Abruzzo Region Research Articles

Species of mosquitoes present in Abruzzo and Molise and their possible role as vector of Usutu and West Nile viruses.

In 2019, entomological survey on mosquitoes was carried out in Abruzzo and Molise regions in central Italy to obtain data on local mosquito fauna. Collection sites were selected based on a previous ecoregion classification of the territory. From 2019 to 2021 virological surveillance for West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) on mosquitoes was carried out in the same regions, selecting ecoregions where virus circulation and vector presence were more likely, all mosquitoes were collected and identified, and the female mosquitoes were sorted in 3046 pools and tested for the presence of WNV and USUV by Real-time PCR. All pools tested negative for WND, while USUV was detected in 7 pools of Aedes caspius collected in Molise region, 17 pools of Culex pipiens s.l. (2 collected in Molise, 15 in Abruzzo), and 1 pool of Culiseta longiareolata collected in Molise. These results suggests the presence of an USUV enzootic cycle, maintained by Culex pipiens s.l. and Aedes caspius in both Italian regions, as well as providing a useful picture in terms of species presence and abundance for both regions. Ecoregions proved to be a very valuable tool in determining high risk areas for vector borne diseases.

Response of heritage and modern wheat varieties to altitude induced stresses by synthesis of volatile compounds. A multivariate statistical analysis

The genotype × altitude interactive effect on crops quality is a crucial topic for researchers who face the challenge of climate changes. In this study, three common and durum wheat, including two old varieties, were grown for three years in different organic farms sited at three altitudes in the Abruzzo region (Italy). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), along with agronomic yield and protein content were analysed. Genotype × altitude interaction resulted always statistically significant and altitude of cultivation negatively affected yield and protein content. A multivariate statistical approach permitted to unravel the most important VOCs useful to predict the effect of altitude of cultivation on wheat species. Durum wheat synthetized a higher number of VOCs than common wheat as a response to altitude-induced stress. Elevation of cultivation determined also a strong variety-dependent adaptative response, with characteristic VOCs patterns for any specific wheat. Heritage wheat emitted a higher number of volatiles in response to altitude changes, with (E)-2-Nonenal being a putative marker of these varieties. These results reveal the complexity behind the plants system defence against abiotic and biotic stresses induced by altitude and could open new perspectives for the study of the dependence of wheat production and quality on the territory.

Comparing Rain Gauge and Weather RaDAR Data in the Estimation of the Pluviometric Inflow from the Apennine Ridge to the Adriatic Coast (Abruzzo Region, Central Italy)

Accurate knowledge of the rain amount is a crucial driver in several hydrometeorological applications. This is especially true in complex orography territories, which are typically impervious, thus, leaving most mountain areas ungauged. Due to their spatial and temporal coverage, weather radars can potentially overcome such an issue. However, weather radar, if not accurately processed, can suffer from several limitations (e.g., beam blocking, altitude of the observation, path attenuation, and indirectness of the measurement) that can hamper the reliability of the rain estimates performed. In this study, a comparison between rain gauge and weather radar retrievals is performed in the target area of the Abruzzo region in Italy, which is characterized by a heterogeneous orography ranging from the seaside to Apennine ridge. Consequently, the Abruzzo region has an inhomogeneous distribution of the rain gauges, with station density decreasing with the altitude reaching approximately 1500 m a.s.l. Notwithstanding, pluviometric inflow spatial distribution shows a subregional dependency as a function of four climatic and altimetric factors: coastal, hilly, mountain, and inner plain areas (i.e., Marsica). Such areas are used in this analysis to characterize the radar retrieval vs. rain gauge amounts in each of those zones. Compared to previous studies on the topic, the analysis presented the importance of an accurate selection of the climatic and altimetric subregional areas where the radar vs. rain gauge comparison is undertaken. This aspect is not only of great importance to correct biases in radar retrieval in a more selective way, but it also paves the way for more accurate hydrometeorological applications (e.g., hydrological model initialization and quantification of aquifer recharge), which, in general, require the accurate knowledge of rain amounts upstream of a basin. To fill the gap caused by the uneven rain gauge distribution, ordinary Kriging (OK) was applied on a regional scale to obtain 2D maps of rainfall data, which were cumulated on a monthly and yearly basis. Weather radar data from the Italian mosaic were also considered, in terms of rain rate retrievals and cumulations performed on the same time frame used for rain gauges. The period considered for the analysis was two continuous years: 2017 and 2018. The output of the elaborations included raster maps for both radar and interpolated rain gauges, where each pixel contained a rainfall quantity. Although the results showed a general underestimation of the weather radar data, especially in mountain and Marsica areas, they were within the 95% confidence interval of the OK estimation. Our analysis highlighted that the average bias between radar and rain gauges, in terms of precipitation amounts, was a function of altitude and was almost constant in each of the selected areas. This achievement suggests that after a proper selection of homogeneous target areas, radar retrieval can be corrected using the denser network of rain gauges typically distributed at lower altitudes, and such correction can be extended at higher altitudes without loss of generality.

