Ferdinando Branca
Università di Catania, DISPA, Faculty Member
- I have worked since some decades for diversification of vegetable produce implementing nutraceutical traits by news g... moreI have worked since some decades for diversification of vegetable produce implementing nutraceutical traits by news genotypes, and growing methods and techniques for improving chains. My efforts deal with the exploiting of germplasm (landraces and crop wild relatives) of interest as vegetable, medical and aromatic, and for organic breeding and high quality seed production.edit
Surveying biodiversity in vegetable industry leads to the exploitation of all Euphyuta divisions and number of Protophyta ones. In the recent past this agrobiodiversity was worldwide represented by a large number of species along with a... more
Surveying biodiversity in vegetable industry leads to the exploitation of all Euphyuta divisions and number of Protophyta ones. In the recent past this agrobiodiversity was worldwide represented by a large number of species along with a wide intraspecific expression characterized by several varietas, subspecies, cultivars and landraces. Nowadays, especially in the Western countries, we are assisting to a high specialization of the farms, a trend of cropping with highly performing hybrids and an international exchange of fruits and vegetables, resulting in all year round presence of standard products on retail shelves, which led to the globalization of consumers eating traditions. These changes in farming and consuming customs has determined a constant loss of many natural agroecosystems, with the consequence of a worldwide reduction of genetic variability in vegetables industry. Sicily, the main Mediterranean island, because of its topography (70% is hilly), high soil variability an...
Branca F. Bas N., 2010. Working group on Brassica. In: Maggioni L., Daunay M.C., van Dooijeweert W., Astley D., Bas N., Branca F., Diez Niclòs M.J., Geoffriau E., Keller J., Kotlinska T., Smekalova K., van Treuren R., Lipman E. (eds.) Third meeting, 10-12November 2009, Catania, Italy. Report of t...more
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Il recente interesse rivolto alle specie officinali in Sicilia ha permesso di attivare diverse iniziative di ricerca al fine di migliorare e qualificare le corrispondenti produzioni. Tra le diverse specie prese in considerazione la salvia... more
Il recente interesse rivolto alle specie officinali in Sicilia ha permesso di attivare diverse iniziative di ricerca al fine di migliorare e qualificare le corrispondenti produzioni. Tra le diverse specie prese in considerazione la salvia esprime nell’Isola un buon adattamento in diversi agrosistemi orticoli e condizioni pedoclimatiche. Tale specie si contraddistingue per le potenzialità agronomiche e per i tratti di rusticità che consentono la coltivazione in regime asciutto, anche in contesti pedoclimatici marginali, permettendo di conservare e migliorare la fertilità del suolo. Per soddisfare le richieste del mercato, sempre più orientato verso prodotti di elevato standard qualitativo, si rende opportuno individuare genotipi di pregio agronomico e tecnologico e razionalizzare i protocolli di coltivazione (Branca, 1997; Carruba et al., 2006). Peraltro, la richiesta dell’industria viene spesso soddisfatta da lotti di prodotto di qualità scadente proveniente dall’estero e/o da lotti...
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) is a wild plant widely diffused throughout Europe, Italy included. In ancient times it was exploited as a dye-plant, to obtain the indigo colour. Recently woad was rediscovered also for its cosmetic and... more
ABSTRACT Woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) is a wild plant widely diffused throughout Europe, Italy included. In ancient times it was exploited as a dye-plant, to obtain the indigo colour. Recently woad was rediscovered also for its cosmetic and anti-inflammatory properties. Belonging to Brassicaceae family, woad contains glucosinolates, which are precursor of isothiocyanates, which possess chemopreventive antioxidant properties. Although woad is not considered as an edible vegetable worldwide, rural people living around Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, are accustomed to collect the flower buds from wild plants in the late winter, to be consumed after boiling as ingredients for salads or omelets. To investigate the nutraceutical value of woad, fresh flower buds were collected on Mount Etna slopes in Sicily over two years and analysed for their bioactive compound content. Woad samples contained considerable amounts of glucosinolates, ranging from 80 up to over 100 μmol/g d.w., which are values higher than those found in other Brassica vegetables. Only gluconapin and the most interesting glucobrassicin, which is the natural precursor of indole-3-carbinol, a multiple antitumorigenic compound, were found. High mean values were also recorded for total polyphenols and flavonoids (25 GAE mg/g d.w. and 7 CE mg/g d.w., respectively). Consequently, also the antioxidant activity (H-ORAC) of the woad flower buds resulted among the highest reported for other Brassica vegetables, being about 300 μmol TE/g d.w. Since processing can partly reduce the glucosinolate content of vegetables, different cooking ways, such as boiling and microwaving, were compared. Boiling for 10 min caused losses of 34% of total glucosinolates, while microwaving (10 min, 800 W) only reduced the glucosinolate amount by 3%. The results obtained suggest that woad flower buds could be considered as a functional food with possible chemopreventive properties.
