Rosario Mauro

University of Catania | UNICT · Department of Agriculture

Hidden hunger is a worldwide problem, with iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) deficiency being the most common causes of mineral deficiency. Vegetable biofortification is an effective strategy to fight mineral deficiency, especially when commonly consumed vegetables are utilized, as in the case of carrots. This biofortification study aimed to investigate the...

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) represents the world’s main root crop. Its fleshy taproot is very common in western diets, being consumed as fresh vegetable or in form of processed products. Because of its composition and high per capita consumption, carrot is a valuable dietary source of carotenoids, polyphenols and minerals, thus further improving its...

Iron (Fe) biofortification is a strategy to increase the amount of iron in food crops. The goal of this work was to assess the possibility of maximizing the Fe content in cherry tomatoes grown in a soilless system. The cultivar Creativo was grown with three concentrations of Fe (as Fe-HBED) in the nutrient solution (0.022, 1, and 2 mmol L−1), and r...

The present experiment addressed the effects of different iron (Fe) concentrations in the nutrient solution supplied as Fe-HBED, i.e., 0.02 (Fe0, control), 1.02 (Fe1), and 2.02 mmol L−1 (Fe2) on lettuce (‘Nauplus’ and ‘Romana’) yield and compositional traits. This experiment was carried out in a greenhouse using an open soilless cultivation system,...

The present experiment addressed the effects of two phosphorus regimes (30 and 90 kg ha−1, hereafter P30 and P90) on yield and composition of eggplant fruits in ‘Birgah’ and ‘Dalia’, whether or not these cultivars were grafted onto Solanum torvum ‘Espina’. The P30 regime did not reduce yield, and promoted fruits’ dry matter and total phenols conten...

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of the application of a plant-derived biostimulant (Bioup® TF) on fruit quality and composition of two clusters (cluster II and cluster VI) of the cherry tomato cultivars ‘Eletta’, ‘Kaucana’, and ‘Top Stellina’. The biostimulant application promoted fruit yield by 12% (up to 1.3 kg m⁻² in ‘...

Over the last few decades, the improvement of tomato aroma and flavour has gained growing attention among breeders, agronomists and food technologists, as it is reputed as a key tool to further consolidate tomato consumption in the global market. However, this represents a difficult task, since more than 400 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) differ...

Vegetable landraces represent the main source of biodiversity in Sicily. Lagenaria siceraria is appreciated by Southern Mediterranean consumers for its immature fruits and young shoots. Plant-based biostimulants supply, such as seaweed extract (SwE), is a contemporary and green agricultural practice applied to ameliorate the yield and quality of ve...

Human iodine (I) shortage disorders are documented as an imperative world-wide health issue for a great number of people. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends I consumption through ingestion of seafood and biofortified food such as vegetables. The current work was carried out to appraise the effects of different I concentrations (0, 50, 2...

The biological properties of growing media (GM) in soilless cultivation have been considered minor traits for decades. However, there is a growing demand for alternative, cheaper GM constituents, characterized by organic origin. A better understanding of the biological processes of GM is a key factor in developing improved functional properties in...

Dry direct-seeded rice is an alternative cropping technique that should require less water and labor than the classical method of transplanted-flooded rice. Weed competition is the major biological constraint in this resource-conserving production technique reducing the crop yield by 30-80%. This study evaluated the effects of different seed coatin...

Copper (Cu) is an essential metal for plants. However, its excess in soil can adversely affect plant metabolism. The current study evaluated the effects of gibberellic acid (GA3) foliar applications on the performance of pea plants grown either in Cu-contaminated (Cu+) and non-contaminated (Cu−) soil. GA3 was sprayed (0, 10, 50, and 100 mg·L−1) on...

Abstract: Temperature is a key factor influencing plant growth and productivity, however sudden increases in temperature can cause severe consequences in terms of crop performance. We evaluated the influence of elementary sulfur application on the physiology and growth of two tomato genotypes ("Ahmar" and "Roma") grown in two growth chambers (at 25...

Vegetables represent pillars of good nutrition since they provide important phytochemicals such as fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, as well as minerals. Biofortification proposes a promising strategy to increase the content of specific compounds. As minerals have important functionalities in the human metabolism, the possibility of enriching fresh co...

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is essential for adequate earliness and the commercial attractiveness of carrots, but its excess could generate fast decay during postharvest, mostly in bunched carrots exhibiting their highly perishable leaves. A field experiment was conducted over the 2016–2017 growing season to address the effects of two N fertilizatio...

