial was conducted separately in two soils (vertisol and entisol) located at the top and bottom hillside of the same vineyard. Vertisol was cha...

To maximize orchard production and tree crop efficiency, optimization of both maximum orchard light interception and radiation distribution within the tree canopy are important strategies. To study the influence of planting density and fruit position within the canopy on oil quality from ‘Cerasuola’ and ‘Koroneiki’ olive (Olea europaea L.), fruits...

A comprehensive characterization of water stress is needed for the development of automated irrigation protocols aiming to increase olive orchard environmental and economical sustainability. The main aim of this study is to determine whether a combination of continuous leaf turgor, fruit growth, and sap flow responses improves the detection of mild...

L’utilizzo di sensori nei frutteti permette di ottenere informazioni in tempo reale sullo stato idrico della pianta per promuovere una gestione irrigua sostenibile, senza influenzare le rese produttive. Tuttavia, le tecnologie in commercio devono essere perfezionate affinché si ottengano sensori meno invasivi e che forniscano dati integrabili tra d...

Sustainable irrigation is crucial to reduce water use and management costs in modern orchard systems. Continuous plant-based sensing is an innovative approach for the continuous monitoring of plant water status. Olive (Olea europaea L.) genotypes can respond to drought using different leaf and fruit physiological and morphological mechanisms. This...

Water scarcity in the Mediterranean area is very common and understanding responses to drought is important for loquat management and production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of drought on the growth and metabolism of loquat. Ninety two-year-old plants of ‘Marchetto’ loquat grafted on quince were grown in the greenhouse in...

Climate, soil and tree water status, fruit yields and quality of 'Valencia' orange trees were monitored over five consecutive seasons (2007-2012) to study the effects of irrigation placement or volume. Three irrigation treatments were imposed: conventional irrigation (CI, 100% of crop evapotranspiration on both sides of the rootzone), partial rootz...

Studying the sensory profile and chemical composition of monovarietal extra-virgin olive oils (EVOOs) is important to define and manage their quality and uniqueness. Chemical and sensory traits of olive oils from 14 minor Sicilian olive genotypes in comparison with oils from six major Sicilian and three international cultivars were analysed. Oils w...

In this work, both analytical and sensory determinations were carried out to evaluate the quality of yellow (‘Summerset‘, ‘Tardiva 2000‘, ‘Fairtime”, ‘Guglielmina’) and white flesh (‘Daniela’) late-ripening peach and nectarine (‘California’ and ‘Fairlane’) cultivars. Analytical measurements included weight, diameter, soluble solid content, titratab...

Conventional irrigation management is often inefficient in responding to seasonal changes of tree water needs. The use of leaf- and fruit-based sensors might provide helpful insights on tree water status, although they have been poorly investigated so far. Fruit gauges and leaf patch clamp pressure (LPCP) probes were tested during stage I of nectar...

Although some mechanisms of leaf dehydration tolerance are known in olive (Olea europaea L.), insights on adjustments in stem and root hydraulic conductance (K) in response to drought are yet to be explored. This work investigated transpiration mechanisms and K regulations in two olive genotypes showing different sensitivity to drought stress. In 2...

Continuous assessment of plant water status indicators provides the most precise information for irrigation management and automation, as plants represent an interface between soil and atmosphere. This study investigated the relationship of plant water status to continuous fruit diameter (FD) and inverse leaf turgor pressure rates (p p) in nectarin...

Background – Partial rootzone drying is an irrigation strategy known for increasing water use efficiency without significantly affecting tree water status. ‘Valencia’ oranges have a very long development period and nearly mature fruit and new fruitlets may be present at the same time on the tree, competing for water and assimilates. Objectives – Th...

Predicting apple yield in relation to tree water use is important for irrigation planning and evaluation. The aim of the present study was to identify measurable variables related to tree water use that could predict final fruit yield of apple trees under different strategies of deficit irrigation. Adult ‘Gala’ and ‘Fuji’ apple trees were exposed t...

In 2014, an olive germplasm collection was established in south-western Sicily, Italy. The collection included 153 Sicilian accessions and 3 international varieties (reference), each with 7 trees, spaced at 5 x 2 m and trained to hedgerow system . The aim of the trial was to study early growth and yield responses of the accessions to super-high pla...

This study evaluated the effect of long-term partial rootzone drying and continuous deficit irrigation on the degree of alternate bearing of adult ‘Valencia’ orange trees grown in northern Sicily. Three irrigation strategies were imposed in summer from 2007 to 2011: irrigation with volumes corresponding to 100% of crop evapotranspiration applied to...

In Italy, the evaluation of rootstocks is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and carried out in a network of trials along the Country. This study evaluated growth and yield performance of ‘Big Top’ nectarine and ‘Rome Star’ peach grafted on six rootstocks of different origin and vigor, namely GF677 (the most widespread in Italy), Garnem, Ades...

Digital image analysis and multivariate data analysis were used in this study to identify a set of leaf and fruit morphometric traits to discriminate white mulberry (Morus alba L.) cultivars. The trial was conducted using three- to five-year-old potted cuttings of several white mulberry cultivars. 32 leaf morphometric descriptors were recorded in 2...

