This study aims at investigating the nutritional value of the pumpkin fruits from different local populations of the Cucurbita pepo L., C. maxima Duch. and C. moschata Duch. ex Poir species. The chosen cultivars were: P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6 of local populations from Oltenia, Romania namely from Dolj and Olt counties. The pumpkin culture was established in the teaching field of the Faculty of Horticulture in Craiova. The chemical analysis of the pumpkin fruits was carried out using standard methods. There were determined: the dry matter content, the soluble substance content, the total carotenoid content, the antioxidant activity through the DPPH and Trolox method. There have also been studied the correlation coefficients between the quality parameters using the multiple correlation coefficients. The results show differences in the studied quality parameters. There was observed that the “Local population 6” has the highest total carotenoid content of 6.587mg/100 f.m. and the local population 1 has the highest antioxidant activity of 0.284 mmol/l Trolox

This study evaluated the elements of production, the content of bioactive compounds, and the antioxidant activity of some types of garlic: softneck—Allium sativum L. var. sativum, Rocambole—A. sativum var. ophioscorodon (Link) Döll, and chives—A. schoenoprasum L. The mean yields and the distribution of bioactive compounds in the bulb, in the cloves of the bulb, as well as in the bulbils formed in the inflorescence, were determined. The average production/ha in the case of chives highlighted a yield of 27.83 t ha⁻¹ of mature bulbs. All these were determined to obtain a better understanding of the biological functionality of the different morphological parts of this species. The content of vitamin C and flavonoids was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in Rocambole than in the other varieties. The phenolic compounds were higher in the case of chives, followed by Rocambole and then by softneck garlic. The content of bioactive compounds was higher in the younger organ, depending on the morphological organ (bulbs, cloves, and bulbils on flower stalks) within the same variety. The vitamin C content was higher in the cloves (15.68 mg 100 g⁻¹), followed by the bulbils in inflorescence (14.64 mg 100 g⁻¹), and the mature bulb (13.14 mg 100 g⁻¹) in Rocambole. The bioactive profile of garlic depends on the age of the morphological organ, and the bioactive concentration decreases with its maturity. Therefore, unripe garlic has the best potential to be used for its health benefits. The versatile health effects and nutraceutical properties of garlic can be attributed to the variety of bioactive compounds, mainly polyphenolic substances with strong antioxidant properties, as well as the morphological organ (mature bulb with cloves, a one year bulb derived from bulbil, or bulbil in bloom).

The evolution of some nutritional parameters of the tomato fruit during the harvesting stages | Soare Rodica, Dinu Maria, Apahidean Alexandru-Ioan, Soare Marin | Agricultural Journals

Sweet potatoes have multiple uses as food, feed, and in industrial production. They are characterized by their need for high temperatures for optimal development. This study aimed to analyze the quantitative and qualitative aspects of growing sweet potato cultivars in southwest Romania using mulching and non-mulching systems. The effects of mulching on the production of tuberous roots and the contents of total soluble substance, vitamin C, starch, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity (DPPH) were evaluated in three cultivars with white pulp (the ‘Pumpkin’ and ‘Chestnut’ cultivars) and with orange pulp (the ‘Italian’ cultivar). It was found that mulching with polyethylene film improved the production of sweet potatoes, amounting to 41.42 t/ha in the case of the ‘Italian’ cultivar. Moreover, the effect of mulch induced increases in total soluble substance (16.40%) and starch (16.01%) in the ‘Chestnut’ cultivar, in vitamin C (9.23 mg/100 g d.w.) in the ‘Pumpkin’ cultivar, and in antioxidant activity in the ‘Pumpkin’ (2716.55 µmol AsA/g d.w.) and ‘Chestnut’ cultivars (1131.31 µmol AsA/g d.w.), while the polyphenols in the ‘Italian’ cultivar decreased.

In Romania, the sweet potato is recently cultivated, especially in the South-West region. This region has a temperate continental climate that is characterized by the lack of water in the soil and atmosphere and by a diversity of soil types, very important factors for the cultivation of this species. The lack of information about the real effects of the environmental factors on the nutritional quality and the production of sweet potatoes grown in this area led to this study. Therefore, the present paper aims to evaluate the nutraceutical content of 5 sweet potato genotypes, such as: TSS (total soluble substance), total carotene, reducing sugars, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity (determined by DPPH and ABTS) grown in the specific climatic conditions of this region. There was found a differentiated nutritional quality depending on the genotype, so that genotype 5 was rich in carotene (59.29 μg/g FW) and vitamin C (36.56 mg/100 g FW). The data presented in this study also refer to the total number of roots/plant, the average weight/root, the total production/ha, the biomass production/ha and the production index. Regarding these elements, genotype 3 recorded a biomass production of 39.5 t/ha and a total tuber production of 50.3 t/ha. The results presented in this study indicate that the production of this species is climate dependent, which influences important metabolites in tubercles, that plays an essential role in organoleptic properties.

The study has been conducted in a professional greenhouse where grafted seedlings and grafted eggplants have been produced. Two eggplant hybrids, ‘Classic F1’ and ‘Black Pear F1’ were used as scion and one of the Lycopersicon genus, ‘Kaiser F1’ and three Solanum genus, ‘L1S’, ‘L23B’ and ‘Torpedo’ were used as rootstocks, resulting in eight grafted combinations. It has been observed that for all grafting combinations the grafting percentage was ranging from 95% to 98%. The rootstocks utilized have influenced the vigour of the grafted plants. They influenced plant height which reached values of roughly 1.0 m and number of leaves resulting in values of 2.5-3.0 times higher in comparison to the ungrafted plants. Comparative to the ungrafted plants the grafting combinations also influenced the productivity of plants. The highest fructification potential has been observed at ‘Classic F1’ grafted on all eggplant rootstocks. Compared to ungrafted plants, which has yielded 2.46 kg per plant, the highest yield obtained from ‘Classic F1’ grafted on ‘L23B’ has been of 4.27 kg per plant, followed by ‘Torpedo’ rootstock with 4.1 kg per plant. ‘Black Pearl F1’ have been produced 4.15 kg per plant when grafted on the ‘Kaiser F1’ rootstock and 4 kg per plant when grafted on the ‘Torpedo’ rootstock. Regarding the production per hectare, the largest production augmentation, of 30%, was noted at ‘Classic F1’ grafted on the eggplant rootstock ‘L23B’. The ‘Black Pearl F1’ grafted on the tomato rootstock ‘Kaiser F1’ registered a 20% increment in production. The rootstocks utilized have slightly influenced the content of the soluble dry substance on both hybrids grafted on ‘Kaiser F1’. The result has been a 6% dry substance in comparison to the 5.3% at the ungrafted hybrids. The grafting has had an insignificant influence of the total amount of carbohydrates at all grafting combinations.