Suco integral de amora (Morus nigra L.) obtido através de prensagem e despolpamento: rendimento e caracterização físico-química

Mulberry (Morus nigra L.) is a fruit with a great potential for technological uses, which could be employed to manufacture of syrups, ice cream, candies, yoghurts, beverages, jam, etc. Only the leaf from mulberry trees is commercially used for silkworm feeding. This tree is cultivated on many agricultural environments such as small rural proprieties and settlements. Small farmers waste a great amount of their production for not knowing about mulberry technology. Thus, the objective of this work was to access extraction yield and physical-chemical properties of mulberry whole juice from ripe, green and a mixture of both by using press and depulper. Statistical analysis of results was carried by media and standard deviation calculations. 173 kg of mulberry were picked being 49.31% ripe and 50.68% green. Press delivered greater extraction yield of whole juice (80.50% to 81.60%) when compared to press (71.43% to 77.50%). Whole juice obtained from both equipments has shown the following values: soluble solids 7.45% - 12.11%, titrable acidity 0.45 – 1.23%, ratio 6.03 – 26.84, pH 3.69 – 4.35, total reducing sugar 4.05% – 9.96%, reducing sugar 3.95% - 9.15%, sucrose 0.00% - 0.04%, turbidity 221.25 NTU - >4,000 NTU. Whole juices obtained from both equipments has shown similar physical-chemical characteristics except turbidity. The authors concluded that press was the best extraction equipment due to its greater yield and whole juice quality regarding turbidity

Severity of restless legs syndrome is inversely correlated with echogenicity of the substantia nigra in different neurodegenerative movement disorders. A preliminary observation

Objective: Hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra is a frequent observation on transcranial sonography in Parkinson's disease and Machado-Joseph disease patients. Additionally, restless legs syndrome is a sleep disorder that is also frequently found in both diseases. Autopsy studies have demonstrated increased SN iron content in hyperechogenic substantia nigra. Iron storage is also known to be involved in restless legs syndrome. We formally compared echogenicity of the substantia nigra with restless legs syndrome in Parkinson's disease and Machado-Joseph disease patients. Methods: Transcranial brain sonography was performed in a sample of Parkinson's disease and Machado-Joseph disease patients, and findings then correlated with the presence and severity of restless legs syndrome. Results: There was a continuum of substantia nigra echogenicity among groups (Parkinson's disease versus Machado-Joseph disease versus controls) and sub-groups (Parkinson's disease with and without restless legs syndrome versus Machado-Joseph disease with and without restless legs syndrome) as well as a statistically significant negative correlation between restless legs syndrome severity and substantia nigra echogenicity (p<0.001). Conclusions: These preliminary observations demonstrate that the severity of RLS may be influenced by nigral iron load reflected by substantia nigra echogenicity in different neurodegenerative movement disorders. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic diversity of Metrodorea nigra (Rutaceae) from a small forest remnant in Brazil assessed with microsatellite markers

Metrodorea nigra (Rutaceae) is an endemic Brazilian tree of great ecological importance, frequently found in the submontane regions of ombrophilous dense and semideciduous forests. This tree is useful for reforesting degraded areas and the wood can be employed in construction. We developed 12 microsatellite markers from a genomic library enriched for GA/CA repeats, for this species. Polymorphisms were assessed in 40 trees of a highly fragmented population found in Cravinhos, State of Sao Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. Among the 12 loci, 8 were polymorphic and only one had fixed alleles in this population. The number of alleles per locus and expected heterozygosity ranged from 2 to 11 and from 0.190 to 0.889, respectively. These results revealed moderate levels of genetic variation in M. nigra population when compared to other tropical species. Additionally, transferability of the 12 primers was tested in seven other Brazilian Rutaceae tree species (endemics: M. stipularis, Galipea jasminiflora, Esenbeckia leiocarpa and non-endemics: E. febrifuga, E. grandiflora, Balfourodendron riedelianum, Zanthoxylum riedelianum). Transferability ranged among species, but at least 8 loci (similar to 67%) amplified in M. stipularis, demonstrating a high potential for transferring microsatellite markers between species of the same genus in the Rutaceae family.