One health system supporting surveillance during COVID-19 epidemic in Abruzzo region, southern Italy

The Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (IZSs) are public health institutes dealing with the aetiology and pathogenesis of infectious diseases of domestic and wild animals. During Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the Italian Ministry of Health appointed the IZSs to carry out diagnostic tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in human samples. In particular, the IZS of Abruzzo and Molise (IZS-Teramo) was involved in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 through testing nasopharyngeal swabs by Real Time RT-PCR. Activities and infrastructures were reorganised to the new priorities, in a “One Health” framework, based on interdisciplinary, laboratory promptness, accreditation of the test for the detection of the RNA of SARS-CoV-2 in human samples, and management of confidentiality of sensitive data. The laboratory information system – SILAB – was implemented with a One Health module for managing data of human origin, with tools for the automatic registration of information improving the quality of the data. Moreover, the “National Reference Centre for Whole Genome Sequencing of microbial pathogens - database and bioinformatics analysis” – GENPAT – formally established at the IZS-Teramo, developed bioinformatics workflows and IT dashboard with ad hoc surveillance tools to support the metagenomics-based SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, providing molecular sequencing analysis to quickly intercept the variants circulating in the area. This manuscript describes the One Health system developed by adapting and integrating both SILAB and GENPAT tools for supporting surveillance during COVID-19 epidemic in the Abruzzo region, southern Italy. The developed dashboard permits the health authorities to observe the SARS-CoV-2 spread in the region, and by combining spatio-temporal information with metagenomics provides early evidence for the identification of emerging space-time clusters of variants at the municipality level. The implementation of the One Health module was designed to be easily modelled and adapted for the management of other diseases and future hypothetical events of pandemic nature.

Quantitative botanical characterization of Saragolla wheat landraces from Abruzzo and Puglia Regions of Italy

AbstractSince the 1600s, a pasta wheat locally known as Sargolla, Saragollio or Saragollo has been cultivated in central and southern regions of Italy, including Abruzzo and Puglia. To identify if distinctive Saragolla landraces are present in Abruzzo and with a view to registering them as Conservation Varieties in the Abruzzo Regional Register of Genetic Resources, a quantitative botanical characterization of 11 farm-saved seed samples from Abruzzo and a previously defined Saragolla landrace from Puglia was performed. All twelve samples were grown for two years at the CREA-CI field station in Foggia, Puglia (Italy), and were morphologically characterized according to the criteria used by the botanist Johan Percival in 1921. In the 12 samples, we identified 9 taxonomically different botanical types, the most frequent of which were the italicum (32%), found in every population from Abruzzo. The leucurum and the affine were the main components of the previously defined Saragolla from Puglia. Results of the multivariate analysis indicated that the samples collected from farms in Abruzzo are more similar to each other than to the landrace of Saragolla from Puglia and support the registration of a specific Saragolla landrace for the Abruzzo region. The diachronic comparison of the botanical diversity of the currently cultivated Saragolla, with that observed in Sicily and Algeria at the beginning of 1900, suggests that a high degree of genetic diversity still exists in the 11 Saragolla populations from the Abruzzo Region.

