1FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

EDITORIAL

N U C I SN E W S L E T T E R

Number 15 December 2011Information Bulletin of the Research Network on Nuts (FAO-CIHEAM)

IRTA Mas de Bover ● Coordination Centre of the Research Network on NutsCIHEAM

Old chestnut plantation in Val Susa, Torino Province, Piemonte Region, North Western Italy.

WelcomeDear readers,In your hands you have a new issue of NUCIS after 4 years of publishing break. Changes in the editorial staff and reduced funding have been the main cau ses of this delay. Deepening the collaboration of researchers in Nuts, since their input and information is what keeps the maga­zine alive, calls for strengthening the in­volvement of all crop Liaison Offi cers in the Newsletter, in coordinating the

submission of articles for publishing, and also, in collecting information, notes, sci­entific works, etc. related to their crops. We are grateful to all contributors to this issue: to those, who have written articles and those, who have sent the reports of different symposia that have taken place during these last years. In this issue you will find articles on almond (7), hazelnut (3), and one article on walnut, one on pis­tachio and one on both almond and ha­zelnut. Contributions come from Spain (6), Italy (2), and Iran, EUA, Morocco, France and Turkey with one contribution each one. We always endeavor to present the

recent scientific development in all nut crops worldwide. However, since the al­mond is the main nut tree at global level, the research in this field is, naturally, more intense, which reflects in the higher number of submitted articles. The same observa­tion refers to contributors: in each issue of NUCIS we are committed to cover a wide country representation, whenever possible.

Activities 2008-2011During the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 a number of activities were suppor­ted by the FAO­CIHEAM Interregional co­operative Research Network on Nuts. In

2 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

2008 and 2009, three events each year, were organized. In April 2008, the XIVth GREMPA Meeting on Pistachios and Al­monds was held in Athens, Greece. In June 2008, the ISHS VIIth International Hazelnut Congress took place in Viterbo, Ital y. In September 2008 the ISHS 4th In­ternational Chestnut Symposium was held in Miyun, Beijing. In February 2009 the ISHS 6th International Walnut Symposium has been realized in Melbourne, Australia. In October 2009 Sanliurfa (Turkey) was the host of the ISHS Fifth International Sym­posium on Pistachio and Almond. In Oc­tober 2009 the First European Congress on Chestnut Castanea 2009 took place in Cuneo, Italy. The Final Meeting of SAFE­NUT AGRI GEN RES Action 068 was held in Viterbo in September 2010. And recent­ly, in November 2011, Valladolid (Spain) hosted the Stone Pine Congress.

In November 2009, the VIIth Coordina­tion Board Meeting, of FAO­CIHEAM Nut Network, was held in the headquarters of CIHEAM­IAMZ, in Zaragoza, Spain. Durin g the Meeting I. Batlle expresses his will to resign as Editor of NUCIS. He in­formed to the participants, that M. Rovi­ra will be the new NUCIS editor. The pres­ent editorial board would like to express most sincere gratitude to I.Batlle for the effort made for our Network over the last 15 years.

A challenge for the Network members is to propose competitive R&D projects which address relevant problems of the nut sector. The 7th UE Framework Pro­gramme for R + D can be an interesting opportunity for European member coun­tries or associates that needs to be bet­ter explored. Once the projects have been carried out, the generated knowledge and information could be transferred to all stakeholders of the nut sector. In this line, the Network, especially with its online and publishing platforms, can serve as an ac­tive repository of knowledge and pro ject results, thus providing for a long­term sustainability and new partnership oppor­tunities.

During 2007­2009 (prorogued to 2010) AGRI GEN RES Action acronym “SAFE­NUT” was approved by the European Commission. Eleven institutions coming from six different countries, have been working on this project.

A COST (Cooperation in the field of Scien­tific and Technical Research) action (COST 873) (2007­2011) on bacterial di seases of stone fruits and nuts is being developed. In February 2012, the Final Meeting of the project will be held in Switzerland.

