Articles publicats (Agrotecnio Center)
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Agrotecnio aims to become a reference in Europe addressing all the key elements of the food production chain in an integrated way focusing on target crops and animals of commercial importance, rather than model systems. This later aspect sets our centre apart from other centers which focus on fundamental science and/or model plant and animal systems. As a result we should be able to address fundamental and important questions in the crop/animal of interest and results from our research will be directly and immediately applicable to our target organism. [Més informació]
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- ItemOpen AccessPlasticity of grain number and its components in contrasting wheat cultivars(Elsevier, 2024) Bicego, Breno; Savin, Roxana; Girousse, C.; Allard, Vincent; Slafer, Gustavo A.Context A better understanding of the plasticity of grain number (GN) components may be essential to design better management and breeding strategies. Alterations in resource availability during pre-anthesis may affect the interplay between the main GN components, spike number (SN) and grains per spike (GS). Quantifying the magnitude, and understanding the physiological bases, of differences in plasticity of GN components within elite material would be valuable for breeding. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the physiology of GN determination, the plasticity of, and any possible trade-offs between its components. Methods Two modern genotypes (Ascott and Sy Moisson), expected to have contrasting GS response to changes in SN, were subjected to 5 levels of resource availability (two levels of shading, two levels of thinning and an unmanipulated control) from the onset of stem elongation to anthesis in two locations (France and Spain). Results and conclusions Yield in the control was relatively high in both locations and strongly related to GN, which was more plastic in Ascott than in Sy Moisson; and the difference in plasticity was related to different responses of the two main GN components. SN acted as a coarse regulator of yield contributing with crop level plasticity while GS acted as a fine-tuning mechanism expressing the smaller responses to resource at genotypic level. The higher GS plasticity of Ascott-like genotypes may provide more stability in early stress scenarios where the SN is reduced as long as no later limitations occur. Implications The acceptance of a hypothesis on genotypic variation in plasticity of GS derived from multilocation and multiyear datasets, and the consistency of the genotypic difference in response to changes in resources across the two locations, suggests that the genotypic difference in plasticity may be constitutive and would therefore be useful in designing strategic crosses aiming to combine plasticity of GS with other yield-related attributes.
- ItemOpen AccessInfluence of trap type on the captures of Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae): trials from different European countries(Oxford University Press, 2024) Agrafioti, Paraskevi; Lampiri, Evagelia; Bohinc, Tanja; Roig, Anna; Levi-Mourao, Alexandre; López Alonso, Carmen; Eizaguirre Altuna, Matilde; Pons, Xavier; Tsikas, Angelos; Sarajlic, Ankica; Fail, Jozse; Benavent Fernandez, Enrique; Bravo, Sergio Fita; Dominguez Solera, Elena; Trdan, Stanislav; Kavallieratos, Nickolas G.; Athanassiou, Christos G.The spongy moth, Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Eribidae), is a serious pest of deciduous forests and causes widespread defoliation. Despite this, few studies have evaluated the wide-ranging surveillance of adult male L. dispar using different types of pheromone-baited traps. We evaluated the effect of trap type on captures of adult male L. dispar at 18 sites in Europe; two in Slovenia, two in Spain, 12 in Greece, one in Hungary, and one in Croatia. Seven different trap types, G trap and eGymer 1–6, were evaluated June–September 2022 and 2023. Generally, captures of L. dispar started in late June and lasted until mid-August. Trap type affected captures. The G trap (consisting of a dark brown plastic rectangular parallel-piped body) caught significantly more L. dispar than other trap types in many instances, particularly when the peak of the flight period occurred. Captures of L. dispar in pairs of different trap types showed a significant correlation in trap catch in most investigations, suggesting that most detected comparable fluctuations in L. dispar abundance. We recommend that the G trap be used for wide-ranging surveillance of L. dispar in Europe.
- ItemOpen AccessExploring the nutritional and techno-functional benefits of purple hull-less barley in extruded ready-to-eat cereals(Elsevier, 2024-11-08) Friero, Iván; Martínez Subirà, Mariona; Macià i Puig, Ma Alba; Romero Fabregat, Mª Paz; Moralejo Vidal, Mª AngelesThis study explores the potential of purple hull-less barley for producing ready-to-eat cereals, focusing on the impact of extrusion on their nutritional and techno-functional properties. Four formulations were assessed: 100% whole barley, 100% pearled barley, 15% barley bran-85% refined wheat flour, and 100% refined wheat. Higher temperatures and screw speeds, along with lower moisture levels, significantly influenced expansion, density, and hardness. Whole barley extrudates were high in β-glucans (7.4%) and arabinoxylans (6.8%), which negatively correlated with expansion (r = − 0.857 and r = − 0.796) and positively with hardness (r = 0.833 and r = 0.738) and density (r = 0.673 and r = 0.863). Pearled barley extrudates showed improved textural properties compared to whole barley, with reduced hardness and density. The phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity of raw materials and extrudates were compared, revealing a significant decrease after extrusion across all formulations. Incorporating barley bran into refined wheat flour tripled the antioxidant capacity of the refined wheat extrudates. Both whole and pearled barley extrudates offered a low estimated glycemic index, suitable for low-GI diets. Overall, purple hull-less barley presents a nutritious option for extrusion, with pearling and bran utilization improving both the techno-functional and nutritional qualities for health-conscious consumers.