Synergy between Cities and surrounding territory to achieve the international agreements on energy and CO2 reduction. The Municipality of Avezzano in the Abruzzo Region (Italy) case.

Cities have a fundamental role in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The European Community has already addressed a specific planning under the actions referred as SEAPs (Sustainable Environmental Action Plans) and SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans). In fact, Municipalities are the smallest entities with a political responsibility in terms of Energy and Environmental Planning, and they must participate, as commitment, to the European Directives on Energy and fight to Climate change. They, finally, are often the most unsustainable environments due to the aggregation of many activities, energy and CO2 related.In this paper, for a typical small/medium-size Italian city (Avezzano), an evolution of the SEAP and the SECAP has been supposed and elaborated within the Covenant of Mayors. The synergy between the energy consumption of a city and the capability of a territory to mitigate CO2 and to finalize renewable energy to electricity production appears to be the right answer to the even more stringent commitments imposed by the gas crisis at worldwide level which is pushing to a new switch-on of coal fired power plants.Starting from the data and the list of actions elaborated to fulfil the SECAP, two scenarios have been evaluated to create a zero CO2 emission city. A model with multiple inputs has been elaborated with the main aim of reducing GHG emissions or compensating them, trying to sustain the effort to keep limited to 1,5 °C the maximum Planet’s temperature increase. Increasing the renewable energy production for all the energy final needs, exploitation of unused area finalized to carbon sequestration, energy efficiency and specific actions on the transportation sectors give all together a formidable contribution to reach this goal and to give to energy and environmental planning the right role it deserves.

Fragility curves of Italian school buildings: derivation from L’Aquila 2009 earthquake damage via observational and heuristic approaches

Recent seismic events worldwide have demonstrated the high vulnerability of existing school buildings and the urgent need to have reliable tools for the rapid seismic performance assessment and damage and loss quantification. Indeed, the significant damage observed on structural and non-structural components may have a significant impact in terms of direct and indirect losses making critical the recovery of stricken communities. Although a significant amount of work has been done in developing fragility curves for the residential building stock, only few contributions clearly refer to school buildings that significantly differ in terms of the main characteristics from the residential ones. This research work proposes fragility curves for reinforced concrete and unreinforced masonry public school buildings typical of the Italian building stock, based on the damage observed in the aftermath of the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake. A comprehensive and unique database including data on damaged and undamaged school buildings (2037 records) in the Abruzzo region was built using data from four different sources. Due to limited amount of data, the fragility curves can be very sensitive to the method adopted for their derivation, thus three different approaches (i.e. empirical, empirical-binomial, heuristic) are considered in the paper and the results are compared. Finally, a direct comparison with fragility curves available in the literature for the Italian residential building stock is presented.

Association between socio-economic deprivation and AHRQ composite indicator during pandemic