Currently, Spain and Tunisia are develo­ping two AECID projects.

The first project is being carried out on the assessment of the agronomic per­formance of new Spanish almond vari­eties under different climatic conditions of Tunisia (2009­2011). IRTA, from Spain and l’Institut de l’Olivier, from Tunisia, are the participants of this project. The se­cond project refers to the production techniques and management of pine (Pi-nus pinea) for early pineapple production: grafting orchards as an alternative for res­toration of degraded areas and income generation in rural communities in Tunisia (2008­2011). The institutions involved are Centre Tecnològic i Forestal de Catalun­ya, IRTA and CIFOR­INIA from Spain; and INRGREF, from Tunisia.

An ENPI­CBC MED, PROMEFO project action involving eight countries (Spain, Tunisia, Lebanon, France, Italy, Syria Greece and Jordan) and nine partners is currently underway.

In recent years, the activities of the Nut Network have been affected as FAO is no longer providing specific regular pro­gramme budget for servicing the Net­works and supporting activities. How­ever, the support given by some FAO ser­vices and external funding provided by the Spanish INIA and IRTA, and the co­sponsor and partner CIHEAM allowed that most planned activities could be fi­nally developed like the publication of this Newsletter. In addition, some research­ers from developing or transition coun­tries have been and will be supported to participate in different meetings and con­gresses.

Genetic resources inventories and des-criptorsRegarding the inventories on Germ­plasm, research and references, four of them have been already published in the

REU Technical Series (www.fao.org/re­gional/Europe/PUB): Almond (1997, RTS 51), Hazelnut (2000, TRS 56), Chestnut (2001, RTS 65) and Walnut (2004, REU 66). These inventories are important com­pilations of the currently available species genetic resources and information on on­going research projects and bibliography. It would be interesting to update this in­formation on time, especially that of the oldest Inventories that were published. In addition one more inventory is being com­piled and is close to completion. The in­ventory on Pistachio is being collated by B.E. Ak. It is expected to be ready soon.

The Descriptors for Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), were published in 2008, by Bioversity International with the support of FAO and CIHEAM. These descriptors have been achieved after a great effort during some years, led by A.I. Koksal, and having the collaboration of hazelnut Net­work members. It was distributed during the VIIth ISHS International Congress on Hazelnut, in Viterbo (Italy) (June, 2008).

Proceedings of meetings and work-shopsFive publications related Meetings on Nut crops, were also edited during the period 2008­2011: Proceedings of the IV Interna­tional Chestnut Meeting. ISHS. Acta Hor­ticulturae, 844 (2009). Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress on Hazel­nut Volume 1 and 2. ISHS. Acta Horticul­turae, 845 (2009). Proceedings of the XIV GREMPA Meeting on Pistachios and Al­monds. Options Méditerranéennes, SE­RIES A: Mediterranean Seminars, number 94 (2010). Proceedings of the VIth Interna­tional walnut Symposium. ISHS. Acta Hor­ticulturae, 861 (2010). Proceedings of the I European Congress on Chestnut”, Cuneo (Italy), October, 2009. ISHS. Acta Horticul­turae, 866 (2010).

3FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

FAO European Regional Office and CIHEAM (IAMZ)Ms. F. Guerrieri is our Regional represen­tative of FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU) based in Buda­pest, Hungary. In relation to CIHEAM, Mr. D. Gabiña and Mr. A. López­Francos, placed at IAMZ of Zaragoza, Spain are our representatives.

The Nut Network on the webBasic information is included in the REU webside for ESCORENA (www.fao.org/world/regional/REU/content/escorena/in­dex_en.htm). Additional information about the Nut Network can be found at www.iamz.ciheam.org/en/pages/paginas/pag_investigación2a.htm.

