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Bouche de Betizac is the French-Japanese hybrid Castanea sativa x Castanea crenata and, even if it is pollen sterile, it is a consistent producer of large crops of big nuts that are easy to peel and are preferred for their appetizing flavour and taste by consumers. This cultivar is well adapted to growth in Europe, North America and Asia and it has demonstrated to survive to cold season, producing chestnuts with excellent yield and nut quality. The most beneficial characteristics of Bouche de Betizac are over all its resistance to the Asian gall wasp insect and to leaf anthracnose caused by Phytophthora spp. Many extracts from chestnut tree components, including fruit, burns, leaves, etc. might be used for human health diseases prevention. It has been demonstrated that chestnut leaves contain phenolic compounds that possess antioxidant properties with antiradical activity and, several of them, antibacterial action. The aim of this work was to perform a biochemical characterization of leaves, burns and shells (outer and inner) of the Bouche de Betizac chestnuts. Samples of this variety from an orchard located in "Roccamonfina Regional Park" in Southern Italy, were utilized for the analysis. The extracts from all chestnut components were evaluated for the antioxidant power, total phenolic, ortho-diphenolic, flavonoid, and tannin contents to assess the presence of bioactive molecules. The results obtained showed that inner shells possess twice as antioxidant activity of the other chestnut components and the higher phenolic compounds content followed by leaves and burns. A comparison with the literature data is difficult due to the differences in cultivar, stadium of fruits harvesting and local climate conditions. However, at our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the biochemical characterization of the Bouche de Betizac hybrid. Nevertheless it represents a dangerous risk for biodiversity of Italian chestnut cultivar, considering its resistance to several pests and diseases, and the great capacity of adaption to growth in a wide range of climate condition, the results obtained are very promising.

Industrial fruit products were investigated for their content of pectin methylesterase (PME) residual activity by a new procedure that allows selective concentration by affinity chromatography of the active form of the enzyme, when present. The technique utilizes a protein inhibitor, purified from kiwifruit, covalently bound to a Sepharose resin. This inhibitor, in fact, binds with high affinity the native active form of PME that can be subsequently recovered by dissociating the complex at alkaline pH with high ionic strength. In this way the enzyme is recovered at a concentration suitable for pH-stat assay. We examined fruit products from several industrial preparations of peach, pear, apple, apricot and pineapple. The analysed fruit purees showed PME activities between 10 ‐3 and 10 ‐5 U/mL, whereas the nectars did not show any detectable activity although cloud loss phenomenon was often observed. The diced fruit samples showed activities between 10 ‐2 and 10 ‐5 U/g. The highest values were found in samples of chi grape (10 ‐2 U/g) and pineapple (10 ‐3 U/g). A dependence of the intensity of cloud loss on the levels of PME residual activity was found.

The European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is of considerable agroforestry and economic interest for Campania region. The invasive species Dryocosmus kuriphilus Y., the chestnut gall wasp, was accidentally introduced in Campania in 2005 causing extensive damages to chestnut forest. It has long been observed that environmental factors and the specific varietal genotype affect the plant exposure to parasite attack. In this study, the chance of associating specific genetic-molecular profiles of chestnut varieties to a predictive modeling of the engraftment risk of disease in a specific ecosystem, was explored. The Regional distribution data of infestation over the 2008-2012 period have been produced by the GIS, these allowed us to monitor the evolution of damages caused to the chestnut woods. The degree of genetic diversity in a collection of C. sativa was measured by means of RAPD molecular markers. Results proved that the spread of the pest impact, via GIS, is well linked to the analysis of genetic diversity and they will be useful for managing the biodiversity of chestnut in Campania.

BACKGROUND The so-called 'Neapolitan limmo' or 'lemoncetta Locrese' is an old and now rare Mediterranean sweet lime, similar to lemon but smaller. It is a fruit distinguished from orange, lemon, mandarin, and lime for its sweeter, watery, and non-acidic taste, with a pH between 5.6 and 5.9. No compositional studies are currently available for this citrus fruit. Here we report, for the first time, the distribution in the limmo juice of free amino acids and their main derivatives such as betaines and related ammonium compounds. RESULTS Seven proteinogenic amino acids (proline, asparagine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamine, alanine, and threonine) and a non-protein amino acid (γ-aminobutyric acid) characterize Neapolitan limmo juice. Proline betaine is the predominant betaine. The data were compared with those of other important citrus juices. CONCLUSION The specific 'taste quality' of Neapolitan limmo juice can be attributed to its peculiar composition in amino acids. The species-specific presence of the ammonium compound derivatives of the amino acid proline, with proline betaine as the predominant betaine, characterize the non-acidic varieties of Mediterranean sweet lime. Our study constitutes an important step towards the repopulation of this ancient plant and its exploitation in food industry. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.