ABSTRACT Kale (Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC.) Alef.) seems to be the most ancient crop belonging to the B. oleracea vegetables. It is grown in European countries, mainly in home gardens and peri-urban farms, to satisfy the... more
ABSTRACT Kale (Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC.) Alef.) seems to be the most ancient crop belonging to the B. oleracea vegetables. It is grown in European countries, mainly in home gardens and peri-urban farms, to satisfy the requirements of families and local communities. The produce is represented mainly by shoots, which are utilized to prepare several traditional foods, whereas the old leaves are utilized for feeding animals. Kale seems to be the ancestor of several B. oleracea vegetable crops because it is very similar to B. oleracea wild type and to several wild Brassica species (n=9). The landraces are disappearing as a consequence of changed social and economic conditions and of introduction of new Brassica cultivars and crops providing higher yields. Twenty-three accessions were characterized by the main IBPGR and UPOV Brassica descriptors at the Agricultural Experimental Farm (AEF) of Catania University. They data registered allowed their classification into in several distinctive groups. The diversity observed could be of great interest in view of potential crop improvement.
ABSTRACT Mediterranean basin represents an important centre of origin and diversification of Brassicaceae and above all of B. oleracea because are widespread several Brassica wild species (n=9) which seem support an intense genetic flux... more
ABSTRACT Mediterranean basin represents an important centre of origin and diversification of Brassicaceae and above all of B. oleracea because are widespread several Brassica wild species (n=9) which seem support an intense genetic flux among them. In fact, the genetic self-incompatibility system characterize some wild populations of Brassica (n=9) and B. oleracea landraces and favours the genetic recombination and the set-up of several forms and types within the same crop, such as in broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc. That is observed mainly for bio-morphological traits but we started to study their antioxidant profile. In this frame DISPA of Catania University and MBG (CSIC) of Pontevedra, Spain collected Brassica species (n=9) in view to define their glucosinolate profile. Cluster and principal component analysis were performed to determine relationships among accessions and to obtain information on this material. The dendrogram showed seven groups, one group including most of the populations and six small independent groups.
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ABSTRACT Since some decades, and also in the present global economic crisis, the request for fresh-cut products has showed an increasing trend, and its productive chain represent one of the most remunerative activity of agriculture. In... more
ABSTRACT Since some decades, and also in the present global economic crisis, the request for fresh-cut products has showed an increasing trend, and its productive chain represent one of the most remunerative activity of agriculture. In this frame we pointed our attention to diversify fresh-cut vegetable items by several minor and/or underutilized crops and in some case by wild species gathered and utilized as vegetables in Sicily. Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) shoots seem to be of great interest for fresh-cut production both for its environmental friendly growing techniques and nutraceutical properties, as it is rich in antioxidants compounds as ascorbic acid, total polyphenols, carotenoids and glucosinolates. The use of low level of oxygen (O2) and of high level of carbon dioxide (CO2) atmosphere appeared useful for maintain quality and extend shelf-life for several vegetables. In this condition the plant reduces respiration process that involves a complex biochemical reactions, delayed ripening and senescence and also reduces fungal development. Besides, refrigeration is important for elongate the shelf-life but modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is an important complementary technique to apply. We studied a kale Sicilian type evaluating three modified atmospheres (air, 70% N2:30% CO2; 100% CO2), three temperature levels (0, 4 and 8°C) during three storage times (0, 3 and 7 days). Every day, the percentages of oxygen and carbon dioxide, colour parameters (CIE L*, a* and b*) and dry weight of the shoots were monitored. Results showed the best shoots quality utilizing 70% N2:30% CO2 storage atmosphere at 4°C, the product is kept in good condition for all seven days. This study has improved knowledge about the respiration process and variation of color of kale shoots in relation to modified atmospheres packaging, temperature and time.
ABSTRACT The content of health-promoting compounds is becoming a strong instrument for evaluating the quality of plant-derived foods. For this purpose seeds and sprouts of Brassicas and other two species have been analyzed and compared... more
ABSTRACT The content of health-promoting compounds is becoming a strong instrument for evaluating the quality of plant-derived foods. For this purpose seeds and sprouts of Brassicas and other two species have been analyzed and compared for ascorbic acid, total polyphenols, total carotenoids and glucosinolates content and antioxidant capacity. A strong variability has been found in the glucosinolates profile. A decreasing trend was detected from seeds to sprouts, while an increasing trend was detected regarding total phenols. The antioxidant capacity generally resulted higher in sprouts, with some exception in seeds. Non-Brassica species showed a low amount in phytochemicals, while a significant correlation by simple regression was found between total polyphenols and antioxidant capacity.