Growth response to climate and drought change along an aridity gradient in the southernmost Pinus nigra relict forests

Tree populations at the rear edge of species distribution are sensitive to climate stress and drought. However, growth responses of these tree populations to those stressors may vary along climatic gradients. To analyze growth responses to climate and drought using dendrochronology in rear-edge Pinus nigra populations located along an aridity gradient. Tree-ring width chronologies were built for the twentieth century and related to monthly climatic variables, a drought index (Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index), and two atmospheric circulation patterns (North Atlantic and Western Mediterranean Oscillations). Growth was enhanced by wet and cold previous autumns and warm late winters before tree-ring formation. The influence of the previous year conditions on growth increased during the past century. Growth was significantly related to North Atlantic and Western Mediterranean Oscillations in two out of five sites. The strongest responses of growth to the drought index were observed in the most xeric sites. Dry conditions before tree-ring formation constrain growth in rear-edge P. nigra populations. The comparisons of climate-growth responses along aridity gradients allow characterizing the sensitivity of relict stands to climate warming.

Contrasting vulnerability and resilience to drought-induced decline of densely planted vs. natural rear-edge Pinus nigra forests

The southernmost European natural and planted pine forests are among the most vulnerable areas to warming-induced drought decline. Both drought stress and management factors (e.g., stand origin or reduced thinning) may induce decline by reducing the water available to trees but their relative importances have not been properly assessed. The role of stand origin - densely planted vs. naturally regenerated stands - as a decline driver can be assessed by comparing the growth and vigor responses to drought of similar natural vs. planted stands. Here, we compare these responses in natural and planted Black pine (Pinus nigra) stands located in southern Spain. We analyze how environmental factors - climatic (temperature and precipitation anomalies) and site conditions - and biotic factors - stand structure (age, tree size, density) and defoliation by the pine processionary moth - drive radial growth and crown condition at stand and tree levels. We also assess the climatic trends in the study area over the last 60 years. We use dendrochronology, linear mixed-effects models of basal area increment and structural equation models to determine how natural and planted stands respond to drought and current competition intensity. We observed that a temperature rise and a decrease in precipitation during the growing period led to increasing drought stress during the late 20th century. Trees from planted stands experienced stronger growth reductions and displayed more severe crown defoliation after severe droughts than those from natural stands. High stand density negatively drove growth and enhanced crown dieback, particularly in planted stands. Also pine processionary moth defoliation was more severe in the growth of natural than in planted stands but affected tree crown condition similarly in both stand types. In response to drought, sharp growth reduction and widespread defoliation of planted Mediterranean pine stands indicate that they are more vulnerable and less resilient to drought stress than natural stands. To mitigate forest decline of planted stands in xeric areas such as the Mediterranean Basin, less dense and more diverse stands should be created through selective thinning or by selecting species or provenances that are more drought tolerant. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Site and Age Condition the Growth Responses to Climate and Drought of Relict Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii Populations in Southern Spain

To assess if tree age may modulate the main climatic drivers of radial growth, two relict Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii populations (Maria, most xeric site; Magina, least xeric site) were sampled in southern Spain near the limits of the species range. Tree-ring width residual chronologies for two age groups (mature trees, age <= 100 years (minimum 40 years); old trees, age > 100 years) were built to evaluate their responses to climate by relating them to monthly precipitation and temperature and a drought index (DRI) using correlation and response functions. We found that drought is the main driver of growth of relict P. nigra populations, but differences between sites and age classes were also observed. First, growth in the most xeric site depends on the drought severity during the previous autumn and the spring of the year of tree-ring formation, whereas in the relatively more mesic site growth is mainly enhanced by warm and wet conditions in spring. Second, growth of mature trees responded more to drought severity than that of old trees. Our findings indicate that drought severity will mainly affect growth of relict P. nigra populations dominated by mature trees in xeric sites. This conclusion may also apply to similar mountain Mediterranean conifer relicts.

Pinus nigra (European black pine) as the dominant species of the last glacial pinewoods in south-western to central Iberia: a morphological study of modern and fossil pollen

Aim Our aim was to discriminate different species of Pinus via pollen analysis in order to assess the responses of particular pine species to orbital and millennial-scale climate changes, particularly during the last glacial period. Location Modern pollen grains were collected from current pine populations along transects from the Pyrenees to southern Iberia and the Balearic Islands. Fossil pine pollen was recovered from the south-western Iberian margin core MD95-2042. Methods We measured a set of morphological traits of modern pollen from the Iberian pine species Pinus nigra, P. sylvestris, P. halepensis, P. pinea and P. pinaster and of fossil pine pollen from selected samples of the last glacial period and the early to mid-Holocene. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to establish a model from the modern dataset that discriminates pollen from the different pine species and allows identification of fossil pine pollen at the species level. Results The CART model was effective in separating pollen of P. nigra and P. sylvestris from that of the Mediterranean pine group (P. halepensis, P. pinea and P. pinaster). The pollen of Pinus nigra diverged from that of P. sylvestris by having a more flattened corpus. Predictions using this model suggested that fossil pine pollen is mainly from P. nigra in all the samples analysed. Pinus sylvestris was more abundant in samples from Greenland stadials than Heinrich stadials, whereas Mediterranean pines increased in samples from Greenland interstadials and during the early to mid-Holocene. Main conclusions Morphological parameters can be successfully used to increase the taxonomic resolution of fossil pine pollen at the species level for the highland pines (P. nigra and P. sylvestris) and at the group of species level for the Mediterranean pines. Our study indicates that P. nigra was the dominant component of the last glacial south-western/central Iberian pinewoods, although the species composition of these woodlands varied in response to abrupt climate changes.