NUCIS on the webA full electronic version of each NUCIS (from issue 1 to 15) is now available on the Internet web page of CIHEAM at (www.iamz.ciheam.org/en/pages/paginas/pag_investigación2a.htm). The contents of this Newsletter can be browsed through and also copied and printed. Readers will be able to find the whole set of NUCIS is­sues, some of which were already ex­hausted.

Contributions to NUCISThe NUCIS Newsletter is distributed worldwide free of charge to 1.400 readers from over 60 countries. The dissemination of information originated by the Network is of paramount importance and through this bulletin has been largely successful. The first NUCIS was published in 1993 and since then, the exchange of informa­tion between Network members through the pages of this Newsletter is the basis for developing collaboration.

EDITORIAL ...................................... 1

ARTICLES AND REPORTS

•AlmondbreedinginMorocco: Achronologicalperspective ........................4 •Thealmondscionbreedingprogramme ofirtainCatalonia(Spain) ............................8 •Theintroductionofnewalmondcultivars inspanishalmondgrowing ........................14 •Almondcompositionandquality: Assumptionsandfacts ..............................18 •Thealmond sfallele:Analleleinquestion .21 •‘Mardía’,anextra-lateblooming almondcultivar ..........................................23 •Theeffectofsomeecologicalfactors onalmond(Prunus amygdalusl.) hullsbio-antioxidantcontentand antiradicalactivityfromdifferent genotypesandspecies ..............................26 •Theagrigenres“Safenut”action: Aeuropeanstrategyforthepreservation andutilizationofhazelnutandalmond geneticresources ......................................30 •Expansionofhazelnutresearchin NorthAmerica ............................................33 •HazelnutinAsturias(NorthernSpain) ........38 •Aninexpensivemodetorecoverunsold rootedhazelnutsuckers ............................40 •Walnutnational/regional programmeinFrance .................................42 •Pistachiogrowinghistory,cultivars andeconomicimportance ofTurkishnutsector .................................43

NOTES AND NEWS

•ReportoftheVIIthCoordinationBoard Meeting,ofFAO-CIHEAMNutNetwork CIHEAM-IAMZ,Zaragoza, Spain3-4thNovember,2009 .......................47 •Presentationofthenew StonePine’sLiaisonOfficer .......................49 •Inmemorial:EricGermain ........................50 •Newjournals ..............................................50

CONGRESSES AND MEETINGS

•XIVGrempaMeetingonPistachios andAlmonds ..............................................50 •SummaryoftheVIIthInternational HazelnutCongress .....................................51 •The4thInternationalChestnut Symposium ................................................54 •6ThInternationalWalnutSymposiumheld inMelbourne,Australia ..............................55 •FifthInternationalSymposium onPistachioandAlmond ...........................56 •Castanea2009,FirstEuropeanCongress onChestnut ................................................58 •FinalMeetingoftheSafenut AgriGenResAction068 ............................60 •InternationalMeetingonMediterranean StonePineforAgroforestry-Agropine2011. 61

TO BE HELD ......................................................63

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................64

BACKPAGE .......................................................72

As we asked in the last NUCIS Newslet­ter, we stress the importance of sending technical descriptions for the new Cultivar Descriptions section. The aim is to make available to readers useful agronomical and commercial information of important traditional cultivars and new varieties. As in past NUCIS, we ask researchers on nuts, their collaboration in this newslet­ter, with articles, notes, or any other infor­mation related to nuts. The pages of this bulletin are open to all readers who would like to suggest ideas or express their opinion about the work developed in the network or to publish short articles and reports on relevant horticultural subjects of general interest. Information should be sent well structured and clearly written in Standard English.

Contributions could be sent through Inter­net using the Scientific Editor’s e­mail. This bulletin is reproduced in black and white only, including pictures. Please send your contributions for the next is­sue, number 16 by the end of September 2012. We thank all who have contributed to this issue, people publishing a short article, and people who have written re­ports of symposia conducted recently. To all of them thank you very much for your coope ration.

