Zina Flagella

University of Foggia | UNIFG · Department of Agriculture Food Natural Resources and Engineering (DAFNE)

The gut microbiota plays a key role in health and disease, but it could be affected by various factors (diet, lifestyle, environment, genetics, etc.). Focusing on diet, while the role of the different styles and choices (Mediterranean vs. Western diet, vegan or vegetarian diets) has been extensively studied, there are a few comprehensive papers on...

Mitigation practices for cereal systems, including conservation agriculture and low emission fertilization, are required to face global challenges of food security and climate change. The combination of these climate-smart approaches was investigated for durum wheat in a dry region of the Mediterranean basin in two crop seasons. The experimental de...

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seed proteins show a lot of functional properties leading this legume to be an interesting component for the development of protein-enriched foods. However, both the in-depth proteomic investigation and structural characterization of chickpea seed proteins are still lacking. In this paper a detailed characterization of...

Chickpea is a drought-tolerant crop and an important source of protein, relevant to its beneficial effects. The aim of this study was to assess the response to agronomic management, including water and nitrogen supply, of crop physiological and agronomic traits in relation to water use efficiency and grain protein composition. Two varieties, Pascià...

The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on yield and quality was investigated on a set of seven bread wheat genotypes with varying years of release, including five old genotypes and two modern varieties. A two-year field trial was conducted in central Italy under rainfed conditions. The effect of AM fungal seed coating was proved by assess...

Durum wheat is one of the most commonly cultivated species in the world and represents a key commodity for many areas worldwide, as its grain is used for production of many foods, such as pasta, bread, couscous, and bourghul. Durum wheat grain has a relevant role in the human diet, providing carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fibres, vitamins, and mi...

Durum wheat is a staple crop for the Mediterranean diet because of its adaptability to environmental pressure and for its large use in cereal-based food products, such as pasta and bread, as a source of calories and proteins. Durum wheat whole grains are also highly valued for their peculiar amount of dietary fiber and minerals, as well as bioactiv...

Chickpea is a key crop in sustainable cropping systems and for its nutritional value. Studies on agronomic and genetic influences on chickpea protein composition are missing. In order to obtain a deep insight into the genetic response of chickpeas to management in relation to agronomic and quality traits, a two-year field trial was carried out with...

In order to deepen insight into durum wheat prolamin composition in relation to both end use quality and gluten related disorders, a phenotyping of four genotypes of different release date and technological performance was carried out. A proteomic approach integrated with the evaluation of protein aggregation level, amino acid composition and react...

Water deficit and high temperatures are the main environmental factors which affect both wheat yield and technological quality in the Mediterranean climate. The aim of the study was to evaluate the variation in the gluten protein assembly of four durum wheat genotypes in relation to growing seasons and different nitrogen levels. The genotypes, Marc...

The impact of fertilisation strategies on bread-making quality of wheat has been investigated extensively, while only few studies have been carried out on minor supply-chains, such as the biscuit production chain, whose products require a low protein content (< 10.5 %) and weak gluten strength (< 110 J 10⁻⁴). The aim of this work was to obtain insi...

Technological (processing performance and end-product) and nutritional quality of wheat is in principle determined by a number of compounds within the wheat grain, including proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, minerals, heavy metals, vitamins and phytochemicals, effecting these characters. The genotype and environment is of similar importance for th...

Technological (processing performance and end-product) and nutritional quality of wheat is in principle determined by a number of compounds within the wheat grain, including proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, minerals, heavy metals, vitamins and phytochemicals, effecting these characters. The genotype and environment is of similar importance for th...

The main goal of this paper was to select promising microorganisms which could potentially act as plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) for durum wheat of Foggia County. At this scope, a new statistical framework, based on multivariate analyses and the evaluation of the statistical distribution of each trait, was used. Four hundred and seventy-fou...

In the last decades, increasing demand of antioxidant-rich foods and growing interest in their putative role in prevention of degenerative diseases have promoted development of methods for measuring Antioxidant Capacity (AC). Nevertheless, most of these assays use radicals and experimental conditions far from the physiological ones, and are able to...

