Background: Gardening and horticultural therapy (HT) has been widely recognised as a multicomponent approach that has affected a broad range of health and well-being outcomes. The aim of this umbrella review and meta-analysis was to compare the findings of previous reviews on the impact of multiple gardening interventions and gardening attributes on different well-being constructs. Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to December 2022. Interventional and observational reviews were eligible for inclusion in this umbrella review. Outcome measures included mental well-being, health status and quality of life. The key exposure variables were gardening and horticultural therapy. Narrative synthesis was used to evaluate the overall impact of gardening and HT on study outcomes. For a subsample of studies with available quantitative data, a random effect meta-analysis was conducted. Results: This umbrella review included 40 studies (10 interventional studies, 2 observational studies, and 28 mixed interventional and observational studies). The reviewed studies reported an overall positive impact of gardening activities on several measures of mental well-being, quality of life, and health status. Meta-analysis showed a significant and positive effect of gardening and HT activities on well-being (effect size (ES) 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23, 0.87, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Evidence from observational and interventional studies supports a positive role for gardening and HT activities on well-being and general health. Interventional studies with horticultural-based therapies were effective in improving well-being and quality of life both in the general population and vulnerable subgroups. The high degree of heterogeneity in the included studies cautions against any direct clinical implications of the study findings.

The increased interest in organic tomatoes production demands breeders to develop new cultivars, which besides suitability in low-input production system and marketable quality, have to exhibit high nutritional value, including health-promoting compounds. In this respect, this paper aimed to assess and compare the nutritional value of four Romanian tomato cultivars, two with determinate growth (‘Arge7 11’ and ‘Arge7 123’) and two with indeterminate growth (‘Costate 21’ and ‘:tefane7ti 22’), created and recommended for organic production in open field and protected cultivation. The tomato cultivars were laid out in a high plastic tunnel crop and the tomato fruits were evaluated as chemical composition, being determined the following parameters: moisture, ash, soluble solids, pH, acidity and content in some antioxidant compounds, such as vitamin C,polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, lycopene and =-carotene. Considering some chemical parameters important in revealing tomato flavor, such as soluble solids, pH and acidity, ‘:tefane7ti 22’ cultivar showed the best ratio among them. The differences in antioxidant composition among cultivars were not statistically significant (P>0.05) for most of the analyzed parameters, with the exception of lycopene content which showed significant variation. Thus, ‘Costate 21’ showed the highestamount of lycopene within indeterminate cultivars (17.49 mg 100 g-1 FW), while ‘Arge7 11’ showed the highest amount of lycopene within determinate cultivars (13.92 mg 100 g-1 FW). According to the nutritional value of cultivars assessed in this study, ‘Costate 21’ is the best recommendation for greenhouse cultivation while ‘Arge7 11’ is the best recommendation foropen field cultivation.

Wild berry are a rich of natural compounds which provide them high antioxidant potential. The compounds which provide them these proprieties are known to be vitamins, flavonoids, anthocyanins and phenolic acids. The aim of this study was to extract and characterize bioactive compounds from rose hip (Rosa canina L.) currently found in Romania. A qualitative high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESI-MS) detection in positive ion mode has been used to identify phenolic compounds from rose hip crude extract. The chromatograms revealed the presence of a large number of compounds (19), identified and grouped as phenolic acids and flavones/ols, flavan-3-ols and also anthocyanins. Based on obtained results these berries can be highly recommended as part of our diet. Also this finding represents a contribution to the chemical characterization of phenolic profile of rose hip.

Tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum) is a valuable agricultural crop worldwide due to its nutritional value and culinary applications, making it one of the most widely consumed vegetables in the human diet. However, excessive solar UV-B radiation represents a significant factor in decreasing productivity, marketable yields, and fruit quality in tomato crops by causing damage to both DNA and the photosynthetic system, as well as chlorophyll degradation. The application of silicon nanoparticles has been shown to increase tolerance to abiotic stressors, including enhanced UV-B radiation. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the protective effects of foliar silicon nanoparticle (SiNP) application on photosynthetic parameters, photosynthetic pigments, and secondary metabolites under enhanced UV-B stress in tomato plants. Photosynthetic parameters (stomatal conductance to water vapor, net CO₂ assimilation rate, transpiration rate, and intercellular CO₂ molar fraction), biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), chlorophylls, and carotenoids were evaluated. The application of SiNPs showed beneficial effects on plants grown under ambient UV-B conditions, increasing photosynthetic parameters while also enhancing chlorophyll and carotenoid levels. In plants exposed to enhanced UV-B radiation, SiNP treatment helped to maintain and even improve photosynthetic parameters and stomatal function in leaves while also promoting the accumulation of photosynthetic pigments. Additionally, the application of SiNPs also resulted in a slightly higher content of lycopene and total carotenoids in tomato fruits.

Agaricus spp. mushrooms are edible fungi of commercial and medicinal importance. Mushrooms convert nutritionally valueless substances into proteinous food with a very efficient bioconversion. Consumption of mushrooms, has increased substantially due to their delicacy, flavour, nutritional and medicinal value, being considered an excellent source of protein, which can contribute to the formulation of a balanced diet. Three species of Agaricus spp. mushrooms were used in this study: Agaricus campestris (L. ex Fr.), Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) and Agaricus blazei (Murrill). This study aims to examine the effects of blanching, soaking and manufacturing processes (sun drying, oven drying and canning) on some chemical constituents of mushrooms (soluble dry matter, protein and total sugars). The analyses were performed initially at conservation and they were repeated after 6, 12 and 18 months of preservation. Since all treatments caused reduction of the dry matter content, it can be concluded that the smallest decrease during the storage period was recorded by soaked and sun dried A. blazei (1.6 g 100 g-1 FM). The maximum soluble dry matter loss was recorded at blanched and canned A. bisporus (2.8 g 100 g-1 FM). Blanching treatment of preheated (sun dried and oven dried) samples, after storage period, led the protein content to slightly decrease, between 0.4 g 100 g-1 DM and 0.8 g 100 g-1 DM. The smallest decrease of total sugars during the storage period was registered by canned, untreated A. campestris with 1.2 g 100 g-1 DM and the largest decrease was registered by blanched oven dried A. blazei with 2.9 g 100 g-1 DM.

Pickling cucumbers are highly important both for fresh consumption and for canning industry. This study aimed to compare differences in yield and quality of eight pickling cucumber cultivars, including ‘Cor 12004’, ‘IGG 2010’, ‘IGG 2020’, ‘SM 5322’, ‘SM 5323’, ‘Zayin 201’, ‘Zayin 175201’ and ‘Trilogy’. The cucumber cultivars were laid out in a high tunnel crop and evaluated for vegetative traits (i.e. vine length, nodes per vine and branches per vine), yield attributes (i.e. fruits per main stem, average weight of fruit and fruits weight per plant) and fruits quality components (nitrate, phosphate and potassium mg kg-1). The results showed significant differences (P12 cm), revealed a declining value with increase in the cucumber length. The study findings suggest that irrespective of the cultivar, the amount of nitrate was higher in shorter cucumbers (6-9 cm length) although all recorded values (between 192.7 and 364.3 mg kg-1 fresh matter) being under maximum accepted limit concentrations. The amount of phosphate was higher in medium to long cucumbers, while the amount of potassium was higher in shorter cucumbers.