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The local fruit biodiversity can represent a good opportunity to maintain the agriculture and to develop economies in "marginal" territory such as those in the mountain rural areas. The genetic diversity of the Morus spp. is little known in the Western Pamir mountains, so that the objective of the present study was to improve the knowledge of the polymorphism of the species in the different poorly explored Tajik valleys by investigating the main quantitative and qualitative traits. Materials and methods - Six selected sites of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region were investigated through field measurement on morphological traits of mulberry trees (both from wild and cultivated habitats). The qualitative analysis on fresh and dried fruits were carried out on four cultivars of the white mulberry (Morus alba L.) and one cultivar of the black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) collected in the Pamir Biological Institute, the highest botanical garden of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Results and discussion - Our study revealed high variability for all the measured parameters confirmed by a wide polymorphism. The highest rate of variability and the most promising genotypes in terms of fruit morphological traits were observed in the Vanch and the Rushan valleys. Due to the highest ascorbic acid content for the black cv. Shatut and the white cv. Marvori and a better taste, confirmed by the highest reducing and total sugar contents during the early and the full ripening (cv. Bedonia), mulberry fruits can be suggested for the fresh consumption. The cv. Shatut is the only one suggested for sun-drying, following specific local recipes for traditional consumption. Conclusion - The high morphogenetic variability of the mulberry trees in a marginal mountain area as the Gorno Badakhshan in the Western Pamir offers opportunities to make value of fruits with high nutritional and sensory profile and to develop the agricultural resources of any vulnerable territory.

The Italian territory is rich in fruit trees germplasm and in the last years many research programs have been carried out to characterize local cultivars and accessions for deepenings about them and enhancing the market agreement too. The Sicilian plum cultivars 'Sanacore' and 'Ariddo di core' and the Piedmontese plum cultivar 'Ramassin' were studied to highlight their qualitative traits including the nutraceutical properties. Moreover, since it is important to know in which way the qualitative parameters change during the storage period one more study was carried out by storing the fruits under modified atmosphere in the Tectrol ® system. The results evidenced very interesting aspects about the qualitative characteristics of the cultivars studied and a positive influence of the modified atmosphere during storage.

The plum industry in Italy has shown substantial stability during the last ten years. About 14.000 hectares are currently grown using Japanese (75%) and European plum cultivars (25%). The most important destination is for fresh consumption, although a small production of dried fruits is still produced. The main growing areas are located in Emilia Romagna and Campania Regions where more than 50% of the total amount of the national commercial yield is gathered. At the recent Plum National Meeting, that was held in 2006 at Agrigento (Sicily) the main aspects related to breeding, cultivar assessment, rootstock trials, training systems and post-harvest management were pointed out. With this reference, this introductory lecture will briefly review these aspects, highlighting the most important traits of plum production in Italy as well as the development opportunities in new different areas where other stone fruits are traditionally grown.

An increase of plum industry has been evident in Italy since the 1990s. This growth was in both area planted and production and it has been especially evident in the South of Italy, where the environmental conditions favor the development of plum orchards, particularly those adopting Japanese cultivars. The Myrobalan seedling was the main rootstock historically used in the south of the country for plum orchards, on account of its strong vigor, hardiness, longevity and adaptability to a wide range of soil types. The introduction of new scion cultivars and new rootstocks has stimulated new studies on the main technical aspects related to plum cultivation, to evaluate the wide number of rootstock genotypes which are today available for the plum species. The Italian Ministry of Agriculture has sponsored a National project which aims to evaluate the most recent rootstocks licensed and available for European and Japanese plum cultivars. A series of experimental orchards have been established in different regions representative of the main Italian plum growing areas. This paper reports on the vegetative and qualitative traits observed both for European and Japanese plum cultivars, respectively, 'Stanley' and 'Shiro', grafted onto five rootstocks.

The Sicilian territory contains a wide reserve of biodiversity of fruit tree species that, over a period of several centuries, have found there propitious pedoclimatic conditions for their establishment, and genetic diversification. The indigenous germplasm characterized Sicilian agriculture until less than one century ago but, after the diffusion of new cultivars originating from genetic improvement programs, a great part of this germplasm was replaced and now these important resources are at high risk of genetic erosion. Recently, public interest in the safeguarding of biodiversity and the development of a new interest in genetic resources and their scientific, economic and cultural importance, inspired several political actions aimed at the valorisation and conservation of this material. The present study, funded by the Sicilian government, aims to improve knowledge concerning Sicilian plum germplasm, which accounts for a great number of the accessions on the Island, through an action of characterization that includes various steps: biometric, qualitative and nutraceutical. The study was preliminarily carried out on 26 accessions as a preliminary study to facilitate the development of an efficient methodology prior to extending it to other accessions localized in the Sicilian territory.

EFFECT OF ORCHARD SYSTEM ON FRUIT QUALITY OF FOUR EARLY RIPENING PEACH CULTIVARS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS E. Barone, T. Caruso, L. Di Marco F. Sottile Ist. Colture Legnose Agr. e For. Ist. Colt. Arboree University of Reggio Calabria University of Palermo 89061 Gallina (RC) 90128 Palermo Italy Italy Abstract The preliminary results of a study on the effect of orchard system on fruit quality of 'Flordaprince', 'Flordastar', 'Flordacrest' and 'Maravilha' low-chill and early ripening peach cultivars on micropropagated GF677 rootstock is reported in this paper. With the aim of evaluating the different factors that could affect fruit quality under different planting systems, two experimental orchards were established in 1990 in Sicily. Two orchard systems, 'Y' and free spindle, with planting densities respectively of 1850-2000 and 670-930 trees/ha, were compared. Data regarding yield, crop efficiency and fruit qualitative characteristics are discussed.