Yield Performance, Laying Behaviour Traits and Egg Quality of Purebred and Hybrid Hens Reared under Outdoor Conditions.

This study compared the yield performance, laying behavioural traits and egg quality of purebred and hybrid hens (from 28 until 44 weeks of age, considering four periods) reared under outdoor conditions. The four genotypes were reared on the same trial station, on four areas (one genotype/area), and under the same environmental conditions from hatching until the end of the trial. Italian dual-purpose purebred (Ermellinata di Rovigo-ER and Robusta maculata-RM) and hybrid (Hy-Line Brown-HB and Hy-Line White 36-HW) hens (flock size: 70 birds/genotype) were allowed outdoors (4 m/bird, good pasture during the growing period and poor pasture throughout the laying period, according to the season) and indoors (0.

Preliminary evaluation of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit as extraction source of antioxidant phytoconstituents for nutraceutical and functional food applications.

Background: Quince (Cydonia oblonga) fruits can be considered as starting material for the extraction of health-promoting phytochemicals, to be exploited in food and nutraceuticals. In the present work, liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry analysis allowed the study of the phytochemical composition of quince fruits and to compare it with those of six commercial apple varieties.

Results: The distribution and quantification of secondary metabolites in peel and pulp were studied and compared with six commercial apple varieties.

Attraction of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) haplotypes in North America and Europe to baited traps.

Halyomorpha halys is a global invasive species, native to Southeast Asia, that is threatening agriculture in invaded regions. Our objectives were to: 1) establish the attractiveness of semiochemical stimuli paired with field-deployed traps in Europe (Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland), compared with Maryland, USA, and 2) identify H. halys haplotypes recovered from traps at each location.