Finally, we wish all Nut Network mem­bers and collaborators a healthy and suc­cessful 2012.

The Editor

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this informa­tion product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its fron­tiers or boundaries.

This publication contains the collective views of an international group of ex­perts and does not necessarily represent the decisions or the stated policy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies nor of the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Develop­ment.

Contributions should be written concise­ly in English. Please send contributions on paper and diskette (Microsoft® Word or Word Perfect®). Authors are res­ponsible for the content of their papers. Reproduction of the articles is author­ized, provided that the original source is clearly stated.

CONTENTS Page

4 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

ARTICLES AND REPORTS

ALMOND BREEDING IN MOROCCO:

A CHRONOLOGICAL PERSPECTIvE

Introduction Almond tree cultivation was known in Mo­rocco since the cartage era, during the fourth century (El Khatib Boujibar, 1983) or the conquest of Arabs around the sixth century (Kester et al., 1991). Actually, the acreage occupied by almond is around 142 000 ha of which half (5 to 6 millions of trees) is essentially seed propagated (Laghezali, 1985). This way of multiplica­tion has resulted in a large genetic diver­sity in Morocco. As a consequence Mo­rocco is considered as secondary cen­tre of almond propagation (Vavilov). This traditional plant material, resulting from years of adaptation, presents severa l traits of high importance, particularly drought tolerance and productivity. The different works on almond that have been undertaken at INRA Morocco were carried out in three major pha ses: prospections, collection establishment and evaluation of the foreign cultivars and crosses. 1- PROSPECTIONS AND CHARACTERISATION OF PLANT MATERIAL The prospections, undertaken on local almond populations, started at INRA in 1975, with objectives evolving over time. The first prospections focused on selec­tion for late flowering time and allowed collecting 75 genotypes that currently are planted in different experimental sta­tions of INRA (Errachidia, Marrakech and Meknès). Later, fertility, kernel aspect and late flowering time have been introduced as objectives of the prospection under­taken between 1980 and 1984 (Chahbar and Abir, 1980; Chahbar, 1984 ; Laghezali, 1985) in the Rif mountains (Imzouren, B’ni Boufrah and Targuist), where 37 geno­ty pes were collected. In 2005 and 2006, surveyed vegetal materials in Imantaout, Azilal, Tafraout and Tiznit, allowed selec­tion of 49 genotypes tolerant to drought stress (Oukabli et al., 2006, 2007). These genotypes were planted in the experi­mental station of Ain Taoujdat. Because of their good agronomic traits, they were chosen as parent candidate in the al­mond breeding programme. Morphologi­cal characterization of these genotypes showed a large genetic variability of this heterozygous species. The general trend

to early flowering time, production of small fruits with hard shell (RC 25­35%) and double kernel percent, ranged from 2 to 35%. Data on phenological and pomo­logical observations were collected in situ and in the experimental station.

The percent of fruit abortion, considered as a criterion for evaluation, was especial­ly high (5%) in the genotype from the Rif region, and medium in the oasis popula­tion (2.4%). In the remaining population, this variable was less than 1%. Genotypes selected in the south of Morocco are sus­pected to present maximum fruit abortion, but the studied genotypes were selected for their high drought tolerance, explai­ning the lower fruit abortion of these se­lected genotypes.

In each population, flowering time de­pends on each genotype and ranged be­tween the first and last decade of Febru­ary. In general, the Rif population was ear­lier than oasis population. The early flow­ering time of these populations is proba­bly originated by human selection since the fruit setting could benefit from the rainfall, which could allow the production of fruit with high weight. Nevertheless, the flowering time was generally at the early side for all populations, allowing the geno­types to avoid drastic effects of spring frost, considered the origin of the low yield and high production variability. The use of seed produced by selected geno­types in orchard increased cross pollina­tion among closely related parents of local population, leading to increased inbree­ding problems. Moreover, wide flowering period range of these genotypes and lack of adequate orchard management, asso­ciated with extreme climatic conditions (drought stress) contributed negatively to the reduction of production potential.