The effect of durum wheat breeding on technological quality was mainly investigated in relation to allelic polymorphism, in particular for glutenins, while fewer information are available on the changes in grain protein proportion. In the present investigation, an old and a modern group of durum wheat genotypes, grown in Mediterranean environment,...

The data presented are related to the research article entitled “Comparison of the dietary fibre composition of old and modern durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. durum) genotypes” (De Santis et al., 2018) [1]. This article provides details of the structures of the major dietary fibre components, arabinoxylan and β-glucan, in semolina and wholemeal...

It has been suggested that intensive breeding has led to decreased contents of health-promoting components in modern wheats. We therefore compared the contents and compositions of the major dietary fibre components, arabinoxylan and β-glucan, in semolina and wholemeal flour of old and modern Italian durum wheats. No differences in total arabinoxyla...

The impact of breeding on grain yields of wheat varieties released during the 20th century has been extensively studied, whereas less information is available on the changes in gluten quality associated with effects on the amount and composition of glutenins and gliadins. In order to explore the effects of breeding during the 20th century on gluten...

Due to the increase in both human population growth and environmental pressure, it is necessary to raise agricultural productivity without enhancing environmental footprint. Within this context, soil inoculation with PGPB (Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria) may be considered a promising tool of integrated management systems. In particular, PGPB may i...

A study was carried out to produce functional pasta by adding bran aqueous extract (BW) and bran oleoresin (BO) obtained using ultrasound and supercritical CO2, respectively, or a powdery lyophilized tomato matrix (LT). The bioactive compounds, hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant activity (HAA and LAA) in vitro, were evaluated. BW supplementatio...

Assessment of Antioxidant Capacity (AC) of foods is useful to consider cumulative/synergistic action of all dietary antioxidants, thus providing a more integrated information than the simple sum of measurable antioxidants. Among the different AC assays, the QUENCHERABTS (QUick, Easy, New, CHEap and Reproducible) procedure is based on the direct rea...

Environmental stress during grain filling may affect wheat protein composition, thus influencing its final quality. A proteomic approach was used to evaluate changes in storage protein composition under water stress of two Italian durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) cultivars, Ciccio and Svevo. The high-molecular-weight glutenin region incre...

The QUENCHERABTS (QUick, Easy, New, CHEap and Reproducible) approach for antioxidant capacity (AC) determination is based on the direct reaction of 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation with fine solid food particles. So, it may resemble the antioxidant action in foods or in human gastrointestinal trait. Here...

RÉSUMÉ L’utilisation de carburants obtenus à partir d’huiles végétales est une occasion de répondre aux exigences de la commission de l’Union européenne pour l’obtention de sources d’énergie renouvelables. Ceci concerne particulièrement les pays méditerranéens où les producteurs agricoles sont bien connus pour leurs cultures huilières. Le tournesol...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum) is one of the major crops in the Mediterranean basin, where water stress often occurs during grain filling which represents a critical stage for the synthesis and accumulation of storage proteins (gliadins and glutenins). The aim of the study is to evaluate, by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE...

Epidemiological studies associated consumption of whole-durum wheat products with reduced incidence of chronic diseases, diabetes and cancer. These health benefits have been mainly attributed to antioxidant activity (AA) due to the unique phytochemical content of wheat. Milling, extrusion and drying process can influence the activity of these benef...

Lipophilic antioxidants are essential components of plant defense against stressful conditions. The response of carotenoids and tocols to water deficit and sulfur fertilization was investigated in durum wheat cultivars. The amounts of tocols and carotenoids were evaluated in both whole meal and semolina samples. Differences among cultivars were obs...

The gluten protein composition and expression level influence dough properties and are cultivar and environment dependent. To broaden the knowledge of the durum wheat gluten proteome, three cultivars were compared in two different growing seasons by a proteomic approach. Cultivar-specific and differentially expressed spots in the two years were ide...

