Beatrice Falcinelli

Excessive nitrogen (N) fertilizer usage in agriculture has prompted the exploration of sustainable strategies to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) while maintaining crop yield and quality. Processed tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) were grown for two years (2023 and 2024) following a two-way factorial randomized complete block (RCBD) design, considering three biostimulants and three N regimes as two factors, to assess their morphophysiological, biochemical, anatomical and yield performances. Nitrogen application significantly influenced biomass accumulation, the leaf area index (LAI), nitrogen uptake and yield with notable comparable values between reduced and optimal nitrogen dose, indicating improved nitrogen use efficiency. Biostimulants showed limited effects alone but enhanced plant performance under reduced nitrogen conditions, particularly improving chlorophyll content, crop growth, N uptake, yield and anatomical adaptations. Moreover, compared to 2024, biostimulant application enhanced tomato growth more evidently in 2023 due to environmental variations, likely due to the occurrence of stress conditions. Importantly, biostimulants, together with N regimes, i.e., optimal and reduced doses, showed improved anatomical traits, especially regarding leaf thickness and thickness between the two epidermises, indicating adaptive responses that may support sustained productivity under N-limited conditions. Among the biostimulants used, the processed tomatoes responded better to protein hydrolysate and endophytic N-fixing bacteria than to seaweed extract. These findings suggest that although biostimulants alone were not affected, integrating them with reduced N fertilization provides a viable strategy for optimizing tomato production, conserving resources and minimizing the environmental impact without compromising yield or quality.

The excessive nitrogen (N) fertilizers usage in agriculture has prompted the exploration of sustainable strategies to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) while maintaining crop yield and quality. This two-year (2023 and 2024) open-field experiments assessed the effects of three biostimulants, i.e., seaweed extract (BIOS1), protein hydrolysates (BIOS2), and endophytic N-fixing bacteria (BIOS3), under three N fertiliza-tion regimes, i.e., no nitrogen (N0), optimal (STD) and reduced (RED: 30% reduced than optimal) on processing tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) morphological, physiological, biochemical, anatomical and yield performances. Nitrogen application significantly influenced biomass accumulation, leaf area index (LAI), nitrogen uptake and yield with notable comparable results with reduced nitrogen rates to the optimal dose, indicating improved nitrogen use efficiency. Biostimulants alone had limited effects but showed synergistic benefits under reduced N conditions by enhancing chlorophyll content, crop growth, N-uptake and yield. Moreover, biostimulants application enhanced tomato growth more evidently in 2023 than 2024 due to environmental variations, likely due to the occurrence of stress conditions, with a prominent increment in dry matter accumulation and N uptake. Importantly, biostimulants together with N regimes i.e., STD and RED showed improved anatomical traits specially for Leaf thickness and thickness between the two epidermises, indicating adaptive responses that may support sustained productivity under N-limited conditions. Among biostimulants BIOS2 and BIOS3 responded better than BIOS1 by processing tomatoes. These findings suggest that although biostimulants alone were not affected but integrating them with reduced N fertilization provides a viable strategy for optimizing tomato production, conserving resources and minimizing environmental impact without compromising yield or quality

This study investigated the phytochemical content of melon sprouts obtained from by-product seeds of fruit processing and the elicitation effect obtained by the application of salinity to the growing substrate. Seeds from two melon Cultivars (Thales and SV9424ML) were sprouted at 0, 12.5, 25, and 50 mM NaCl concentrations (Salt). Due to intra-lot seed variability in germination speed, sprouts were harvested at 1 and 2 weeks after sowing (WAS), included as an experimental factor (Harvest), collecting, at each harvest, only those that had reached the ready-to-eat stage. Seed germination, shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry weights, and their content in phenolic compounds were determined. Cultivar, Harvest, and Cultivar × Harvest interaction affected sprout phenolic compound content more than Salt. In general, Thales exhibited a significantly greater phenolic compound content (+67.9%, on average). Harvest influenced phytochemicals, with sprouts at 2WAS exhibiting lower flavonoid and hydroxybenzoic acid levels (−31.3% and −73.0%, respectively), yet higher hydroxycinnamic acid content (+298.6%). This was a consequence of variations in p-coumaric and ferulic acids at 2WAS and in flavonoids at 1WAS. Moreover, Salt had an appreciable effect only on Thales, at moderate levels (25 mM NaCl). Our results suggest that the sprouting of by-product seeds of vegetables should be finely modulated based on the seed intra-lot variability in germination speed and on cultivar responsiveness to salinity for phytochemical elicitation.