Abstract Background The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) identifies preventable hospitalizations as proxy of potentially low-quality of care. Previous studies showed as socio-economic status was associated to poor diseases outcomes and to the performance of health services. Recently a particular attention was focused on the effect of the pandemic on this context. The aim of this research is to analyze the association between poor quality of primary care and socio-economic status before and during the pandemic. Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted in Abruzzo Region, Italy. Hospital discharge records (HDR) of two different periods were selected: from April to December for 2019 and 2020. The aggregate Prevention Quality Indicator 90 (PQI-90) has been coded according to the indications of the AHRQ. The Italian socioeconomic deprivation index (DI), divided in quintiles (from 1st less deprived to the 5th most deprived) was attributed to all patient, based on the municipality of residence. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to evaluate the association between PQI-90 and DI. Results Totally were analyzed 253,063 HDR, of which 14,845 attributable to the PQI-90. By correcting for gender, age and number of comorbidities, the DI was not associated with the PQI-90 during 2019. During 2020 the PQI-90 was associated to 4th DI quintile (aOR 1.19;95%CI 1.09-1.30) and 5th DI quintile (aOR 1.13; 95%CI 1.03-1.23), compared to the 1st quintile. Conclusions The impact of the pandemic on primary care has been substantial. Compared to the pre-pandemic era, during the pandemic, an association between potentially poor quality of care and the most disadvantaged socio-economic areas has been shown in Abruzzo. This evidence must be an interesting starting point for health planning in order to fight against inequalities in health services access. Key messages • The reduction in the primary care quality during pandemic caused potentially preventable hospitalizations and it was associated to socioeconomic deprivation. • The analysis of hospital admission linked to context indicators such as the deprivation index, can be a useful tool for the policy maker in order to reduce healthcare inequalities.

Detection of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) in Pigs and in the Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Population of Chieti Province, Abruzzo Region, Italy

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen, causing infectious hepatitis in man. Pigs and wild boars are the natural asymptomatic reservoirs, while the disease in humans could be either asymptomatic or evolve in hepatitis. In Europe, an increasing number of human infections from HEV have been reported over the last few years. The main route of transmission is through contaminated food, by direct or indirect consumption of raw or undercooked pork and wild boar meat and meat products. Up to now, HEV prevalence in Italian northern regions has been extensively determined in wild boars and pigs, while less data have been collected from the southern ones. There is a need to report more data about HEV prevalence from wild boars and pigs in southern Italy in consideration of the potential risk posed by some specific traditional food products manufactured in these areas and produced from pig and wild boar livers (e.g., sausages and salami). The aim of this study was to demonstrate the circulation of the Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in pigs and in the wild boar population of the province of Chieti, Abruzzo Region, Central Italy. Moreover, potential HEV seroprevalence in hunters from that area was also assessed. The overall prevalence of HEV RNA in wild boars was 9.5% (CI 5.4–16.2%), but no HEV RNA was detected in samples from pigs.

Varietal Discrimination of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Pecorino and Passerina White Wines Produced in Abruzzo (Italy) by Sensory Analysis and Multi-Block Classification Based on Volatiles, Organic Acids, Polyphenols, and Major Elements

Reliable analytical methods able to establish wine authenticity and compliance with the origin/variety denomination are essential tools for the safeguarding of consumers from fraud. In this work, we attempted the discrimination of certified monovarietal white wines produced in the Abruzzo region (Central Italy) in 2015 with Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Pecorino or Passerina grapes, all belonging to the Trebbiano variety. A preliminary sensory analysis revealed a high similarity among the three wines. The aroma profile and polyphenol and organic acid profiles were collected by gas chromatography and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively, on 46 samples representing the three wine varieties. Eventually, the concentration of 14 elements in the same samples, determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, was considered. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis pursued on the individual analytical responses gave unsatisfactory results in terms of varietal discrimination. A data fusion approach, Sequential and Orthogonalized Partial Least Squares Linear Discriminant Analysis, on the other hand, provided better results as it misclassified only three (out of eighteen) external samples. Tartaric acid, malic acid, Cu, Na, Ni, Sr, Ca, Fe, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, ethyl hexanoate, and 2-phenylethyl acetate were found to be the variables relevant in the discrimination of the three monovarietal wines.

First Report of Septicaemic Listeriosis in a Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) Stranded along the Adriatic Coast: Strain Detection and Sequencing

Although there are increasing reports on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in wild species, this is the first case of listeriosis in sea turtle. An adult female Caretta caretta was rescued after being stranded alive along the coast of the Abruzzo region (Italy) in summer 2021. The turtle died in 6 days due to respiratory failure. The necropsy showed widespread organ lesions, such as yellow foci of necrosis in many organs, gastrointestinal erosions, pericarditis, and granulomatous pneumonia. Microbiological and histological analyses were performed on several organs. Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from multiple organs, indicating a case of septicaemic listeriosis, and the genome was sequenced and characterized. All the colonies analysed belonged to the same strain serogroup IVb, ST388, and CC388.