Sambucus nigra als Topfpflanze

Von M. Scholtz

Comportamiento de procedencias de Pinus nigra bajo riego en Dique Yaucha : Mendoza, Argentina

La provincia de Mendoza, que se ubica en el Centro-Oeste de la República Argentina, posee una extensión de 150.830 km2. Prácticamente todas las actividades agropecuarias y forestales están concentradas en el 3% de su territorio que es posible irrigar. Al Oeste, en el límite con la República de Chile, está la cadena montañosa que forma parte de la región fitogeográfica del Desierto Andino que se extiende por más de 500 km, con un ancho promedio de 100 km. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la supervivencia y el comportamiento de distintas procedencias de Pinus nigra en zonas del piedemonte mendocino. Para ello se instaló una parcela experimental en el Dique Yaucha, ubicado en el Departamento de San Carlos a 34°00’ S y 69°07’ O, a una altura de 1.213 msnm. Las procedencias del ensayo fueron: Pinus nigra var. clusiana (Francia), Pinus nigra var. austríaca (Livo - Italia), Pinus nigra var. austríaca (Lasa - Italia), Pinus nigra var. knin (ex Yugoslavia) y Pinus nigra var. pyramidalis (Turquía). Se llevaron plantas de aproximadamente 0,30 m de altura que se instalaron a una distancia de plantación definitiva de 3 x 3 m y se regaron superficialmente por surcos. Se tomaron periódicamente datos dasométricos de diámetro altura de pecho (DAP) de todas las plantas, altura total de los árboles promedio de cada procedencia, registrándose además las fallas producidas y el estado sanitario. Los resultados obtenidos a la edad de 17 años son: Pinus nigra var. clusiana (Francia): diámetro promedio 12,1 cm, altura 5,2 m y 10% de fallas; Pinus nigra var. austríaca (Livo -Italia): diámetro promedio 13 cm, altura 4,6 m y 25% de fallas; Pinus nigra var. austríaca (Lasa - Italia): diámetro promedio 13,9 cm, altura 5,60 m y 0% de fallas; Pinus nigra var. knin (ex Yugoslavia): diámetro promedio 14,1cm, altura 6,2 m y 15% de fallas y Pinus nigra var. pyramidalis (Turquía): diámetro promedio 11,6 cm, altura 5,8 m y 40% de fallas. Las plantas presentan una gran variabilidad de formas desde porte abierto a muy fastigiado. Todas las procedencias presentan un buen estado sanitario, no registrándose hasta la fecha plagas o enfermedades que hayan afectado el desarrollo del ensayo.

Índices de calidad de sitio de Populus nigra ‘Italica’ en plantaciones lineales en el noroeste de Chubut

En el noroeste del Chubut, los álamos se encuentran establecidos en cortinas de protección en predios de pastoreo o donde se cultivan pasturas y forrajes en secano. El Populus nigra ‘Italica’ es el clon más difundido en plantaciones lineales, ubicadas en diferentes calidades de sitio. No existen antecedentes sobre crecimiento en altura e Índice de Sitio en la zona. Se seleccionaron ocho sitios de muestreo, donde fueron apeados 24 árboles dominantes, a los que se les realizó análisis fustal. Con los pares de datos de edad-altura, resultantes del análisis de fuste de los árboles muestra, se ajustó el modelo de Chapman-Richards mediante técnicas de regresión no lineal. Se construyó una familia de curvas de crecimiento en altura, según la metodología de curva guía. Las curvas de Índice de Sitio, basadas en altura y edad, se construyeron mediante deducción matemática a partir de la función de crecimiento en altura, tomándose como edad de referencia 25 años a la altura del pecho. Se definieron cinco calidades de sitio, con un rango de 4 metros, con Índices de Sitio comprendidos entre 19 y 35 m.