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Table olive Industry in Italy The Italian table olive industry is almost completely located in the southern regions: Sicily and Apulia together account for about two thirds of the entire national production. “Nocellara del Belice”, “Nocellara etnea”, “Bella di Cerignola”, “Ascolana” and “Itrana” are the leading cultivars, together with a large number of other local traditional varieties, often utilised for a double purpose (table olives and oil production). Although Italy is nowadays largely dependent (more than 50%) on importations from other countries (mainly Spain, Greece and Morocco) the domestic production has been declining in the last thirty years and currently accounts for about 2-3% of the total world production, whereas it was about 10% of world production in 1980-85. Nevertheless, some interesting examples of specialised production systems are still present in many areas, including those where of the four Protected Designation Origin (DOP) table olives are grown (“Nocellara del Belice” in Sicily, “Bella di Cerignola” in Apulia, Itrana in Latium, and Ascolana in Marche). Besides an overall picture of the Italian cultivars, the advantages and the opportunities offered by the application of specialised cultural techniques are discussed, with special emphasis on the positive role of a more appropriate and wide diffusion of irrigation (including RDI) and chemical fruit thinning. The potential of fertilization, pruning and pest and disease control, are also reviewed with reference to the possible role in fruit quality enhancement together with the needs for further development of the entire table olive industry and innovations involved.

The effects of two different types of auxins (660 ppm alpha-naph-thaleneacetic acid - NAA - in liquid solution or 750 ppm alpha-naphthaleneac- etamide - NAD - dispersed in a talcum powder) and cuttings from three differ- ent portions of the shoots (basal, middle and apical) on the rooting ability of twenty autochthonous olive cultivars were investigated in two growing seasons (spring and autumn). The results showed that the autochthonous olive cultivars of the Campania Region are characterized by a wide variability in the potential rhizogenic ability. The two periods of cutting collection (March and September) significantly affected the rooting aptitude of the cultivars, indicating that in some cultivars the cuttings collected in autumn had a higher rooting rate than those collected in spring. The effects of NAA and NAD on rooting strongly depended on interaction with the cultivar, time of collection (autumn or spring) and type of cuttings (basal, medium or apical). Among the twenty cultivars tested, we found only eight cultivars with a satisfactory rooting ability after hor- monal applications (Ortolana, Racioppella, Tenacella, Tonda, Biancolilla, Carpellese, Cornia and Pisciottana). In general, the apical and the median portions of the shoots gave the best rooting results., Advances in Horticultural Science, Vol 31 No 4 (2017)

In this study, 186 local sweet cherry accessions from 12 Italian regions, plus eight reference accessions, were analysed for the first time, using 13 microsatellite markers. Moreover, their S-incompatibility genotypes were identified with consensus primers for the S-RNase and SFB genes. A total of 161 unique genotypes were found; 18 groups of synonyms, along with the discovery of cases of misidentification. The average number of alleles per locus was 9.7, the mean expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.63, the mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.65 and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.58. The structure analysis revealed the presence of six populations, which reflected in some cases geographical areas, the exchange of material among regions and introduction of material from abroad. A total of 17 different S-alleles were found, combined in 24 incompatibility groups of the 47 reported so far. Furthermore, 10 new incompatibility groups, from XLVII to LVI, were identified. Seven genotypes with unique S-allele combinations were included in the pollen donor group 0. The mutant allele of the pollen SFB 5 ′ was found in early ripening genotypes from Sicily and Sardinia. The variability of SSRs present in both introns of the allele S 13 was also explored; new combinations of variants were found and some accessions presented SSR variants typical of wild cherry. It is evident that the Italian sweet cherry germplasm collection represents a relevant source of genetic diversity that needs to be preserved for future breeding programmes.

BACKGROUND: Fruit quality traits (fresh weight, dry weight, soluble solids content, titratable acidity and firmness) as well as the content of bioactive compounds (phenolic compounds) and total antioxidant activity were evaluated in four commercial cultivars of peach (Greta, Ufo 4, Rome Star and Ufo 6) and four of nectarine (Neve, Planet 1, Maria Carla and Mesembrina) differing in fruit shape (standard or flat) and flesh colour (white or yellow), important cultivars of the Italian and foreign market. The higher fruit organoleptic quality and nutritional profile of flat peach and nectarine cultivars make them candidates for exploiting new market opportunities and the chance to improve profits of farmers. RESULTS: The results showed that assayed quality parameters differed greatly among cultivars. In particular, flesh color and fruit shape accounted for most of the variation in traits underlying organoleptic and nutritional quality. CONCLUSION: Overall data suggested that the flat white-fleshed nectarine Planet 1, the yellow-fleshed nectarine Mesembrina and the yellow-fleshed peach Ufo 6, because of their profiles in terms of soluble solids content, titratable acidity and bioactive compounds, have the greatest potential to meet current consumer requirements.