Heritage and modern wheat varieties discrimination by volatiles profiling. Is it a matter of flavor?

Nowadays, the interest in ancient wheat is increasing and this trend point towards the local production of crops and is connected to sustainability. In this study, two ancient wheat (Solina and Cappelli) and four modern (common and durum) varieties were cultivated in experimental fields sited at three different altitudes for three consecutive years in the Abruzzo region. The six wheat varieties were analysed by solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and a chemometric approach. 149 compounds, most of which are odor active, were identified in 109 wheat samples. Heritage wheat varieties showed a volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile different from modern varieties along with a characteristic set of odor types. An 82% of correct classification was achieved for heritage wheat varieties. VOCs with floral and herbal odors were the most important odor scents for Solina classification, whereas waxy odor was the most important for Cappelli discrimination.

Knowledge Management for Smart Tourism: an exploratory survey in Abruzzo region

Research on Knowledge Management has seen a growing interest in Smart Tourism in recent years due to the need of effectively managing knowledge for sustainable and digital tourism competitiveness. In this sense, literature simultaneously suggests open data as the black gold of the new millennium, and the missed link for the smartness of tourism destinations. Nonetheless, in contrast to the global trend of leading countries to Tourism 4.0, Italy has been experiencing a weak tourist dynamism, witnessed by the eighth place in the report on the "Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index" (WEF, 2020) achieved in the face of a predominant share of the worldwide cultural heritage located in its territory. Therefore, based on these premises we intend to provide an academic contribution to fill the literature gap on Knowledge Management in the context of Smart Tourism, highlighting how much the sharing information systems among stakeholders can promote the emergence of a virtuous collaborative intertwining between public and private tourist actors. The present case study concerns the planning and implementation of a tourist digital platform by the Abruzzo Region (Italy), according to the principles of Smart Governance, as one of the first practical reactions to the Italian lack of a widespread digital transition. Thus, this work aims to exploit the information previously collected through surveys administered by the managers of the Abruzzo Offices for “Information and Tourist Reception”. This is regarding Knowledge Management structural limits and added value, in order to analyze Smart Tourism benefits and to provide future research agenda about regional tourism competitiveness.

Development and Validation of a New Tool in Predicting In-Hospital Mortality for Hip-Fractured Patients: The PRIMOF Score.

Background and Objectives: The improved life expectancy was associated to the increased in the incidence of hip fractures among elderly people. Subjects suffering hip fractures frequently show concomitant conditions causing prolonged lengths of stay and higher in-hospital mortality. The knowledge of factors associated to in-hospital mortality or adverse events can help healthcare providers improve patients’ outcomes and management. The aim of this study was to develop a score to predict in-hospital mortality among hip fractured patients. Materials and Methods: Cases were selected from hospital admissions that occurred during the period 2006–2015 in Abruzzo region, Italy. The study population was split into two random samples in order to evaluate the accuracy of prediction models. A multivariate logistic regression was performed in order to identify factors associated to in-hospital mortality. All diagnoses significantly associated to in-hospital mortality were included in the final model. Results: The PRIMOF ranged between 0 and 27 and was divided into four risk categories to allow the score interpretation. An increase in odds ratio values with the increase in PRIMOF score was reported in both study groups. Conclusions: This study showed that a simple score based on the patient’ clinical comorbidities was able to stratify the risk of hip-fractured patients in terms of in-hospital mortality.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN OPEN-SOURCE WEB-GIS TO MANAGE THE PUBLIC WORKS OF ABRUZZO REGION: AN EXAMPLE TOWARDS THE DIGITALIZATION OF THE MANAGEMENT PROCESS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS

Abstract. The Abruzzo region, in compliance with the performance objectives to be achieved in the two years 2021–2023 (Performance Plan 2021–2023), commissioned the development of a Web-GIS to map the assets related to public works, that must be judged by the Regional Technical Administrative Committee (C.R.T.A), onto a web platform, to support “Civil Engineering” authority of the Abruzzo Region, other professionals and technicians involved in the assessment process for the management of the public works during their whole administrative process and to share the data with citizens. For this purpose, and in compliance with the strategic objectives of the European Commission (Open Source Software Strategy 2020–2023) to use free and open-source software (FOSS) inside public administrations, an open-source Web-GIS was proposed and developed. The solution proposed is realised using user-friendly application, from QGIS software, the most popular and well known free and open-source GIS, to realise the GIS project, to the use of Lizmap to share the results. The combination of QGIS and Lizmap guarantees an easy way to implement a free and open-source Web-GIS and it represents a good solution to move Public Administration toward the use of FOSS as required by the European Commission. In addition, this tool has the purpose of ensuring maximum transparency to citizens who, although not insiders, can access the geoportal to see how the funds allocated by the Region, the Italian Nation and the European Community are distributed and spent.

Causes of Raptor Admission to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Abruzzo (Central Italy) from 2005-2016.

Simple SummaryNowadays, it is increasingly important to obtain data through the study of wild animals. There is no doubt that they provide a “summary” of the overall health of the natural environment. For years, wild animals that recovered at rescue centers have provided data on hazards in the wild, from those caused by human activities to more natural hazards such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Carcass analysis also provides data on potential environmental residues of pesticides and other toxic substances. The present retrospective study aims to provide an overview of the causes of admission to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center; specifically of 2496 wild raptors from 2005 to 2016, in Abruzzo, central Italy. Results showed that the main causes of admission were trauma, nestling (including birds on their first flight attempt or presumed abandoned by their parents), and starvation.The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe the causes of morbidity and mortality in free-ranging raptors admitted to a wildlife rehabilitation center (WRC) in Abruzzo Italy from 2005 to 2016 and the associated risk factors. A total of 2496 free-ranging raptors were included in the study. We analyzed the raptors’ medical records, epidemiological information, bird characteristics, cause of admission, final diagnosis, and outcome. The prevalence rates of nocturnal and diurnal raptors were 49% and 51%, respectively. Nocturnal raptors showed trauma as the primary cause of admission (45.8%, 558/1219), followed by nestling (including birds on their first flight attempt or presumed abandoned by their parents) (39.2%, 478/1219), and starvation (5.6%, 68/1219). Diurnal raptors showed trauma (73.1%, 934/1277), starvation (12.1%, 155/1277), and nestling (5.8%, 74/1277) accordingly. A description of the dangers for wild birds of prey in the Abruzzo region was provided to assist in the planning of rescue and rehabilitation activities in the WRC. Finally, the cause of admission, GAP, and BCS can be used as prognostic factors during the bird entry process.

Climatic Suitability of Different Areas in Abruzzo, Central Italy, for the Cultivation of Hazelnut

The demand for nuts has prompted the need to identify additional zones for hazelnut cultivation in Italy. There is great interest in the Abruzzo Region, in the central–eastern part of the country. The relationships between climate and environmental requirements for hazelnut were analyzed, taking into account the geography of the region, as well as climate change. The study was conducted by using the weather data from 34 stations between 1980 and 2019. The chilling requirements of the species are mostly met, except on the southern coast. Hot spring and summer caused an increase in the growing degree day in all locations. Years with minimum temperatures below −10 °C from December to March were almost null in coastal areas and the hilly belt. Late spring frosts in inland and mountainous areas occurred frequently, and the number of days with temperatures above 30 °C showed an upward trend everywhere. Five locations (Santo Stefano, Caramanico, Vasto, Isola del Gran Sasso, and Penne) were suitable for hazelnut cultivation, three were moderately suitable, seven were not very suitable, and nineteen were unsuitable.

