This paper presents and evaluates multitemporal LAI estimates derived from Sentinel-2A data on rice cultivated area identified using time series of Sentinel-1A images over the main European rice districts for the 2016 crop season. This study combines the information conveyed by Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-2A into a high-resolution LAI retrieval chain. Rice crop was detected using an operational multi-temporal rule-based algorithm, and LAI estimates were obtained by inverting the PROSAIL radiative transfer model with Gaussian process regression. Direct validation was performed with in situ LAI measurements acquired in coordinated field campaigns in three countries (Italy, Spain and Greece). Results showed high consistency between estimates and ground measurements, revealing high correlations (R² > 0.93) and good accuracies (RMSE < 0.83, rRMSEm < 23.6% and rRMSEr < 16.6%) in all cases. Sentinel-2A estimates were compared with Landsat-8 showing high spatial consistency between estimates over the three areas. The possibility to exploit seasonally-updated crop mask exploiting Sentinel-1A data and the temporal consistency between Sentinel-2A and Landsat-7/8 LAI time series demonstrates the feasibility of deriving operationally high spatial-temporal decametric multi-sensor LAI time series useful for crop monitoring.

The antifungal effect of aromatic plants (oregano, thyme, and Satureja) in dry form and as essential oils was evaluated in vitro (in potato dextrose agar (PDA)) and in bread against two phytopathogenic fungi found in food (Aspergillusniger and Penicillium). Gas and liquid chromatography were used to analyze essential oils attained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts of the aromatic plants and of the dried plant aqueous solutions that were autoclaved for 20 min at 121 °C before analysis. Carvacrol, α-pinene, p-cymene, and γ-terpinene were the main components of the essential oils, whereas carvacrol, rosmarinic and caffeic acids were the main components of the water extracts. In vitro antifungal test results showed that the addition of plants in dry form had great antifungal potential against both fungal strains studied. Penicillium was more sensitive to the presence of aromatic plants than Aspergillus. Among the three plant species tested, thyme was the most potent antifungal against both fungi. For the bread product, all three aromatic plants studied showed inhibitory effects against both fungi. Results presented here suggest that oregano, thyme and Satureja incorporated in a bread recipe possess antimicrobial properties and are a potential source of antimicrobial ingredients for the food industry.