At genetic level, no ecotype is known to be specific to Morocco, as opposed to other Mediterranean regions, where se v e­ral studies showed the presence of traits in some genotypes specific to each re­gion (Italian cultivars from Apuglia, French cultivars of the Alps, Tunisian cultivars of Sfax and Portuguese cultivars of the Alto Duoro). The lack of Moroccan ecotype is probably due to the high movement of the plant material in Morocco and to the way of propagation, essentially by seed. The existence of some genotypes at INRA col­lection, locally named after the farmer or the region where the collection was sett­led, such as De Safi, Boualouzze or Ksar Essouk does not reflect the presence of local varieties. This shows the low level of farmers when local materiel is selected, due to the lack of information and training of the farmers. In these conditions, sexual propagation of this species was success­ful as compared to grafting.

The differences in environmental condi­tions, especially in the south of Morocco and in mountainous regions, where low rainfall, poor soil quality and high evapo­ration levels exert high stress on the al­mond. This traditional plant crop, resulting from several years of adaptation, could be basically used to improve drought resistan ce. This local material is charac­terised by a small leaf that shuts down early in summer, decreasing water lost and therefore it is considered as a toler­ance mechanism to drought stress. Un­der these conditions, the species could tolera te drought that could induct an hy­drique potential similar to that of a xero­phyte plant (­4MPa) (Oukabli et al., 2007).

The populations of the arid regions were characterised by early maturity with the endocarp adhering to the mesocarp. The early leaf shed in such population is considered as an adaptation aspect to drought conditions.

Natural hybrids of almond x peach were collected from the oasis regions. These hybrids originated from the cross of Mis­sour peach (local genotype used as root­stock) and some almond genotypes with the same flowering time. The evaluation of this plant material as rootstock for almond and peach is undertaken.

The different prospections realised have allowed the selection of 122 Prunus amygdalus almond genotypes from seve­ral traditional crop regions in Morocco. This plant materiel grown in an experi­mental station, presents criteria of high importance such as drought stress, and it revealed a high genetic potential for im­proved agronomic management. It consti­tutes an essential genetic basis for all breeding research. Its molecular charac­terization was undertaken to assess the genetic diversity of these populations in order to improve this genetic resource.

2- ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COLLECTION AND PLANT BEHAvIOUR STUDY OF THE INTRODUCED CULTIvARSThe introduction of a collection of foreign cultivars was supported by the French co­operation of C. Grasselly, and con tinued with the support of GREMPA and ICAR­DA. The introduced plant materiel origi­nated from different countries of the Medi­terranean area and from the USA. The collection was established in one of the important valleys of fruit tree production. The study on the agronomic behaviour of the foreign varieties started in the se cond half of the past century (Barbeau and El Baouami, 1979; 1980; Laghezali, 1985; Lansari, 1993; Mamouni et al., 1998), and allowed the identification of good quality cultivars.

5FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Improvement of almond orchards was carried out on the basis of foreign com­mercial cultivars, with the dominance of two associations ‘Marcona’­‘Fournat de Breznaud’ and ‘Ferragnès’ ­ ‘Ferraduel’.

The evaluation of the self­compatibili­ty in the Ain Taoujdat experimental sta­tion (Oukabli, et al., 2000; Oukabli, 2001; Oukabli et al., 2003) allowed to point out the performance of some self­compati­ble varieties such as: ‘Tuono’, ‘Laurane’ and ‘Mandaline’, although under irrigation supply. The behaviour of this plant material from different geographic provenances under arid conditions (400 mm/year) showed that early flowering genotypes presen­ting hard shells, such as ‘AT8’, ‘CF5’, ‘Marcona’ and ‘Desmayo’ (Oukabli et al., 2008) were high yielding in comparison with late flowering cultivars. Similar re­sults have been reported in climatic con­ditions similar to those of the Ain Taouj­date experimental station (Godini, 1984). The cultivars that were highly productive in arid conditions presented a kernel per­cent below 30% and a smaller mesocarp. However, in almond, the yield evaluations in such climatic conditions are difficult to establish, as numerous factors involve the determination of this trait, which general­ly are beyond genetic control. The analy­ses of this trait must take into account the variety associations, the influence of the environment and the training system applied .