Control of Grapevine Downy Mildew by an Italian Copper Chabasite-Rich Zeolitite

The progressive reduction in the quantities of copper regulated by the European Union is focusing the research on new formulations with a reduced copper content but equally effective. In this regard, the activity of an Italian copper chabasite-rich zeolitite, which proved to be effective against grapevine grey mold and sour rot, was assessed against downy mildew. A two-year study was carried out in the Abruzzo region, Italy, in a cv. Montepulciano vineyard. The applications of the copper zeolitite showed the same good results obtained by a standard integrated/conventional strategy based on contact and systemic fungicides. At harvest, in both trial years, the plants with infected bunches in the untreated control ranged from 86.25% to 100%, compared to 15–30% of the treated plants. Furthermore, infected bunches and berries of the untreated control vines were 70–100% while treated ones never exceeded 2.32%. Furthermore, an increase in the polyphenol content and color intensity in wines made from vines treated with copper zeolitite was confirmed and appeared to be particularly evident in hot and dry seasons. The activity of copper zeolitite towards downy mildew, the potential use against grey mold and sour rot and the protection of grapes from high temperatures indicate that this product is a promising tool for a viticulture environmentally friendly control strategy.

Seasonal and Feeding System Effects on Qualitative Parameters of Bovine Milk Produced in the Abruzzo Region (Italy)

The aim of this study was to examine variations in cow milk composition as a function of breeding system and seasonality. This study was carried out in 16 dairy farms located in the Abruzzo region (Central Italy), equally distributed between farms that adopt grazing in the spring and summer months, and farms where the intensive system is exploited. Milk was sampled in all seasons in each of the farms involved and was analyzed with particular attention given to the quality of the lipid and protein fractions. A lower concentration of saturated fatty acids and an increase in rumenic, vaccenic and oleic acids were registered for milk samples coming from outdoor grazing, in which was also observed the greatest presence of α and β caseins. The opposite result was instead observed for κ casein, which showed the highest values from intensive farming. Evaluations also focused on retinol, which significantly increased in concentration during summer in both breeding systems. The present results suggest positive insights into the role of the outdoor breeding system in improving the main qualitative trait of bovine milk in warm seasons.

Modulation of Light and Nitrogen for Quality-Traits Improvement: A Case Study of Altino Sweet Pepper

Local varieties are known to cope more efficiently with stressful and/or low-input conditions than cultivated ones by activating secondary metabolisms and, hence, are supposed to have higher nutraceutical potential. In this work, we investigate the effects of N and light, supplied at optimal and sub-optimal levels, on the fruit yield and quality of a local ecotype of sweet pepper, Altino, grown in the Abruzzo Region (Southern Italy). In 2017, two open-field experiments were carried out, comparing increasing N rates (0, 100 and 200 kg N ha−1, 0_N, 100_N and 200_N, respectively) and different percentages of shading and/or manipulations of the transmitted solar radiation, obtained through photoselective nets (red net, RN; black net, BN; unshaded Control). Both N and light were preconditions to obtain stable yields in terms of both fruit number and fruit weights. However, BN significantly reduced the number of sunscalded fruits (0.39 vs. 3.38 and 2.59 fruit plant−1 for BN, Control and RN, respectively), leading to lower waste. N deficiency favoured higher total polyphenol (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents in ripened fruits; on the other hand, shading significantly reduced TPC (−12.4%) in immature and TFC (−18.2%) in red fruits. The variations in nutraceuticals were also evaluated in terms of the variations of the single phenolic acids in fruits during ripening; the most interesting results were associated with light treatments. Further research should be directed to the in-depth study of nutrition regimes, in combination with other photoselective nets applications (i.e., pearl nets), that could be suitable for the Altino genotype to enhance the yield and nutraceutical potentials of its fruits.