Melon is a valuable crop that generates significant by-products during consumption and processing. Among these, seeds are rich in phenolic compounds and might be used to produce sprouts with increased content of these bioactive substances. This study evaluated phenolic compounds (PhCs) in sprouts of two melon cultivars, Thales and SV9424ML, obtained from seeds having different germination speeds, thus harvested at 6 and 14 days after sowing (DAS). A factorial combination of cultivar and harvest time was tested in a completely randomized design with four replicates. Thales produced more ready-to-eat sprouts at 6 DAS than SV9424ML (64.0% vs. 46.7%). Sprouting significantly increased total PhCs content, particularly flavonoids, with Thales showing higher values than SV9424ML (50.2 vs. 32.6 mg kg⁻¹ DW). Phenolic profiles significantly varied among cultivars and harvests. Sprouts at 6 DAS had more total hydroxybenzoic acids and flavonoids, while 14 DAS sprouts were richer in hydroxycinnamic acids. Significant differences between harvest dates were observed in the concentrations of protocatechuic, vanillic (VanA), p-coumaric (p-CouA), ferulic (FerA) acids, and orientin (Ori) for Thales, and of VanA, p-CouA, FerA, and Ori for SV9424ML. Results are encouraging, but future investigations are essential to understand whether these sprouts can be suitable for fresh consumption, food supplements, or phytochemical extraction.

Sprouts are increasingly present in the human diet, being tasty and healthy foods high in antioxidant compounds. Although there is a body of literature on the sprouting of many plant species, Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz has not yet been studied for this purpose. This study aimed to characterize the main bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential of seeds and sprouts of five different Camelina cultivars (ALBA, CO46, CCE43, JOELLE, and VERA). In particular, the contents of phenolic compounds (PCs), phenolic acids (PAs), and glucosinolates (GLSs) were investigated. PCs, PAs, GLSs, and the antioxidant activity of seeds differed among cultivars and were greatly increased by sprouting. A PCA analysis underlined both the effect of the cultivar (PC2) and the germination (PC1) on the nutritional properties of Camelina. The best nutritional properties of seeds were observed for ALBA and CCE43, while the best nutritional properties of sprouts were recorded for CCE43 and JOELLE, since the latter cultivar showed a greater enhancement in phytochemical content and antioxidant activity with sprouting. Finally, a UHPLC-UV procedure for the analysis of GLSs in Camelina was developed and validated. The performance criteria of the proposed method demonstrated that it is useful for the analysis of GLSs in Camelina.

Eggs are a complete food with high-quality proteins; a 2:1 ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acid (SFA); and a good amount of minerals, as well as vitamins or antioxidant compounds. Seeds or mature plants were usually added to the feed to improve egg quality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of alfalfa and flax freeze-dried sprouts supplementation in diets of laying hens on egg oxidative status and key bioactive compounds. Thirty Sassò hens were fed with three different diets: standard, standard + 3% freeze-dried alfalfa sprouts, or flaxseed sprouts. Ten pools of 10 egg yolks per group were collected at 0, 4, and 8 weeks and analyzed. Supplementation with sprouts enriched the phytosterols, phytoestrogens, tocols, carotenes, vitamin D, and n-3 fatty acid contents in the eggs. Cholesterol content was lower in both sprout-supplemented groups, and a decrease in its oxidative products was also observed. It was found that a 3% freeze-dried sprouts supplementation of approximately 56 days improves the egg quality. Further studies are necessary to verify higher supplementing doses and the applicability of this strategy in the commercial egg production chain.