Some cultivars are more productive than others and the average yield varied be­tween 0,2 kg/tree to 9,6 kg/tree. When the yield potential of this material is compared according its origin (Figure 1), the Medi­terranean material is superior. This beha­viour is the result of selection according to local adaptation. The American and Sy­rian genotypes were characterised by low production in our climatic conditions and similar behaviour has been observed in the remaining genotypes.

The flowering time varied from 2 to 3 weeks, depending of genotype and en­vironmental conditions. The observed year to year delay of flowering date might have a drastic effect on the production of self­incompatible genotypes. The ob­served flowering date delay between ‘Marcona’ and ‘Fournat de Brezenaud’ considerably reduced yield (Oukabli et al., 2008). This study allowed the iden­tification of the best adapted cultivars to arid conditions and the possibility to choose the regional cultivars based on the adaptation factors (rainfall, frost…).

3-CROSS BREEDING The first breeding program started in collaboration with the INRA Bordeaux, crossing different cultivars presenting different performances (‘Ardéchoise’, ‘IXL’, ‘Texas’, ‘Marcona’, ‘Cristomor­to’ and others). The selected hybrids of each family have been grafted on ‘Mar­cona’ seedlings and planted in an ex­perimental orchard. The evaluation of the selected genotypes showed that some genotypes did not make any remarka­ble improvement in arid conditions. The previous study showed that the Ameri­can cultivars were not productive in Mo­rocco’s drought conditions (Oukabli et al., 2007). The selections obtained from crosses involving ‘Archedoise’ cultivars are more productive, except for some genotypes where Marcona is used as parent the yield was low. The yield of the hybrid obtained from ‘Marcona’ was irregular and some of these seedlings were more productive than the parents. Two genotypes presenting the most im­portant traits have been selected to be planted in association with ‘Marcona’ or to be planted alone in orchards. These selections could improve considerably yield, kernel colour and weight. Their hard shell achieves 25% to 30% kernel yield, allowing good kernel storage be­cause of its high tocopherol content. Kernel storage in our conditions was carried out traditionally without fumiga­tion.

The second breeding program was un­dertaken in 1997, which objectives are late flowering date and self­compatibility. Twenty genotypes from one thousand hy­brids were selected and are under evalu­ation.

4-SELECTION FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE The water efficiency use and isotopic car­bon discrimination are some techniques used to select cultivars on drought tole­rance. The assessment of these parame­ters requires time under Mediterranean climate conditions. Other approach­es were reported as tools to be used in drought stress evaluation in perennial trees, referring mainly to fruit traits and aerial and root system parts of the plant. Pore density, wax percent and isotopic carbon discrimination have been used in order to identify the best tools for drought stress screening.

4.1 PORE DENSITYThe results using the pore number showed that there is a significant diffe­rence between cultivars (Table 1). This trait is genetically controlled and it seems not to be affected by water supply. All cul­tivars present similar pore numbers on the shell surface, both in dry (rain­fed) or irri­gation systems.

Figure 1. Average shell yield of each genetic pool genotype.

Origine

Ren

dem

ent m

oyen

(kg/

arbr

e) 6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Mar

oc

Tuní

síe

Esp

agne

Fran

ce

Italíe

US

A

Syr

íe

Rus

síe

Grè

ce

Bul

garíe

Table 1. Number of shell surface pores / cm2 of the tested cultivars under

drought and irrigation conditions.

