Antioxidant Activity of Polysaccharides from the Edible Mushroom .

In this study the antioxidant and neuroprotective activity of an enriched polysaccharide fraction (EPF) obtained from the fruiting body of cultivated was evaluated. Proximate composition (moisture, proteins, fat, carbohydrates and ash) was determined using the AOAC procedures. The EPF was extracted by using, in sequence, hot water and alkaline extractions followed by deproteinization and precipitation with cold ethanol.

Edible Mushrooms as Source of Fibrin(ogen)olytic Enzymes: Comparison between Four Cultivated Species.

Cardiovascular diseases represent the main cause of death. A common feature of cardiovascular disease is thrombosis resulting from intravascular accumulation of fibrin. In the last years, several fibrinolytic enzymes have been discovered in many medicinal or edible mushrooms as potential new antithrombotic agents.

Carfentrazone-ethyl: a new molecule for the control of hazelnut shoots.

Control of the shoots growth is an important practice for the management of hazelnut crop, in order to improve its qualitative and quantitative yield. Bioagritest test facility has set up a trial in order to evaluate the efficacy of the contact herbicide SPOTLIGHT PLUS (carfentrazone 60 g/l) for the control of hazelnut shoots. Experimentation was performed, according to EPPO guidelines and Principles of Good Experimental Practice (GEP), in a family-run hazelnut orchard in Nocera Inferiore (Salerno), southern Italy.

Teppeki, selective insecticide about Bombus terrestris.

At a time when a highly controversial debate about the causes of the widespread deaths of bees is taking place all over Europe, which accused the agriculture and its practices with particular reference to the harmful effects of some insecticides, it seems important to point out as another insecticide, the Teppeki, can be selective about bumble and have a good compatibility with the activity of the apiaries. This insecticide has the active ingredient flonicamid (500 g/kg) belonging to a new chemical class, called pyridinecarboxamides: the product works systemic and is known as having a long lasting efficacy against all important aphid species. Bioagritest test facility of Pignola (PZ, Italy) has conducted in two successive production cycles an experimental trial on a tomato hydroponic cultivation within the Agricola Bonsai farm in Sibari (CS, Italy), whose objective was to measure the selectivity of flonicamid on Bombus terrestris, insects playing an important role in the pollination of certain species grown in greenhouse such as Tomato, Eggplant, Pepper and Cucumber.

Cyazofamide: a fungicide against Bremia lactucae on lettuce.

During 2007 and 2008 summers, experimentation was performed by the Bioagritest test facility, according to EPPO guidelines and Principles of Good Experimental Practice (GEP), aiming at establishing the biological efficacy of Cyazofamide 25SC (formulate MILDICUT, Belchim) and Cyazofamide 400SC + an organosilicone adjuvant containing polyalkyleneoxide modified heptamethyltrisiloxane (Ranman 400 SC, Belchim) on lettuce against Bremia lactucae. The study was performed in Nocera Inferiore (Salerno), southern Italy, in a greenhouse with polyethylene cover. Experimental design consisted in random blocks, in 3 repetitions.

Severe outbreak of tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus on pepper in southern Italy.

During summer and autumn 2008 a severe outbreak of pepper leaf curl disease (PLCD) was observed in pepper crops under plastic tunnels in the ionic coast of Basilicata region. Its incidence reached, in some cases, values close to 50%. The beginning of infections was recorded along the perimeter of the tunnels, where it reached a percentage of almost 100%.

Phoma glomerata as causal agent of crown rot disease of fennel in southern Italy.

In the autumn seasons of the years 2005 and 2006 millions of fennel seedlings under greenhouse in nurseries where observed in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Apulia Regions, southern Italy, with serious symptoms of damping off and root necrosis. The basal part of seedling stem was much thinner than the uninvaded parts above it and the crown was brown and shrink. The incidence of disease reached values ut to 100% in some blocks where the humidity was higher, and seedlings attached earlier died.