Search results for "lettuce"
showing 10 items of 24 documents
A financial feasibility study of an aquaponic system in a Mediterranean urban context
2019
Abstract Aquaponics is largely recognized as a solution for sustainable food production as it follows a biomimetic natural system and the circular economy principles, allowing large food productivity on nonagricultural land, and at the same time strongly reducing inputs and waste. In this study, we collected technical, economic and production data from a pilot aquaponic plant producing lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) realized in an urban context in Sicily (Southern Italy), very suitable area for aquaponic production in relation to the Mediterranean climate. Through the determination of Net return and Break Even Point, analysing on one side the items which c…
Influence of Preharvest Gibberellic Acid Treatments on Postharvest Quality of Minimally Processed Leaf Lettuce and Rocket
2019
Plant growth regulators are used in high-value vegetable crops during cultivation and after harvest to increase yield, enhance crop management, and improve or retain the produce quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the quality characteristics during cold storage of minimally processed leaf lettuce and rocket, obtained from plants grown in a hydroponic floating system with mineral nutrient solutions (MNS) containing different levels of gibberellic acid (GA3). Plants were grown in greenhouse conditions on nutrient solutions containing 0, 10&minus
Effect of Gibberellic Acid on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Leaf Lettuce and Rocket Grown in a Floating System
2019
Gibberellins (GAs) are growth hormones strongly involved in a wide variety of physiological activities. Currently, gibberellins are commercially used to enhance phenotypic characteristics, earliness, and productivity of many vegetable and ornamental crops. In this work, the efficacy of supplementation of low levels of gibberellic acid (0, 10&minus
Evaluation of microbiological and physico‐chemical parameters of retail ready‐to‐eat mono‐varietal salads
2019
An integrated microbiological and physico-chemical approach was applied to evaluate the decay of mono-varietal ready-to-eat escarole (Cichorium endivia var. latifolium) and red chicory (Cichorium intybus L. var. foliosum Hegi) during refrigeration. Total mesophilic microorganisms, including pseudomonads, and total psychrotrophic microorganisms were detected at high numbers in all samples just after packaging and at the expiry date. The dominant microbial populations analyzed by classical culture-dependent methods belonged to Pseudomonas and yeasts. Illumina sequencing identified Janthinobacterium lividum and Pseudomonas veronii as main species. Regarding the physico-chemical quality between…
Effect of green tea extract on enteric viruses and its application as natural sanitizer
2017
In this work, the effect of green tea extract (GTE) was assessed against murine norovirus (MNV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) at different temperatures, exposure times and pH conditions. Initially, GTE at 0.5 and 5 mg/ml were individually mixed with each virus at 5 log TCID50/ml and incubated 2 h at 37 °C at different pHs (from 5.5 to 8.5). GTE affected both viruses depending on pH with higher reductions observed in alkaline conditions. Secondly, different concentrations of GTE (0.5 and 5 mg/ml) were mixed with viral suspensions and incubated for 2 or 16 h at 4, 25 and 37 °C at pH 7.2. A concentration-, temperature- and exposure time-dependent response was showed by GTE in suspension tests, w…
Hepatitis E virus in lettuce and water samples: A method-comparison study
2017
The hepatitis E virus (HEV), which is an increasing cause of acute viral hepatitis in Europe, is a zoonotic virus that is mainly transmitted through contaminated water, consumption of raw or undercooked meat from pigs or wild boar, blood transfusion, and organ transplantation. Although the role of HEV transmission through contaminated produce has not been confirmed, the presence of HEV has been reported in irrigation waters and in vegetables. The present study used a World Health Organization (WHO) international standard and clinical samples to evaluate the performance characteristics of three RT-qPCR assays for detection and quantification of HEV. Two of the evaluated assays provided good …
Improving efficiency of viability-qPCR for selective detection of infectious HAV in food and water samples.
2017
Aim: To improve the efficacy of intercalating dyes to distinguishing between infectious and inactivated hepatitis A virus (HAV) in food. Methods and Results: Different intercalating dyes were evaluated for the discrimination between infectious and thermally inactivated HAV suspensions combining with the RT‐qPCR proposed in the ISO 15216. Among them, PMAxx was the best dye in removing the RT‐qPCR signal from inactivated HAV. Applied to lettuce and spinach, PMAxx–Triton pretreatment resulted in complete removal of the RT‐qPCR signal from inactivated HAV. Likewise, this study demonstrates that this pretreatment is suitable for the discrimination of inactivated HAV in shellfish without further …
Application of propidium monoazide quantitative PCR for selective detection of live Escherichia coli O157:H7 in vegetables after inactivation by esse…
2012
The use of propidium monoazide (PMA) is enjoying increased popularity among researchers in different fields of microbiology. Its use in combination with real-time PCR (qPCR) represents one of the most successful approaches to detect viable cells. PMA-qPCR has successfully been used to evaluate the efficacy of various disinfection technologies in different microorganisms. Initially, in this study the effect of four essential oils (EOs), cumin, clove, oregano and cinnamon, was evaluated on suspensions of the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 by PMA-qPCR, LIVE/DEAD BacLight flow cytometry analysis (LIVE/DEAD-FCM), and plate count. E. coli O157:H7 cells treated with EOs at killing conc…
Application of PGPB Combined with Variable N Doses Affects Growth, Yield-Related Traits, N-Fertilizer Efficiency and Nutritional Status of Lettuce Gr…
2022
Nitrogen (N) fertilization is a crucial agricultural practice for boosting production traits in vegetables. However, N synthetic fertilizers—commonly adopted by farmers—have several counterproductive effects on the environment and on humans. The research was performed to assess the combined influence of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) (Azospirillum brasilense DSM 1690, A. brasilense DSM 2298 and Pseudomonas sp. DSM 25356) and various N fertilization doses (0, 30, 60 or 120 kg ha−1) on growth, yield, quality and nitrogen indices of lettuce in protected cultivation. Plant height, root collar diameter, number of leaves and fresh weight were enhanced by A. brasilense DS…
Impact on Glucose Homeostasis: Is Food Biofortified with Molybdenum a Workable Solution? A Two-Arm Study
2022
Diabetes is expected to increase up to 700 million people worldwide with type 2 diabetes being the most frequent. The use of nutritional interventions is one of the most natural approaches for managing the disease. Minerals are of paramount importance in order to preserve and obtain good health and among them molybdenum is an essential component. There are no studies about the consumption of biofortified food with molybdenum on glucose homeostasis but recent studies in humans suggest that molybdenum could exert hypoglycemic effects. The present study aims to assess if consumption of lettuce biofortified with molybdenum influences glucose homeostasis and whether the effects would be due to c…