Search

Adaptability of 89 peach cultivars of distinct origin to climatic conditions of the Ebro Valley at the IRTA-Experimental Station of Lleida (Lleida, northern Spain) over three consecutive years (2009–2011) was studied. For this purpose, several agronomic, morphological and internal quality traits of the fruits were evaluated. Agronomic traits included bloom and harvest dates, yield, and yield efficiency, while morphological traits encompassed fruit shape and size, percentage of red skin, and an appearance quality index. The latter was established to facilitate the assessment of each cultivar on the basis of fruit appearance. Internal quality parameters included flesh firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, sensory attributes, and relative antioxidant capacity. Under the climatic conditions of the Ebro Valley, extensive variability was observed for most quantitative and qualitative (breeding program, fruit type and flesh color) traits. In terms of agronomic performance and fruit quality (fruit appearance included), we considered that a well-adapted cultivar for a given area should achieve the following characteristics: high yield efficiency, high appearance index quality, high relative antioxidant capacity, strong flavor, and medium to high ripening index. However, according to the different breeding programs, fruit types, and flesh colors evaluated in this study, none of them simultaneously showed these characteristics. However, some achieved a number of the desired traits. A principal component analysis for melting peach, nectarine, non-melting peach and flat peach cultivars revealed the best ones for each fruit type. The results showed that cultivars do not combine all the desired traits. Nevertheless, these findings are valuable for breeding strategies aiming to achieve cultivars with better adaptation to the climatic conditions of the Ebro Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Blooming time, fruit type and breeding programme influence the response to low temperature among cultivars. [•] The greater the frost damage the greater was the proportion of flowers showing symptoms in hardier tissues. [•] Tolerance response to low temperature showed important variability among peach cultivars. [•] FT10, FT50 and FT90 values differ among peach cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays more than 70 active peach breeding programmes are developed around the world, all of them, regardless of country, with their specific objectives. Nevertheless, there is no currently available information comparing different peach cultivars based in their origin in terms of agronomic performance and fruit quality under Mediterranean climatic conditions. For this reason, we evaluated the influence of fruit type, origin (continent and breeding programme) and cultivar on adaptability, production and susceptibility to powdery mildew. A study was carried out on 112 cultivars at the IRTA-Experimental Station of Lleida (Spain) during the 2009 and 2011 seasons in which melting peach cultivars presented better agronomical performance than nectarine, nonmelting peach and flat peach cultivars. Comparing continents, USA versus Europe, in terms of fruit type, melting peach and nectarine cultivars from Europe were best adapted to Mediterranean conditions. According to origin by fruit type, melting peach cultivars from Monteaux-Caillet, ASF, Zaiger and A. Minguzzi showed the best agronomical performance. In the case of nectarine, the ASF, PSB and Bradford breeding programmes provided the most interesting cultivars. The fact that there are only a few breeding programmes for flat peaches makes them all the more interesting to producers. In most of the traits studied important variability among cultivars was recorded, either within the same breeding programme. In spite of these results, the cultivars in each breeding programme were clearly different; this explains why producers tend to adopt the strategy of choosing cultivars from different breeding programmes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The studied apple germplasm showed a high biodiversity. • Higher contents of TPC were found in local accessions than in the commercial ones. • Climate affects the antioxidant and metabolite profiles of apple accessions. • Precipitation and solar radiation increased bioactive compounds in apple accessions. • Accessions, year and climate were the main factors affecting metabolite profiles. Apples are highly appreciated in terms of flavor, nutritional and health-promoting compounds and are associated with a reduced risk to develop age-related and chronic diseases. In this study, 155 accessions of Malus x domestica Borkh from the apple germplasm collection, located at the Experimental Station of Aula Dei in NE Spain, were analyzed during five consecutive years (2014–2018). Basic fruit quality traits including soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA) and the ratio SSC/TA (ripening index - RI) were obtained. In addition, biochemical compounds such as total phenolics content (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), vitamin C (Ascorbic acid - AsA) and relative antioxidant capacity (RAC) were determined. Statistical analysis was used to determine differences in trait values among accessions and years. The well adapted local accessions showed, in general, higher average content of antioxidants and RAC compared with the foreign and commercial ones. A multivariate model was fitted with the accessions and climate features of each year as independent variables. A cluster analysis was then performed on the model coefficients space to classify the 155 accessions within five groups. The cluster analysis showed that foreign cultivars (those not originating from Spain) were concentrated in two groups while local accessions could not be segregated and had very different profiles. Furthermore, they increased the concentration of bioactive compounds tended to decrease with higher temperatures, while increased with higher solar radiation. Statistical analyses emphasized differences between groups and highlighted accessions and climate as main factors affecting metabolite profiles and fruit characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Alteplase licensing approval in Europe does not advocate intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) for diabetic ischaemic stroke (IS) patients with previous cerebral infarction (PCI). Our aim was to assess whether concomitant diabetes mellitus (DM) and PCI are associated with symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage (SICH) and poor outcome after IVT. Methods: Multicentre prospective registry, which included consecutive IVT-treated, acute IS patients from January 2003 to December 2010. The frequency of SICH (SITS-MOST criteria) and 3-month outcomes (mRS) were compared between the following groups: (i) diabetic patients with PCI (DM+/PCI+); (ii) diabetic patients without PCI (DM+/PCI−); (iii) non-diabetic patients with PCI (DM−/PCI+); and (iv) patients without diabetes or PCI (DM−/PCI−). Results: A total of 1475 patients were included. Thirty-four patients (2.3%) had known DM and PCI, 258 (17.5%) were diabetics without PCI, and 119 (8.1%) had a PCI and no DM. Thirty-six patients (2.6%) developed SICH, with no differences between groups ( P = 985). Fifteen (40.9%) DM+/PCI+ patients, 113 (46.5%) DM+/PCI− patients, 47 (42%) DM−/PCI+ patients and 414 (40.9%) DM−/PCI− patients had mRS ≥ 3 at 3 months ( P = 427). The presence neither of DM nor of PCI, nor their combination, had any impact on the risk of SICH or on outcome at 3 months after adjusting for age, stroke severity and glucose levels on admission. Conclusions: Acute IS diabetic patients with PCI who were treated with IVT had similar outcomes to patients without such history, with no increase in the rates of SICH. Thus, they should not be excluded from IVT only on the basis of DM and PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]