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Water scarcity is a significant global risk affecting health, food security, economic development, social stability, environmental sustainability, and climate change adaptation. Implementing deficit irrigation strategies can improve water efficiency and agricultural resilience. Spain, particularly the Region of Murcia, has pioneered apricot cultivation, with the ‘Mirlo Rojo’ variety known for its high productivity, Sharka virus resistance, and exceptional organoleptic qualities. This study evaluates the effects of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on the quality, antioxidant activity, fatty acid profile, and volatile compounds of ‘Mirlo Rojo’ apricots. Four irrigation treatments (100% ETc, 60% ETc, 33% ETc, and 0% ETc) were tested during the final growth stages in May 2023. Results showed no adverse effects on the evaluated parameters. RDI treatments increased total soluble solids, glucose, and fructose content, improving maturity and sweetness indices. RDI also enhanced phenolic content and antioxidant activity, optimizing water use without compromising fruit quality and bioactive compounds.

Addressing agricultural water scarcity poses a current challenge of growing concern, exacerbated by climate change. This is particularly relevant for stone fruit trees, such as apricot, cultivated in semi-arid zones, where regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategies are gaining attention to tackle the challenge. The RDI method involves optimizing various factors based on how the plant responds physiologically to indicators of its water needs. Among these indicators, water potential is considered the most reliable and influential measure. For numerous apricot varieties and diverse geographic locations, research consistently shows that implementing water reduction strategies during non-critical developmental stages of floral bud development or fruit growth does not significantly impact crop yield. However, it does lead to reduced vegetative growth, which could offer additional benefits in crop management. Furthermore, the implementation of RDI strategies leads to advantageous improvements in fruit quality, particularly storage capacity and morphometric and chemical fruit characteristics, such as total soluble solids content. This scoping review study suggests that RDI is a feasible strategy to address water scarcity in apricot cultivation; however, further studies focused on continuous water monitoring alternatives are necessary to optimize RDI techniques. Future research should prioritize optimizing RDI for different growth stages, exploring advanced technologies for precise implementation, and assessing environmental impacts, while addressing research gaps including the influence of climate variability and the interaction with other agronomic practices, to refine RDI strategies and enhance apricot orchard sustainability and productivity.

In this review, a selection of studies was carried out that evaluated the influence of organic agronomic practices on the cultivation of pomegranate; specifically, the influence of these practices on improving soil health and pomegranate fruit quality. Studies were selected (n = 39) in which organic treatments were applied to different cultivars of pomegranate and which evaluated fruit and soil quality parameters. These studies showed that exclusively organic manure and organic manure in combination with mineral fertilizers are suitable to fulfill the requirements of pomegranate crop and reduce the amount of mineral fertilizers. Moreover, the soil health improved with organic manures, as well as growth, and yield in the pomegranate crop. Pomegranate fruits grown under organic conditions showed high levels of fruit quality parameters, such as total soluble solids and fruit juice, and additionally presented high concentrations of bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins and total phenols. Data from these studies endorsed the fact that pomegranates cultured under organic conditions may have a better fruit quality and nutraceutical content than those grown under conventional conditions, although more scientific evidence is required to confirm this.

This research analyzed the phytochemical profile of prickly pear fruits from ‘Orito’ cultivar stored under cold conditions (2 °C, 85–90% RH) and shelf-life conditions at room temperature (stored at 20 °C for three days after cold storage) for 28 days, mimicking the product life cycle. A total of 18 compounds were identified and quantitated through HPLC-DAD-MS/MS (High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic -Diode Array Detector- Mass Spectrometry) analyses. Phenolic acids such as eucomic acid and betalains such as indicaxanthin were the predominant chemical families, and piscidic acid was the most abundant compound. During cold storage, the content of eucomic acid isomer/derivative and syringaresinol increased, and citric acid decreased, which could be caused by the cold activation of the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes. However, no significant differences were found in the content of these compounds during shelf-life storage. These results showed that ‘Orito’ fruit marketability would be possible up to 28 days after harvesting, retaining its profile, which is rich in bioactive compounds.

In this review, studies (n = 41) were searched in which the compounds and contents were determined for whole fig fruit, peel, leaves and pulp, the types of fig-based products were identified and their total phenols and antioxidant capacity as well as the potential uses of different extracts of fig parts were analyzed. There is a need to reduce the fruit’s environmental impacts (zero waste), and bioactive compounds from fig fruits present a high added value as functional ingredients. Focusing on fig by-products (peel, seeds, no-optimal fruits and leaves), individual compounds and/or extracts can increase the functional, nutritional and techno-functional properties of food products such as additives. A high number of phenolic compounds was found in whole fruit (n = 19), peel (n = 26), pulp (n = 24) and leaves (n = 42). Quercetin-3-O-rutioside was reported as the major individual phenolic compound in whole figs, while cyanidin-3-rutinoside, epicatechin and caftaric acid were the highest compounds in peel, pulp and leaves, respectively. A potential strategy could be the development of novel additives and/or ingredients for food industry from fig by-products. Therefore, the use and valorization of the waste material produced during fig processing should be further investigated.

Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) fruit from ‘Orito’ cultivar were stored at 2 °C and 90% RH for 28 days plus three days at 20 °C (shelf life, SL). This research analysed the changes in fruit quality parameters (weight loss, firmness, color, titratable acidity, and total soluble solids), ethylene production, respiration rate, antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds (total phenols and carotenoids) of cactus pear fruit during cold and shelf life storage. Under cold conditions, CO2 production decreased, and ethylene production increased slightly, while under shelf life conditions CO2 production increased and ethylene production increased more sharply. Firmness increased under cold conditions and did not change during shelf life period. The content of total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), pH, total carotenoids, and lipo-antioxidant activity (L-TAA) remained stable under both conservation conditions. However, hydro-antioxidant activity (H-TAA) increased under both cold and shelf life conditions, and total phenols remained stable during cold storage and increased under shelf life conditions. Besides, weight loss was acceptable under both storage conditions, and color changes were more pronounced under shelf life storage. These results show that the marketability of cactus pear fruit from ‘Orito’ cultivar was acceptable until the end of the storage under cold and shelf life conditions.