Unlabelled: Antioxidant activity (AA) of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) seeds, as well as of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum Desf.) and of emmer (T. turgidum L. ssp. dicoccum Schübler) grains, was evaluated by studying hydrophilic (H), lipophilic (L), free-soluble (FSP) and insoluble-bound (IBP) phenolic extracts using the new lip...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. Desf.) is a species well adapted to the Mediterranean environments where salt stress due to seawater intrusion is an increasing problem. The purpose of this study was to deep insight into the relationships among physiological, productive and qualitative aspects under salinity, being these aspects still poorly inves...

The relationships between grain quality and N utilization in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) have not been very thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of N fertilizer rate and water regime on grain yield and quality under Mediterranean conditions in relation to N utilization. Four durum wheat cultivars (Appio,...

Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is widely cultivated in the Mediterranean area where plants generally suffer from waterstress during grain-filling period. This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of N levels and water regimes on N translocation and nitrogen use efficiency for protein (NUEP) in durum wheat grown under Mediterranean cond...

Durum wheat quality is a complex system that combines yield characteristics, cultivation conditions and certification requirements. In this review, the technological and nutritional aspects of grain quality were evaluated in relation to the influence of climate and agronomic practices. In particular, the technological quality was investigated with...

The reduction of atmosphere emission of SO2 and the massive use of fertilizers high in nitrogen and phosphorus resulted in a decrease of the sulphur content in the soil. In durum wheat cultivation, sulphur supply plays a key role not only for plant growth, but also for grain quality. Sulphur is an essential macronutrient primarily used to synthesiz...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. Desf.) is a species well adapted to the Mediterranean environments where salt stress due to seawater intrusion is an increasing problem. The purpose of this study was to deep insight into the relationships among physiological, productive and qualitative aspects under salinity, being these aspects still poorly inves...

Sunflower is one of the leading oilseed crops cultivated for the production of oil for human consumption, which is also considered an important crop for biodiesel production. During the period 20032007, the average annual world production of sunflower seed was about 28.5 million t from a cultivated area of approximately 22.6 million ha. Sunflower o...

Two durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) cultivars (Simeto and Ofanto) were grown in field trials in Foggia (Southern Italy), under two water regimes and in three cropping seasons, to evaluate the influence of water regime on grain protein composition in relation to technological quality. On grain samples, the following quality analyses were performe...

The important role of plant mitochondria in the adaptation to environmental stresses at subcellular level has recently emerged. In particular, an important mitochondrial mechanism involved in the resistance to environmental stresses is the inhibition of proline oxidation. In order to study this physiological mechanism, we used both washed and purif...

In this study the 4-nitroso-N,N-dimethylaniline (RNO) bleaching associated with linoleic acid hydroperoxidation catalyzed by the soybean lipoxygenase (LOX)-1 isoenzyme (LOX/RNO reaction) was used to determine the antioxidant activity (AA) of hydrophilic and lipophilic pure antioxidant compounds and of mixtures of antioxidants extracted from durum w...

Sunflower is a major oil seed crop worldwide, and it is also an important crop in Mediterranean areas where salinity is an increasing problem. In this paper, the effect of saline irrigation water on seed yield and quality of sunflower was evaluated. A pot experiment was carried out over two crop seasons on two hybrids – a standard one (Carlos) and...

Although plant cell bioenergetics is strongly affected by abiotic stresses, mitochondrial metabolism under stress is still largely unknown. Interestingly, plant mitochondria may control reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by means of energy-dissipating systems. Therefore, mitochondria may play a central role in cell adaptation to abiotic stres...

Seawater stress effects on mitochondrial ATP synthesis and membrane potential (Δψ) were investigated in germinating durum wheat seedlings under moderate (22% seawater osmolarity, -0.62MPa) and severe (37% seawater osmolarity, -1.04MPa) stress. To estimate the osmotic component of salt stress, mannitol solutions (0.25 and 0.42M) iso-osmotic with the...

Water relations, leaf morphology and the chemical composition of cell walls in irrigated and unirrigated plants of three durum wheat eultivars were measured at two growth stages (booting and flowering). Plant response to water stress differed at the two stages: cell wall elasticity increased at booting and osmotic potential values decreased at flow...

