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Plants
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Pre-harvest Factors Influencing Crops’ Yield and Quality Traits
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Pre-harvest Factors Influencing Crops’ Yield and Quality Traits

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Physiology and Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 9283

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gaetano Pandino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: crop science; polyphenols; cropping management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sara Lombardo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: agronomy; sustainable crop production; biodiversity; fertilization; crop quality; nutraceuticals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The journal Plants will be publishing a Special Issue on the effect of pre-harvest factors (including genotype, growing environment, and crop management) on crop yield and qualitative characteristics. Indeed, complex interactions between this group of factors may affect the yield and quality of fruits and vegetables at harvest, accounting for different crops’ performances from one site to another worldwide. In particular, efforts toward understanding the role of preharvest factors are of crucial importance with the aim of enhancing the final market value of the produce and acceptance by consumers.

Of particular interest is research on more eco-friendly and cost-effective agricultural practices able to enrich crop quality. This Special Issue will present interdisciplinary studies, elucidating chemical, physiological, biological, morphological, and agronomic aspects relative to crop yield and qualitative performances as affected by pre-harvest factors (genotype, growing environment, agronomic management, ripening stage, etc.). All types of articles, such as original research papers, opinions, and reviews, are welcome.

Dr. Gaetano Pandino
Dr. Sara Lombardo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

    • Field crops
    • Environment
    • Soil characteristics
    • Variety selection
    • Fertilization
    • Irrigation
    • Pest management
    • Yield
    • Quality traits