Although some mechanisms of leaf dehydration tolerance are known in olive (Olea europaea L.), insights on adjustments in stem and root hydraulic conductance (K) in response to drought are yet to be explored. This work investigated transpiration mechanisms and K regulations in two olive genotypes showing different sensitivity to drought stress. In 2...

Conventional irrigation management is often inefficient in responding to seasonal changes of tree water needs. The use of leaf- and fruit-based sensors might provide helpful insights on tree water status, although they have been poorly investigated so far. Fruit gauges and leaf patch clamp pressure (LPCP) probes were tested during stage I of nectar...

Climate, soil water potential (SWP), leaf relative water content (RWC), stem water potential (WPstem), stomatal conductance (gs), trunk, shoot and fruit growth of ‘Valencia’ orange trees were monitored during five consecutive seasons (2007–2012) to study water status and growth responses to irrigation placement or volume. 48 adult trees were expose...

The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological responses of pistachio trees to varying water supply in the attempt to identify reliable parameters to manage irrigation. Three different irrigation regimes were applied to 25-year-old pistachio trees of cultivar ‘Bianca’ on P. terebinthus rootstock. Midday stem water potential (ΨSWP), leaf...

Key message The four olive genotypes exhibited different responses to drought involving leaf drop andgsreductions (broad-leaved genotypes, good leaf hydration); or growth reductions (narrow-leaved genotypes, dehydration tolerance). There was minor effect on carbohydrate levels. Abstract Olive plants of broad-leaved ‘Minuta’ (MN) and ‘Nocellara del...

The most important problem in world citrus production is the bacterial disease Huanglongbing (HLB; greening) which is caused by a phloem-limited bacterium that is vectored by a phloem-feeding psyllid. The earliest visible symptoms of HLB in leaves are an asymmetrical chlorosis referred to as “blotchy mottle”, thought to be from starch accumulation...

The phenolic profiles of six varieties of Avocado (Persea americana) grown in Sicily were investigated. UHPLC-HESI-MS method was developed to determine qualitative and quantitative changes in fruits at two different ripening stage. Nineteen individual phenolic compounds were detected in avocado pulp extracts. Gallic acid, sinapinic acid, vanillin,...

The peach x almond hybrid GF 677 is a vigorous rootstock widely used for peach across Italy. However, despite its high production and adaptation to various soil and environmental conditions, this rootstock may induce excessive vigor and decrease fruit quality. Today, modern peach industry demands rootstocks which combine: (a) reduced vigor, suitabl...

Background: Effects of continuous deficit irrigation (DI) and partial rootzone drying (PRD) treatments (50% ETc) in comparison with full irrigation (CI, 100% ETc) were investigated during 'Valencia' orange fruit maturation. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, high-resolution mass spectrometry was used to quantify hesperidin, narirutin, t...

Recently, as a consequence of climate change, water became one of the most limiting factors for plant growth. This led to the necessity of using more sensitive and precise tools in order to improve irrigation management. In this work two continuous monitoring systems were tested on ‘Nocellara del Belice’ (NB) and SAF10 olive genotypes. ZIM-probes w...

Background In order to evaluate the effect of HLB on quality components and flavonoid contents of ‘Valencia’ oranges, fruit from non-infected trees (control), from infected trees but symptom-less (asymptomatic) and from infected trees and showing clear HLB symptoms (symptomatic) were harvested in March and in May, 2013. Fruit peel, pulp and juice w...

Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Miller) is a CAM plant with an extraordinary capacity to store water in its succulent stems (cladodes). However, the daily variations of cladode thickness is unknown. Studying cladode thickness fluctuations may be useful for the early prediction of plant dehydration stress. The objective of this study was to det...

This study evaluated the effect of foliar biostimulants on fruit quality of adult 'Valencia' orange and 'Biancolilla' olive trees. Half of the selected orange and olive trees were sprayed twice before harvest with the SUNRED® commercial mix containing phenylalanine, methionine, mono-saccharides and oxylipins from plant extracts as well as potassium...

Peach trees trained to modified spanish bush (MSB) and Y-trellis (Y) were evaluated and compared in the Mediterranean settings of southern Italy. The observations included two peach (Rich May and Summer Rich) and two nectarine (Big Bang and Nectaross) cultivars. In the MSB system, trees were spaced at 4.5 × 3 2.5 m (888 trees/ha), whereas in the Y...

Dermal carotenoids are a good indicator of antioxidant status in the body. This study aimed to determine whether regular consumption of orange juice could increase dermal carotenoids. Two types of orange juice, obtained from regularly (CI) and partially (PRD) irrigated trees, were tested to reveal any possible association between juice and dermal c...

Preliminary field trials with foliar applications of phenylalanine, methionine, oxylipins and sugars have shown improvements of external color, sugar content and uniformity of maturation in grapes, pome fruits, tomatoes and melons. In this study, we hypothesized that similar improvements could be obtained both in fruit of 'Trabia' and 'Sanfilippara...

Water scarcity in the Mediterranean areas is very common and understanding responses to drought is important for loquat management and production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of water deficit on growth and biomass partitioning of loquat. Ninety 1-year-old plants of 'Marchetto' loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) grafted o...