Data di presentazione: 8 febbraio 2006 Riassunto La qualità del frumento duro è un sistema complesso che comprende caratteristiche intrinseche del prodotto, re-quisiti del contesto produttivo e requisiti di garanzia. In questa rassegna si è focalizzata l'attenzione sugli aspetti tecnologici e nutrizionali della qualità del prodotto, in relazione al...

Sunflower is a species moderately tolerant to salt stress and is currently cultivated in dry areas where salinity can be a threat. The effect of salt stress on achene yield has been investigated, but no information exists about its effect on the oil fatty acid composition. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the changes in oil yield and fatty aci...

The plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein (PUMP) and the plant mitochondrial potassium channel (PmitoKATP) are two recently discovered energy-dissipating systems present in plant mitochondria, which may play a role as defence systems under environmental stress. To verify whether hyperosmotic stress affects the two dissipating systems in durum whea...

Crop simulation models are potentially useful tools in agricultural decision-making. In Italy, few applications have been recorded, and those implemented have been mainly restricted to the estimation of crop water requirements in irrigated basins or the estimation of potential crop yields. In general, a model must be evaluated in a variety of condi...

Sunflower is one of the most cultivated oil crops in the world. Recently, high oleic acid cultivars have been developed whose oil has higher oxidative stability and better dietary properties than standard genotypes. In Mediterranean environments where water deficit frequently occurs, early sowing and irrigation are used to overcome environmental co...

The quantum yield of photosynthetic electron transport (ΦPSII), evaluated by means of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence analysis, has proven to be a useful screening test for drought tolerance in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). To explore the potential of this parameter further in detecting drought-tolerant genotypes, three cereal species were stu...

SUMMARY - Resistance to stresses is a complex character. Abiotic stresses affect crop production and despite many decades of research, they continue to be a major challenge to agricultural scientists. Drought, heat and salt are the most important to be considered in the selection of new genotypes. Stay-green trait in durum wheat is also evaluated....

The relationships between photosynthesis and osmotic adjustment (OA) under water stress are not yet well understood. Therefore, a possible association between the quantum yield of photosynthetic electron transport at the Photosystem II level (ΦPSII) and OA was evaluated in drought-stressed durum wheat plants in this paper. Four cultivars (cvs) diff...

The chlorophyll fluorescence parameters Δ F/Fm ′ and Fv ′/ Fm ′, related respectively to the quantum yield of photosynthetic electron transport and to the efficiency of excitation capture by the open centres of photosystem II, have been evaluated as possible indicators of drought tolerance in durum wheat. Δ F / Fm ′ and Fv ′/ Fm ′ measurements were...

The aim of this study was to identify a fluorescence parameter whose estimate could be used reliably for a drought tolerance test in durum wheat ( Triticum durum ). Twenty-five cultivars were grown in a glasshouse over two seasons (1987/88 and 1988/89) at Foggia, Southern Italy. Photochemical and non-photochemical quenching ( q Q and q E ), the hal...

The synthesis and turnover rates of the two 12 S and 16 S mt rRNAs and of the mt mRNAs for subunits I and III of cytochrome oxidase have been determined by measuring the kinetics of incorporation of [3H]uridine in the mtRNA of rat hepatocytes. All the RNA species examined have approximately the same turnover (t1/2 approximately 100 min) and therefo...

A quantitative study on the concentration of mitochondrial DNA and two species of mtRNA, the ribosomal (16S rRNA) and messenger (CoI mRNA) has been carried out in rat liver between -3 and 14 days of age. The cellular content of mitochondrial DNA begins to increase at one day of life and goes up linearly until 14 days of age. The cellular level of 1...

-Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is a species well adapted to the Mediterranean environments, where it often faces salt stress due to increasing soil salinity. Recently, the central role of mitochondria in the adaptation to environmental stresses at sub cellular level has emerged. The mitochondrial defence mechanisms may contribute to depict a d...