- ItemOpen AccessModification of techno-functional and health-promoting properties of orange by-products through ultrasonication(The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2024) Manthei, Alina; Elez Martínez, Pedro; Martín Belloso, Olga; Soliva-Fortuny, RobertThe orange juice extraction process generates significant amounts of by-products which currently lack practical applications leading to economic losses and potentially posing environmental threats. To enable their utilization, an orange pulp-peel powder mixture was subjected to different ultrasonication (US) input powers (200, 300, 400 W) and treatment times (15, 30, 45 min). Particle size was reduced with increasing treatment power and time which led to a maximum increase of 25.8% of water holding capacity (WHC), 12.9% of oil holding capacity (OHC) and 7.6% of bile acid adsorption capacity (BAC). Therefore, the highest treatment power and time (400 W, 45 min) were selected to be applied on mixtures comprised of different proportions of orange pulp and peel. PU80 contained 80% pulp and 20% peel, PU50 equal proportions and PU20 20% pulp and 80% peel. Solubility and content of crude fiber did not significantly change in the mixtures after US. However, WHC increased in all mixtures while OHC significantly improved in PU50 (8.16 g g−1). Inhibition of α-amylase (AAIR) and pancreatic lipase (PLIR) were enhanced in US treated PU80 and PU50. PU20 showed the highest increase of BAC from 3.28 mg g−1 to 4.13 mg g−1 after US which was related to an increase of the total phenolic content (TPC) in this treated mixture. This study could demonstrate that the efficacy of US in enhancing different properties of orange by-products highly depends on the ratio of orange pulp and peel in the by-product mixture, thus polysaccharide composition.
- ItemOpen AccessIncreasing temperature threatens post-fire auto-successional dynamics of a Mediterranean obligate seeder(Woley, 2024) Paneghel, Mara; Torné-Solà, Gil; Morin, Xavier; Alday, Josu G.; Coll Mir, LluísReproductive traits influence plant auto-successional dynamics in post-fire regeneration. Obligate seeding species rely on their seedbank and on the climatic conditions following the fire to ensure a successful recovery, defining the window of opportunity for seedling emergence. In the Mediterranean basin, emergence opportunities generally begin with autumnal rains. However, climate change-induced increases in temperature and drought could jeopardise the regeneration capacity of seeding species by causing temporal shifts in emergence opportunities or by modifying wildfire seasonality. This study aimed to explore the impact of experimentally induced climate change on regeneration dynamics of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), a serotinous Mediterranean obligate seeder. In March 2021, we set up an 18-month climate change simulation experiment with 15 open-top chambers (OTC), each paired with a control subplot (CON) on top of Aleppo pines that were naturally regenerating after a stand-replacing wildfire in SW Catalonia (June 2019). We tagged 178 young Aleppo pine recruits in OTC and CON subplots (98 and 81 respectively), classified according to their initial size, to periodically measure height growth and survival throughout the experiment duration. Furthermore, Aleppo pine seeds were seasonally sown (7900 total seeds) in 10 subplot pairs between May 2021 and April 2022, to monthly monitor temporal patterns of seedling emergence and survival. We found that OTCs reduced overall emergence rates and caused the loss of the autumnal window of opportunity for the emergence of Aleppo pine seedlings. Furthermore, seedlings which emerged within OTCs faced higher mortality rates in all seasons, with only 1% of seedlings surviving compared with 21.1% of seedlings in control plots. The OTC-induced conditions were also detrimental to the survival of recruited seedlings, especially those with a smaller initial size, although no significant effects of temperature increase were found on growth. Synthesis. Climate change is likely to interfere with the post-fire regeneration dynamics of obligate seeders by shortening the temporal window of opportunities for emergence and by enhancing the bottleneck effects throughout the recruitment process in the early phases of pine demographic recovery. Altogether, it could threaten post-fire regeneration by increasing the hazard of a demographic collapse of Aleppo pine.