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 444 KiB  
Article
Improvement in the Cynaropicrin, Caffeoylquinic Acid and Flavonoid Content of Globe Artichokes with Gibberellic Acid Treatment
by Sara Lombardo, Aurelio Scavo, Gaetano Pandino, Marco Cantone and Giovanni Mauromicale
Plants 2022, 11(14), 1845; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11141845 - 14 Jul 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1896
Abstract
Increasing interest has been shown in globe artichoke for pharmaceutical and food applications as a significant source of polyphenol compounds. With the aim to improve the polyphenol profile of globe artichoke, an open-field experiment is set up to study the effect of gibberellic [...] Read more.
Increasing interest has been shown in globe artichoke for pharmaceutical and food applications as a significant source of polyphenol compounds. With the aim to improve the polyphenol profile of globe artichoke, an open-field experiment is set up to study the effect of gibberellic acid (GA3) application on the cynaropicrin, caffeoylquinic acid and flavone levels of three genotypes (‘Apollo’, ‘Tema 2000’ and ‘Violet de Provence’), along with crop earliness, yield and bio-morphological plant response. The results indicate that GA3 treatment is more effective in terms of total polyphenol and caffeoylquinic acid accumulation in ‘Apollo’, regardless of the plant parts analyzed. In particular, the leaves of ‘Apollo’ were the richest source of luteolin derivatives of 5-O- and 1,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acids. On average across the genotypes, GA3 treatment favored the accumulation of apigenin derivatives in the floral stem, and caffeoylquinic acid and cynaropicrin in the leaves. From the perspective of yield, GA3 treatment allowed us to anticipate the first harvest in each genotype, while either maintaining (‘Apollo’, ‘Violet de Provence’) or enhancing (‘Tema 2000’) the fresh weight yield. In conclusion, this study could be interesting for promoting GA3 usage to ameliorate the globe artichoke nutraceutical profile and to anticipate the first harvest for fresh marketing without significant yield losses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pre-harvest Factors Influencing Crops’ Yield and Quality Traits)
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16 pages, 3897 KiB  
Article
The Anatomical Differences and Physiological Responses of Sunburned Satsuma Mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.) Fruits
by Misun Kim, Yosup Park, Seok Kyu Yun, Sang Suk Kim, Jaeho Joa, Young-Eel Moon and Gyung-Ran Do
Plants 2022, 11(14), 1801; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11141801 - 7 Jul 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2366
Abstract
Sunburn causes fruit browning and other physiological symptoms, reducing fruit production and quality. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the anatomical differences and abiotic stress responses in ‘Nichinan 1 gou’ satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.) according to the severity of sunburn damage (five [...] Read more.
Sunburn causes fruit browning and other physiological symptoms, reducing fruit production and quality. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the anatomical differences and abiotic stress responses in ‘Nichinan 1 gou’ satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.) according to the severity of sunburn damage (five grades: control, no sunburn; I to IV, increasing severity of sunburn). Additionally, the quality of sunburned and non-sunburned fruits was compared, and the sunburn-inducing temperature was estimated. Anatomical observations confirmed that with increased severity of symptoms, the damage to fruit rind surface and oil glands was increased. In the analysis of peel pigments, chlorophyll content in the rind gradually decreased compared with IV, whereas the carotenoid content gradually increased up to III. The flavonoid content in the peel and pulp was the highest in III. In the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical analyses, the IC50 (the concentration of compound at which the percentage of inhibition is 50%) value was the lowest in grade III in peel or IV in pulp, indicating a high free radical scavenging ability. The fruit quality analysis between sunburned and non-sunburned fruits showed differences in total soluble solid content, total acidity, firmness, coloration, and free sugar and organic acid contents, indicating a significant effect on fruit quality. In the heat tolerance tests on fruit rind in the laboratory and field, the damage was confirmed at temperatures above 47 °C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pre-harvest Factors Influencing Crops’ Yield and Quality Traits)
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16 pages, 1957 KiB  
Article
Productive and Physico-Chemical Parameters of Tomato Fruits Submitted to Fertigation Doses with Water Treated with Very Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Resonance Fields
by Fernando Ferrari Putti, Bianca Bueno Nogueira, Angela Vacaro de Souza, Eduardo Festozo Vicente, Willian Aparecido Leoti Zanetti, Diogo de Lucca Sartori and Jéssica Pigatto de Queiroz Barcelos
Plants 2022, 11(12), 1587; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11121587 - 16 Jun 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1957
Abstract
It is known that poorly performed fertigation directly impacts on tomato production and biometric components. In addition, consumers are also affected by interrelated characteristics that interfere with the acceptability of the fruit, such as the physicochemical parameters and nutrients in the fruit. Thus, [...] Read more.
It is known that poorly performed fertigation directly impacts on tomato production and biometric components. In addition, consumers are also affected by interrelated characteristics that interfere with the acceptability of the fruit, such as the physicochemical parameters and nutrients in the fruit. Thus, eco-friendly technologies, such as irrigation with ultra-low frequency electromagnetic treated-water, which attenuates the inadequate management of fertigation, are essential to improve marketable fruit yields. Thus, the objective of the present work was to investigate the impact of treated water with very low-frequency electromagnetic resonance fields in physical, chemical and nutritional parameters at different nutrient solution strengths in tomato fruits. In this study, experiments were carried out in randomized blocks and five doses of fertigation were used (1.5; 2.5; 4.0; 5.5; and 7.0 dS m−1), employing two types of water: electromagnetically treated and untreated. It can be seen that the fertigation affected some parameters, mainly the number of fruits with blossom-end rot, fruit size, and weight. Variance analysis (ANOVA) was performed with the subsequent use of the Tukey test. In all statistical tests, a confidence level of 95% was considered. The soluble solids content increased by 28% as a function of the fertigation doses. The electromagnetically treated water reduced the number of fruits with blossom-end rot by 35% (p < 0.05). Overall, electromagnetic water improved the physicochemical quality parameters and the nutritional status of tomato fruits. Thus, this study demonstrated that green technology could leverage tomato fruit production and quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pre-harvest Factors Influencing Crops’ Yield and Quality Traits)
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19 pages, 5298 KiB  
Article
High-Throughput Phenotyping Accelerates the Dissection of the Phenotypic Variation and Genetic Architecture of Shank Vascular Bundles in Maize (Zea mays L.)
by Shangjing Guo, Guoliang Zhou, Jinglu Wang, Xianju Lu, Huan Zhao, Minggang Zhang, Xinyu Guo and Ying Zhang
Plants 2022, 11(10), 1339; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11101339 - 18 May 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2152
Abstract
The vascular bundle of the shank is an important ‘flow’ organ for transforming maize biological yield to grain yield, and its microscopic phenotypic characteristics and genetic analysis are of great significance for promoting the breeding of new varieties with high yield and good [...] Read more.
The vascular bundle of the shank is an important ‘flow’ organ for transforming maize biological yield to grain yield, and its microscopic phenotypic characteristics and genetic analysis are of great significance for promoting the breeding of new varieties with high yield and good quality. In this study, shank CT images were obtained using the standard process for stem micro-CT data acquisition at resolutions up to 13.5 μm. Moreover, five categories and 36 phenotypic traits of the shank including related to the cross-section, epidermis zone, periphery zone, inner zone and vascular bundle were analyzed through an automatic CT image process pipeline based on the functional zones. Next, we analyzed the phenotypic variations in vascular bundles at the base of the shank among a group of 202 inbred lines based on comprehensive phenotypic information for two environments. It was found that the number of vascular bundles in the inner zone (IZ_VB_N) and the area of the inner zone (IZ_A) varied the most among the different subgroups. Combined with genome-wide association studies (GWAS), 806 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified, and 1245 unique candidate genes for 30 key traits were detected, including the total area of vascular bundles (VB_A), the total number of vascular bundles (VB_N), the density of the vascular bundles (VB_D), etc. These candidate genes encode proteins involved in lignin, cellulose synthesis, transcription factors, material transportation and plant development. The results presented here will improve the understanding of the phenotypic traits of maize shank and provide an important phenotypic basis for high-throughput identification of vascular bundle functional genes of maize shank and promoting the breeding of new varieties with high yield and good quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pre-harvest Factors Influencing Crops’ Yield and Quality Traits)
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