Controlling the atmosphere in the malaxation machine headspace in order to improve the quality of Sicilian extra virgin olive oils

During the mechanical extraction process of Virgin Olive Oil (VOO) some important physical phenomena and enzymatic transformations occur influencing the final product quality. The control of process parameters is crucial to ensure the quality of VOO, therefore process monitoring and control is a fundamental requirement in the modern VOO processing industry. The present work proposes a research performed in order to develop a system for the oxygen continuous monitoring inside the malaxation machine to enhance the Sicilian extra virgin olive oil typicality and to establish a correlation with the quality of the final product. The results showed that the use of oxygen during malaxation, allowed…

Risk Assessment of Hand-Arm Vibration in Different Types of Portable Shakers for Olives Harvesting

Introduzione di moderne macchine e tecniche per il mantenimento ed il recupero della viticoltura di Pantelleria

Primi risultati sull’impiego della tecnica dell’idrosemina in ambiente mediterraneo

Potatura meccanica su guyot in vigneto a controspalliera. Risultati di un biennio di sperimentazione

Analysis of the leaf deposit in chemical distribution on vineyard in different wind conditions

Influence of tree's structure on the efficiency of the mechanical harvest of olives

This study represents an analysis about the influence of the structure of the plant and the drupes’ position on the efficiency of the mechanical harvest of olives. The aim is to study the eventual correlations between some geometrical characteristics of the plants and the harvest efficiency. The experimental tests were carried out in an olive grove sited in Castelvetrano, province of Trapani; the variety was Nocellara del Belice, the plants “globe” shaped. Some morphological surveys were carried out on a sample of trees. The mechanical harvest was performed with a trunk shaker provided with an upside down umbrella. After the harvest, the residual production was quantified for each bud in or…

Revegetation through hydroseeding in degraded Mediterranean areas

Hydroseeding is a technique increasingly used to establish vegetation on degraded areas in order to perform environmental protection. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of four different hydroseeding methods on a degraded artificial slope in the southern Mediterranean area determining total vegetation cover, hydroseeding vegetation cover, hydroseeding success index (HSI), natural and hydroseeded vegetation height. The test area does not allow the use of any operating machine for soil and vegetation management, the only applicable technique is therefore hydroseeding. After hydroseeding was applied (December 2010), 21 checks were carried out every 15 days (from Janu…

Hydroseeding for revegetation in a semiarid Mediterranean environment

Hydroseeding is a technique increasingly used to establish vegetation on degraded areas in order to perform environmental protection. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of four different hydroseeding methods on a degraded artificial slope in the southern Mediterranean area determining total vegetation cover, hydroseeding vegetation cover, hydroseeding success index (HSI), natural and hydroseeded vegetation height. The test area does not allow the use of any operating machine for soil and vegetation management, the only applicable technique is therefore hydroseeding. After hydroseeding was applied (December 2010), 21 checks were carried out every 15 days (from Janu…