scholarly journals Early Estimation of Olive Production from Light Drone Orthophoto, through Canopy Radius

Drones ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Luciano Ortenzi ◽  
Simona Violino ◽  
Federico Pallottino ◽  
Simone Figorilli ◽  
Simone Vasta ◽  
...  

Background: The present work aims at obtaining an approximate early production estimate of olive orchards used for extra virgin olive oil production by combining image analysis techniques with light drone images acquisition and photogrammetric reconstruction. Methods: In May 2019, an orthophoto was reconstructed through a flight over an olive grove to predict oil production from segmentation of plant canopy surfaces. The orchard was divided into four plots (three considered as training plots and one considered as a test plot). For each olive tree of the considered plot, the leaf surface was assessed by segmenting the orthophoto and counting the pixels belonging to the canopy. At harvesting, the olive production per plant was measured. The canopy radius of the plant (R) was automatically obtained from the pixel classification and the measured production was plotted as a function of R. Results: After applying a k-means-classification to the four plots, two distinct subsets emerged in association with the year of loading (high-production) and unloading. For each plot of the training set the logarithm of the production curves against R were fitted with a linear function considering only four samples (two samples belonging to the loading region and two samples belonging to the unloading one) and the total production estimate was obtained by integrating the exponent of the fitting-curve over R. The three fitting curves obtained were used to estimate the total production of the test plot. The resulting estimate of the total production deviates from the real one by less than 12% in training and less than 18% in tests. Conclusions: The early estimation of the total production based on R extracted by the orthophotos can allow the design of an anti-fraud protocol on the declared production.

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1171
Author(s):  
Paula Moreno-Sanz ◽  
Luca Lombardo ◽  
Silvia Lorenzi ◽  
Franco Michelotti ◽  
Maria Stella Grando

The area of the Garda Lake within the Trentino province (north of Italy) is the northernmost part of Europe where the Mediterranean species Olea europaea L. is traditionally cultivated. ‘Casaliva’ is claimed as the main variety traditionally grown in the Garda Trentino area (GT) from which a world renowned niche extra virgin olive oil is produced. Since a dominant presence of ‘Casaliva’ would link the fruit set success and yield to a self-pollination compatibility system, a deep genetic survey of the olive tree population in the GT has been performed with the aim of establishing the actual varietal composition and of understanding from which pollen donor the ‘Casaliva’ olives originate. Forty-four different genetic profiles were observed among the 205 leaf samples collected from 106 ancient trees through the analysis of 20 nuclear microsatellite markers. The varietal composition in modern orchards was also explored and the vast majority of the additional 151 trees analyzed showed the same genotype as the ancient accessions of ‘Casaliva’. The results support the long historical link of ‘Casaliva’ with the GT and, besides a high varietal homogeneity, they also revealed the presence of olive genetic resources essential to fruit production. In fact, the parentage analysis of 550 embryos from drupes of ‘Casaliva’ evidenced that a cross-fertilization system is favored and a list of candidate cultivars most suitable as local pollinizers of ‘Casaliva’ was identified.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 2345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Dini ◽  
Giulia Graziani ◽  
Anna Gaspari ◽  
Francesca Luisa Fedele ◽  
Andrea Sicari ◽  
...  

The health advantages of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) are ascribed mainly to the antioxidant ability of the phenolic compounds. Secoiridoids, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, phenolic acid, and flavones, are the main nutraceutical substances of EVOO. Applications of beneficial microbes and/or their metabolites impact the plant metabolome. In this study the effects of application of selected Trichoderma strains or their effectors (secondary metabolites) on the phenolic compounds content and antioxidant potential of the EVOOs have been evaluated. For this purpose, Trichoderma virens (strain GV41) and Trichoderma harzianum (strain T22), well-known biocontrol agents, and two their metabolites harzianic acid (HA) and 6-pentyl-α-pyrone (6PP) were been used to treat plants of Olea europaea var. Leccino and var. Carolea. Then the nutraceutical potential of EVOO was evaluated. Total phenolic content was estimated by Folin–Ciocalteau’s assay, metabolic profile by High-Resolution Mass spectroscopy (HRMS-Orbitrap), and antioxidant activity by DPPH and ABTS assays. Our results showed that in the cultivation of the olive tree, T22 and its metabolites improve the nutraceutical value of the EVOOs modulating the phenolic profile and improving antioxidants activity.


Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1612
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Boskou ◽  
Maria Lisa Clodoveo

The Mediterranean diet is now well known worldwide and recognized as a nutrition reference model by the World Health Organization. Virgin olive oil, prepared from healthy and intact fruits of the olive tree only by mechanical means, is a basic ingredient, a real pillar of this diet. Its positive role in health has now been a topic of universal concern. The virtues of natural olive oil, and especially of extra virgin olive oil, are related to the quality of the fruits, the employment of advanced technologies, and the availability of sophisticated analytical techniques that are used to control the origin of the fruits and guarantee the grade of the final product. With the aim of enriching the recent multidisciplinary scientific information that orbits around this healthy lipid source, a new special issue of Foods journal has been published.


Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tempesta ◽  
Vecchiato

The present study analyzes the demand for extra virgin olive oil of Veneto region consumers in relation to some extrinsic characteristics of the oil, such as the place of production (with particular reference to the Veneto region), the designation of origin, the organic certification, the type of transformation (artisanal or industrial), and the cultivation of olive trees in landscapes that have preserved traditional forms, which are typically the result of irregular plantations or the reduced densities of plants per hectare of cultivated areas. To this aim, a discrete choice experiment was carried out that allowed us to identify the effect of each of the attributes on the choices of the interviewees and to highlight the presence of heterogeneity in consumer preferences. The analysis carried out highlights the presence of a strong segmentation of the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) market in the Veneto region. In the estimated model, the heterogeneity of preferences is particularly relevant in the case of Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) production, handicraft milling, and organic production. In contrast, the interviewees' preferences appear to be very homogeneous for the Italian or Veneto EVOO. The results of our research confirm that the place of production is one of the most important clues considered by consumers when buying EVOO. This effect, however, appears to be less important in the areas where olive tree cultivation occupies only a reduced fraction of the cultivated area. In these situations, people tend to prioritize the consumption of EVOO from other regions where production is more widespread. Olive growing that preserves the traditional landscape appears to have a significant effect on consumer behavior, but only for some market segments.


2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (14) ◽  
pp. 5283-5291
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Altieri ◽  
Francesco Genovese ◽  
Attilio Matera ◽  
Giovanni Carlo Di Renzo

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1270-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cárdeno ◽  
M. Sánchez-Hidalgo ◽  
M. Aparicio-Soto ◽  
S. Sánchez-Fidalgo ◽  
C. Alarcón-de-la-Lastra

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is obtained from the fruit of the olive treeOlea europaeaL. Phenolic compounds present in EVOO have recognized anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2823
Author(s):  
Pujun Xie ◽  
Lorenzo Cecchi ◽  
Maria Bellumori ◽  
Diletta Balli ◽  
Lisa Giovannelli ◽  
...  

Phenolic and triterpenoid compounds of the olive tree are recognized as having a key role in health promotion, thanks to their multiple protective actions in humans. To expand the source of these bioactive compounds, the phenolic and triterpenoid profiles of leaf, branch, destoned fruit, destoned pomace, shell, seed, and extra virgin olive oil from the Frantoio, Leccino, and Moraiolo olive cultivars were simultaneously characterized by HPLC-DAD-MS. Overall, 43 molecules were quantitated and expressed on the obtained dry extracts. Oleuropein was mainly concentrated in branches (82.72 g/kg), fruits (55.79 g/kg), leaves (36.71 g/kg), and shells (1.26 g/kg), verbascoside (4.88 g/kg) in pomace, and nüzhenide 11-methyl oleoside (90.91 g/kg) in seeds. Among triterpenoids, which were absent in shells, the highest amount of oleanolic acid was found in olive leaves (11.88 g/kg). HCT-116 colorectal cells were chosen to assess the cytotoxicity of the dry extract, using the phytocomplex from Frantoio, which was the richest in phenols and triterpenoids. The IC50 was also determined for 13 pure molecules (phenols and terpenoids) detected in the extracts. The greatest inhibition on the cell’s proliferation was induced by the branch dry extract (IC50 88.25 μg/mL) and by ursolic acid (IC50 24 μM). A dose-dependent relationship was observed for the tested extracts.


Foods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Violino ◽  
Federico Pallottino ◽  
Giulio Sperandio ◽  
Simone Figorilli ◽  
Francesca Antonucci ◽  
...  

Traceability is the ability to follow the displacement of food through its entire chain. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) represents Italian excellence, with consumers’ increased awareness for traceability. The aim of this work is to propose and analyze the economic sustainability and consumers’ preference of three technological systems supporting traceability: Near Field Communication (NFC) based; tamper-proof device plus Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and app; QR code tag plus “scratch and win” system and blockchain. An anonymous questionnaire to Italian consumers (n = 1120) was made to acquire consumers’ acceptability of the systems and estimating their willingness to pay additional premium prices for these. An economic analysis estimated and compared the technology costs at different production levels. Results show that 94% of the consumer respondents are interested in the implementation of such technologies, and among them 45% chose QR-code protected by a “scratch-and-win” system with a blockchain infotracing-platform (QR-B). The consumers interested are willing to pay a mean premium price of 17.8% and economic analysis reported evidenced an incidence always lower than mid-/high-production levels. The success of the QR-B could be ascribed to different aspects: the cutting-edge fashion trend of blockchain in the food sector, the use of incentives, the easy-to-use QR-code, and the gamification strategy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 4966-4974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio Cappelletti ◽  
Giuseppe Ioppolo ◽  
Giuseppe Nicoletti ◽  
Carlo Russo

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document