ABSTRACT In the frame of the EU GENRES057 “AEGRO” project attention was paid to individual wild Brassica populations in Sicily, to collect and conserve seed samples, to characterize and evaluate them for different traits such as... more
ABSTRACT In the frame of the EU GENRES057 “AEGRO” project attention was paid to individual wild Brassica populations in Sicily, to collect and conserve seed samples, to characterize and evaluate them for different traits such as glucosinolates and antioxidant compounds. Project species were B. incana, B. macrocarpa, B. rupestris and B. villos and B. montana. Wild populations were evaluated in a field, set up at the experimental farm of Catania University. After one year from transplanting, leaf samples were collected from each plant in order to have three bulk replicates for each population. The phytochemical profile was analyzed in terms of glucosinolates content, ascorbic acid, polyphenols and carotenoid content. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated by means of DPPH and crocin bleaching assay (LIPOX-CROCIN). High level of variability was found, mainly regarding the antioxidant indexes and the glucosinolate content.
Brassica species belong to the Brassicaceae (= Cruciferae) botanical family and some of them are widely used in human diet as an important source of vegetables, condiments, and edible oils. Among the cultivated species of Brassica, many... more
Brassica species belong to the Brassicaceae (= Cruciferae) botanical family and some of them are widely used in human diet as an important source of vegetables, condiments, and edible oils. Among the cultivated species of Brassica, many traditional European crops belonging to several cultigroups of Brassica oleracea, in the recent decades became very popular in Asia, whereas their presence in Europe has been quite stable. Recently, several Authors showed molecular DNA evidences supported by literature on the wide diversity of Mediterranean Brassica wild species in comparison to the B. olearacea wild type populations of north European Atlantic coasts, thus indicating that domestication of B. olearacea cultigroups occurred in the Greek-speaking area of the north-central and northeast areas of the Mediterranean basin (Mitchell, 1976; Song et al., 1980; Allender et al., 2007; Maggioni et al., 2010). These Brassica wild relatives are perennial, diploid (2n=18), cross-pollinated, often se...
ABSTRACT Plant-based foods contain significant amount of bioactive compounds which often provide both basic nutrition and desirable health benefits. In the last decades, special attention has been paid towards Brassicaceae edible plants... more
ABSTRACT Plant-based foods contain significant amount of bioactive compounds which often provide both basic nutrition and desirable health benefits. In the last decades, special attention has been paid towards Brassicaceae edible plants due to their richness in secondary metabolites functioning as antioxidants. Among them, colored cauliflower and cabbage are very eye-catching, commercially available vegetables characterized by the presence of high levels of anthocyanin pigments fulfilling important protective role against biotic and abiotic stresses in plants, and, endowed of potent nutritional and healthy properties as component of the human diet. In this respect, the consumption of pigmented Brassica genotypes has been strictly related to the reduction of the risk of certain chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway has been elucidated in many herbaceous and tree plants and most of the structural gene encoding the enzymes responsible for each steps have been isolated from Brassica genus. In this study, we monitored the expression pattern of three structural genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway: PAL (phenylalanine ammonia lyase), DFR (dihydroflavonol-4- reductase) and GST (glutathione S-transferase) during four weeks of field growth of different Brassica crops; the anthocyanin content was also measured in order to correlate gene expression with pigment accumulation. The results reveal that the induction of gene expression simultaneously occurs or slightly precedes the maximum levels of anthocyanin accumulation.
Brassica genus, and in general Brassicaceae species, represent a well known case of study for the strict interaction of several genomes of different related species, which have played an important role in domestication process permitting... more
Brassica genus, and in general Brassicaceae species, represent a well known case of study for the strict interaction of several genomes of different related species, which have played an important role in domestication process permitting the evolution of several crops and also within single species as occurred for Brassica oleracea. In this review, we paid special attention to basic botany of the genus, conservation initiatives, origin and evolution of the allied crops, role in crop improvement through traditional and advanced tools, genomics resource development and scope for domestication and commercialization. The information facilitated understanding the possible pathways of crop evolution in the past and also the new tools for Brassica breeding in relation of new market requirements. These have been supported by the great works done to enrich the knowledge on Brassica genomes, which paved the way for identification of target expressed genes of interest for crop genetic improvem...