The most important worldwide problem in citrus production is the bacterial disease Huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening) caused by a phloem-limited bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. The earliest visible symptoms of HLB on leaves are vein yellowing and an asymmetrical chlorosis referred to as "blotchy mottle," thought to be the result of s...

Two peach planting systems, Small Vase (SV) and Y-trellis (Y), were evaluated and compared in the Mediterranean settings of Southern Italy. The two orchards were located next to each other on relatively uniform soil and terrain, and the observations included two peach (Rich May and Summer Rich) and two nectarine (Big Bang and Nectaross) cultivars....

A three-year trial was carried out to evaluate the vegetative and productive performance of five peach rootstocks of varied vigor. The study was conducted in south-western Sicily using 45 V-trained trees of 'Tropic Snow' peach planted in 2005 and grafted on GF677 and four low-vigor rootstocks selected at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Env...

The phenology of two local peach genotypes was studied to verify whether peaches can be produced in the Tanzanian uplands. Observations were conducted on trees of one early- and one late-ripening peach genotype in 2010 and 2011. Temperature trends were reconstructed and three chilling estimation models were tested. The two peach genotypes differed...

The role of mannitol and malic acid in the regulation of diurnal leaf water relations was investigated in ‘Biancolilla’ (high-mannitol) and ‘Cerasuola’ (low-mannitol) olive trees. Photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), stomatal conductance (g s ), transpiration rate (T), relative water content (RWC), mannitol and m...

Leaf and fruit size and shape were measured and mannitol, glucose, sucrose and malic acid were quantified in leaf, bark and fruit of 25 Sicilian olive genotypes. Multivariate analysis was used to individuate groups with similar chemical composition and morphological traits suggesting potential for stress tolerance and/or oil yield and quality. Mann...

A six-year trial was carried out to evaluate the vegetative and productive performance of low-chill, early-ripening ‘Tropic Snow’ peach grown on five peach × almond rootstocks, different for their vigor. The study was conducted in south-western Sicily using 45 V-trained peach trees planted in 2005 and grafted on GF677, the most common rootstock in...

The most important worldwide problem in citrus production is the bacterial disease Huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening) caused by a phloem-limited bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. The earliest visible symptoms of HLB on leaves are vein yellowing and an asymmetrical chlorosis referred to as ‘‘blotchy mottle,’’ thought to be the result of...

Water scarcity in the Mediterranean areas is very common and the selection of drought tolerant species is a priority for landscaping purposes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of water deficit on growth and biomass partitioning of Arbutus unedo, Laurus nobilis, Phillyrea angustifolia and Rhamnus alaternus. Seventy-two seedling...

Water limitations in the Mediterranean areas are very common and the use of saline water for plant irrigation is becoming a necessity. Salinity generally affects plant growth and physiological processes, and can eventually lead to leaf injuries and plant death. For these reasons, the selection of salt tolerant species is a priority for landscaping...

Partial root-zone drying (PRD) is a relatively recent strategy aiming at substantial reduction of irrigation volume. It consists of the alternate irrigation of one portion of the root-zone with volumes reduced to about 40-50% of conventional water. PRD is based on the ability of roots in drying soil to produce hormonal signals, like abscissic acid...

Water limitations in the Mediterranean areas are very common and the use of saline water for plant irrigation is becoming a necessity. Salinity generally affects plant growth and physiological processes, and can eventually lead to leaf injuries and plant death. For these reasons, the selection of salt tolerant species is a priority also for landsca...

Climate, soil water potential (SWP), leaf relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (g(s)), fruit and shoot growth, and carbohydrate levels were monitored during the 2008 and 2009 growing seasons to study the responses of 'Gala' and 'Fuji' apple trees to irrigation placement or volume. Three irrigation treatments were imposed, conventional...

Increasing irrigation efficiency is a major goal for fruit production in dry Mediterranean environments. The present study was conducted in three consecutive years (2007–09) under typical Mediterranean conditions and tested the effect of partial rootzone drying (PRD) on yield and fruit quality of two apple cultivars: Gala, with fruit maturing in su...

La coltivazione del pesco nell’altopiano di Udzungwa in Tanzania risale agli inizi del XX secolo e ancora oggi rappresenta un’opportunità per aumentare l’apporto nutritivo alla popolazione locale. Questo studio preliminare mira a caratterizzare la climatologia del luogo in rapporto al comportamento fenologico di genotipi locali derivati da vecchie...

The effects of partial rootzone drying (PRD) and rootstock vigour on dry matter accumulation and partitioning among leaves, shoots, fruits, frame and roots of apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh. cvar Pink Lady) were investigated in 2005 near Caltavuturo, in Sicily. In a first field trial, trees on MM.106 rootstock were subjected to: conventional ir...

Several apple varieties are constantly selected for improved quality traits and introduced for cultivation and marketing in addition to a few traditional and affirmed varieties. Recently, specific fruit quality traits like enhanced flavor, crispness and juiciness have been particularly requested by consumers and are gradually replacing more convent...