Grapevine is one of the most important economic crops in horticulture, and drought stress is one of the most significant threatening factors in the world. Therefore, the identification and investigation of cultivars under drought stress are the basic steps and important goals in grapevine-breeding programs. In the present study, the 17 parameters of 14 grapevine cultivars under drought stress were first scaled. Based on the initial information, we divided the 14 grape cultivars according to their resistance to drought stress into four groups: tolerant, semi-tolerant, semi-sensitive, and sensitive. Then, the utilization of multivariate techniques comprising principal component analysis (PCA), along with quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), were utilized to choose the most substantial and accountable traits for the four groups’ discrimination. For the QDA, the 17 parameters were arranged into four sets. The discrimination for all parameters showed 96% correct classification. The first set includes shoot length (Shoot L), shoot number (Shoot N), leaf area (Leaf A), relative water content (RWC), and chlorophyll a (Chl a) parameters that showed 71.5% correct classification. The second set includes chlorophyll b (Chl b), chlorophyll total, peroxidase (POX), and superoxide dismutase (Sod) parameters that had 75% correct classification. Electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) parameters were in the third set and had 87% correct discrimination. The best discrimination was obtained by the combination of the first and third set, including the Shoot L, Shoot N, Leaf A, RWC, Chl a, EL, MDA, proline, CAT, and APX with 100% correct discrimination. Full article

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of three biostimulant products (Nomoren (N), Twin Antistress (TW), x-Stress (XS) and control treatment (C: no biostimulants added)) on the nutritional value, chemical composition and bioactive properties of greenhouse tomato fruit grown under full (W+: 100% of field capacity) and deficit irrigation (W–: 70% of field capacity) conditions. Fat content was the highest for the fully irrigated plants that received no biostimulants (CW+), while proteins and carbohydrates and energetic value were the highest in the XSW+ treatment. The content of the main detected sugars (fructose, glucose and trehalose) varied depending on the irrigation and biostimulant treatment. The highest amounts of individual and total organic acids and tocopherols were recorded in fully irrigated plants treated with Twin Antistress (TW), whereas the lowest overall values were observed under deficit irrigation for plants that received the XS treatment. The most abundant fatty acids were palmitic (27.5–36.0%) and linoleic acid (27.4–35.4%), followed by oleic (9.2–21.2%), linolenic (5.4–13.1%) and stearic acid (5.3–6.8%). Moreover, the highest values of β-carotene and lycopene were recorded for the CW- and NW+ treatments, respectively. The TWW+ showed the highest antioxidant activity for both assays tested (TBARS and OxHLIA). Most of the tested extracts showed lower antibacterial activity against the tested bacteria compared to the positive controls. On the other hand, CW+, XSW+ and XSW- treatments showed higher antifungal activity (MIC values) than positive controls. In conclusion, each biostimulant product had a different effect on the determined characteristics depending on the level of irrigation. Therefore, more research is needed to better identify the mechanisms of action and the physiological processes, after which the tested biostimulants may be used to standardize the application of such products in tomato cultivation. Full article

In the present study, the chemical profile and bioactive properties of the roots of turnip-rooted parsley (Petroselinum crispum spp. tuberosum) germplasm were evaluated. For this purpose, plants from seventeen parsley cultivars were grown in 6 L pots, and the obtained roots were analyzed in terms of nutritional value, chemical composition (tocopherols, sugars and organic and fatty acids) and bioactive content (antioxidant activity, phenolic compound composition and antimicrobial properties). Our results showed great variability in terms of the chemical composition and bioactive properties of root parsley germplasm. A higher fresh root yield was recorded for the common “Root parsley” common variety (164 g/pot), followed by the varieties “Osborne” (109 g/pot), “Sonata” (104 g/pot), “Kaśka” (104 g/pot) and “Halblange Berlinska” (103 g/pot), whereas the lowest yield was recorded for the “Hanacka” variety (69 g/pot). A significant variation was also observed in the nutritional value parameters: the roots of the “Sonata” genotype showed the highest fat content; “Arat”, “Osborne” and “Olomuńcka” had the highest ash content; the “Alba” cultivar contained significantly higher amounts of carbohydrates; and the “Vistula” cultivar showed the highest energetic value. The only detected isoforms of vitamin E were α- and δ-tocopherols; content varied depending on the cultivar, although α-tocopherol was the most abundant compound in most cultivars, especially in the “Arat” cultivar. Sucrose was the most abundant free sugar detected, especially in the “Sonata” cultivar (16.96 g/100 g dw), followed by apiose (2.93–5.55 g/100 g dw), glucose (1.3–3.47 g/100 g dw) and fructose (1.37–3.03 g/100 g dw). Moreover, malic acid was the most abundant organic acid in most of the tested cultivars. Twenty-one individual fatty acids were identified in all the studied cultivars, with linoleic (47.9–57.1%) and palmitic acid (20.66–20.5%) being the most abundant. Nineteen individual phenolic compounds were tentatively identified, including three phenolic acids, fourteen flavonoids and two hydrolyzable tannins, while apigenin-O-pentoside-O-hexoside was the most abundant. The antioxidant activity differed between the tested assays (TBARS and OxHLIA), and the most effective cultivars for the TBARS assay (“Root parsley (common variety)” and “Berlinski Halblange Springer”) were those with the lowest antioxidant activity for the OxHLIA assay after 120 min. Finally, in most cases, the root extracts were more efficient or similarly effective compared to the positive controls against the tested bacteria and fungi. In conclusion, our results provide information regarding the chemical characterization and the bioactivities of the roots of turnip-rooted parsley germplasm that could be further exploited in sustainable and diversified agro-ecosystems through the introduction of this species as a novel/complementary crop in the traditional farming systems of the Mediterranean basin. Full article

Urban agriculture is an important part of the food and nutrition security of many cities and is growing in importance, especially with social disruptions such as climate change and pandemics. Plant foods, in particular, provide bioactive compounds and other essential nutrients. Therefore, it is important to provide timely and useful research resources to horticultural sector and food-related industries that want to produce high-quality plant foods at low cost to meet the market demands of urban agriculture. This study focuses on up-to-date information on urban agriculture, the mechanisms of production of bioactive compounds in plant foods, and the main factors influencing the levels of bioactive compounds in plant foods. As a strategy to improve the bioactive compounds of plant foods in urban agriculture, the recent trends in urban agriculture were investigated according to four categories: ground-based uncontrolled or controlled agriculture and building-integrated uncontrolled or controlled agriculture. In ground-based urban agriculture, the application of short-term abiotic or biotic stresses, such as agronomic management practices, can significantly affect the bioactive compound levels in fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, in building-integrated urban agriculture, horticultural scientists have been interested in artificial lighting, cultivation medium, and water use efficiency to improve the level and composition of functional components of plants. The future trend of urban agriculture is expected to change from ground-based to building integration considering the sustainability of agriculture. Therefore, ongoing research on the growth and bioactive content improvement of plant foods using building-integrated agriculture is an important aspect for urban agriculture. Full article