Grafting is a valuable tool for managing problems of tomato soil-borne pathogens and pests, but often generates unpredictable effects on crop yield and product quality. To observe these rootstocks-induced changes, experimental designs including many rootstock-scion combinations are required. To this end, a greenhouse experiment was conducted on 63...

The experiment addressed the effects of two storage temperatures, namely 10 (T 10) and 20 • C (T 20), on main quality and functional traits of three cherry tomato cultivars ('Eletta', 'Sugarland' and 'Ottymo'), after 0 (S 0), 7 (S 7) and 14 (S 14) days of storage. At T 10 both fruit weight and firmness were better retained during storage. At S 14 ,...

The vegetable production sector is currently fronting several issues mainly connected to the increasing demand of high quality food produced in accordance with sustainable horticultural technologies. The application of biostimulants, particularly protein hydrolysates (PHs), might be favorable to optimize water and mineral uptake and plant utilizati...

This study was conducted to comparatively assess the effects of fertilization typology (organic, inorganic, and biofertilization) on the growth, yield, and compositional profile of Jew's mallow. The experiment was carried out over two growing seasons, under semi-arid climate conditions on silty loam soil. We adopted three fertilization strategies:...

Agronomic fortification with microelement as well as macronutrients has been used in recent years with increasing frequency to improve the nutritional quality of plant products for human consumption. Here the influence of pre-harvest foliar micronutrients fertilization (Micro+) including B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo and Zn compared to control (Micro−) on mine...

The seed industry and farmers have challenges, which include the production of poor quality and non-certified tomato seed, which ultimately results in decreased crop production. The issue carefully demands pre-sowing treatments using exogenous chemical plant growth-promoting substances. Therefore, to mitigate the above-stated problem, a series of e...

Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. is a plant used both as spice or as traditional herbal medicine. Its cultivation is expected to grow in the future, driven by the growing interest toward nutraceuticals and alternative medicine. Mediterranean Region is amply characterized by salt irrigation water, so posing limitations to the introduction of...

Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. is a plant used both as spice or as traditional herbal medicine. Its cultivation is expected to grow in the future, driven by the growing interest toward nutraceuticals and alternative medicine. Mediterranean Region is amply characterized by salt irrigation water, so posing limitations to the introduction of...

Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. is a plant used both as spice or as traditional herbal medicine. Its cultivation is expected to grow in the future, driven by the growing interest toward nutraceuticals and alternative medicine. Mediterranean Region is amply characterized by salt irrigation water, so posing limitations to the introduction of...

The present experiment addressed the effects of two harvest stages, namely breaker (S1) and turning (S2), on compositional and sensory profile of grafted, greenhouse elongated tomatoes cv. “Sir Elyan”. The rootstocks “He-Man”, “Interpro”, and “Armstrong” were used. The S1 fruits showed a higher dry matter content, firmness and titratable acidity wh...

Imminent necessity for eco-friendly and low-cost substitutes to peat is a defiance in the soilless plant cultivation systems. Wood biochar could entirely or partly substitute peat as a plant growing constituent to produce vegetables. Nevertheless, knowledge concerning potential plant performance of leafy green vegetables grown on wood biochar is re...

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of the O2 root zone level and grafting on chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthesis and growth of cherry tomato grown in a hydroponic system. Two O2 concentrations in the root zone, namely Ox (saturation level) and Ox- (2–3 mg L−1), were applied for 30 days on self-grafted cherry tomato Drea...

The bio-agronomical response, along with the arsenic (As) translocation and partitioning were investigated in self-grafted melon ′’Proteo′’, or grafted onto three interspecific (’‘RS841′’, ‘‘Shintoza′’, and ′’Strong Tosa′’) and two intraspecific hybrids (′’Dinero′’ and ′’Magnus′’). Plants were grown in a soilless system and exposed to two As concen...

The influence of ripening stage was evaluated on fruit characteristics of three widely cultivated eggplant cultivars (Birgah, Black Bell and Black Moon), with the aim to characterize their fruit residual waste for phytochemicals extraction. At overripening stage, eggplant fruits showed the highest average weight, dry matter content and weight incid...

Quality and chemical composition of two fresh-cut cauliflower cultivars (the white type ‘Flamenco’ and the green type ‘Monteverde’), grown in a soilless system with two electrical conductivities of the nutrient solutions (2.0 and 4.0 dS m⁻¹), were investigated in order to evaluate the effect of salinity on product characteristics and shelf-life dur...

Scientific Reports 6 : Article number: 19427 10.1038/srep19427 ; published online: 20 January 2016 ; updated: 23 May 2016 . In this Article, there are typographical errors in the legend of Figure 5.

Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) is an out-crossing, perennial, multi-use crop species that is grown worldwide and belongs to the Compositae, one of the most successful Angiosperm families. We describe the first genome sequence of globe artichoke. The assembly, comprising of 13,588 scaffolds covering 725 of the 1,084 Mb genome, wa...

The bracts of the globe artichoke inflorescence vary in their pigmentation and the extent of fleshy thorn development. Here, a genetic analysis of these two traits is presented, based on a pre-existing and well-characterized mapping population derived from a cross between a globe artichoke variety and a cultivated cardoon. While both traits appeare...

Cover crops can offer significant advantages in the agronomic management of citrus orchards in Mediterranean environments. Therefore, a three-year research was conducted in eastern Sicily aimed at studying the effects of four cover crop sequences (Sinapis arvensis-Trigonella foenum-graecum-T. foenum-graecum; Medicago scutellata-Avena sativa-Lolium...

Two globe artichoke cultivars (Violet de Provence and Apollo) were harvested at an experimental field in Sicily, immediately washed with ozonised water and stored in: i) normal atmosphere; ii) ozone-enriched atmosphere for 3 days and for the last 4 days in normal atmosphere; iii) ozone-enriched atmosphere for 7 days. A control (samples unwashed and...

The potential ability in terms of biomass, achenes, oil and energy yield of two Cynara cardunculus L. genotypes (one cultivated cardoon and one wild cardoon) was evaluated along a 7-year experiment. It was carried out in a marginal farmland of Southern Italy, with low soil fertility and minimal external inputs. Under these conditions, they reached...

Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus), whose immature inflorescences (capitula) are consumed as a vegetable all over the world, contributes significantly to the agricultural economy of the Mediterranean basin. Here, we describe a QTL (quantitative trait loci) analysis aimed at elucidating the mode of inheritance of seven main and first...

Cynara cardunculus (Asteraceae, 2n=2x=34, genome size: 1,06 Gbp) is an out-crossing perennial species which includes the cultivated forms: globe artichoke and domesticated cardoon. The globe artichoke leading producing country is Italy, but production of the crop is spreading to the Americas and to China. Due to its high heterozigosity and marked i...

The morphological (using International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) descriptors) and field performance of five clones selected from the globe artichoke landrace Spinoso di Palermo were determined over two seasons, and their amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) profiles detected using seven primer combinations...

The morphological (using International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) descriptors) and field performance of five clones selected from the globe artichoke landrace Spinoso di Palermo were determined over two seasons, and their amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) profiles detected using seven primer combinations...

Cover cropping is a technique known since ancient times and has been used in civilizations that are distant from each other in both space and time as a tool to improve soil fertility and to ensure yield stability. Over recent years, the growing side effects of intensive agriculture have stimulated a renewed attention toward cover crops, because of...

Annual medics and clovers have distinct properties in terms of usage as cover crops in Mediterranean orchards, but little is known of their capacity to adapt to the level of shading encountered on an orchard floor. A 2-year field experiment was conducted in South–Eastern Sicily to investigate the effects of withholding 0·50 of sunlight on the pheno...

The ligno-cellulosic biomass of Cynara cardunculus has great potential for the production of renewable energy. Its caloric values does not significantly differ among the cultivated and wild forms of the species, however, the yield expressed in total energy obtainable by 1 ha of crop is greater for cultivated cardoon due to its higher biomass produc...

In Sicily, the increasing use of exotic globe artichoke germplasm is eroding the presence of autochthonous landraces, including the long established 'Violetto di Sicilia'. Ten clones have emerged from a clonal selection program in this landrace, and here we describe their variation at the level of AFLP-based genotype and phenotypically with respect...

The globe artichoke could represent a valuable source of nutritional compounds (e.g., polyphenols and minerals). In literature it is documented that the capitulum, including bracts, is characterized by a high content of minerals, whereas no systemic studies on the variation of mineral content are available about the floral stem, that, if properly p...

Two F1 progenies involving the cross of the globe artichoke genotype Romanesco C3 by the cultivated cardoon 'Altilis 41' as well as the wild cardoon 'Creta 4' were generated; the former allowed to construct the first cultivated cardoon map which was integrated with the one of globe artichoke. A wide set of SSR loci derived from ESTs was positioned...

Efficient fertilization is a central topic in sustainable agriculture since fertilization strongly influences both crop performances and environmental impact. In several Mediterranean regions, globe artichoke fertilization is still empirically oriented toward nitrogen overdressing and insufficient phosphorus supply. To date, there is a lack of syst...