Number of pores/cm2

Irrigation Rain-fed

‘Marcona‘ 17.7 ab 18 a ‘Fournat de B’ 12.7 cd 12 b‘Ferragnès’ 18.5 a 19 a‘Ferraduel’ 15.8 bc 13 b

Pvar = 0.001 P régime : 0.3

Pore density of the hard shell genotype fruit, prospected in the arid regions of southern Morocco (rainfall <100mm/year) was different (Table 2). The pore number varied from 12 to 25/ cm2. No correlation was observed between the pore number on the shell surface and environmental conditions. The genotypes from regions with litlle rainfall (200 mm/year) present a similar pore number to those from regions with high precipitations (400 to 500 mm).

4.2 Leaf wax content The wax is extracted by emerging the leaf in a chloroform solution during 20 se­conds (Mayeux and Jordan, 1984) and its content is expressed in foliar unit surface. This content depends on the genotype and the ecological crop conditions.

6 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

a- Medium effect The wax quantity produced on the leaf surface was independent of the gene tic nature of the plant material; it was sta­tistically low (P=0.003) in Tafraoute when compared with the amount obtained in Ain Taoujdate. The average leaf content was 0.138 and 0.212 mg/cm2, respectively (Ta­ble 2).

b- Wax content evolution in cultivars In all studied cultivars the wax content showed an evolution over time. The maxi­mum wax content was observed during the month of August (Figures 2 and 3).

During this period, the wax content was three times higher than the level observed after this month. The magnitude of the wax content presents the same evolution pattern as compared with high tempera­ture and drought intensity.

c- Rootstock effectThe wax content of the ‘Marcona’ culti­var varied significantly and depends on the rootstock. The values varied from 0.35 mg/leaf to 1.095 mg/leaf when this culti­var was grafted on ‘PG’, ‘G10’ and ‘Garri­gues’ rootstock, respectively. ‘Marcona’‘s leaf wax content varied along with the

time of the season and ranged from 0.096 to 0.149 mg/ cm2 in July and September, respectively (Table 3).

4.3 Isotopic carbonThe leaves were collected around the tree during the second week of June. The samples were desiccated, pounded and sent to a foreign laboratory of Isotope Services (Inc. Los Alamos, NM, USA) for the determination of δ 13C, using the fol­lowing equation :δ 13C = [(R samples / R standard)-1] x 1000

The discrimination (∆) was determined for each sample using the equation:

∆= (δa – δp)/ (1+ δp) where δa is the air iso­topic carbon composition and δp is the leaf isotopic carbon composition.

The ratio 13C/12C of the plant was used as natural indicator of the photosynthe­sis rate expressed by ∆ to determine the 13C/12C variation in the plant tissues com­paring to those of the atmosphere during growth (Wu et al., 2004).

The values of the ∆ obtained for ‘Mar­cona’ cultivars grafted on different root­stocks during 2005­2006, characterised by high precipitation around 600 mm, vari ed significantly between 25.73 ‰ and ­28.07‰ depending on the genotypes. The maximum difference was ­2.31‰. These ∆ leaf values from one year old branches were low, due to drought stress. For all collected genotypes the ∆ value varied significantly among genotypes and is situated between ­28.07 and ­25.05. No correlation was observed between these values and altitude and precipita­tions (Table 3).

3.4 Correlation between productivity and different parameters The yield obtained for ‘Marcona’ during 2006 and the average yield of five years (2002­2006) showed significant differen­ces and depends on the rootstock used. The highest yields were obtained with ‘AT8’, ‘U8’ and ‘O11’ rootstocks and the lowest yields were observed with ‘V3’, and ‘X13’ rootstocks (Table 4). A signifi­cant and positive correlation (r2 = 0.54) was observed between vigour (expressed as trunk circumference) and yield. In our experimental conditions, low correlations between yield and delta were observed (r 2= ­0.2) (Figure 1). The variation of ∆ va­lues could be the result of the variation of the stomata conductance or the photo­synthesis rate.

The almond is known to be a crop tree with specific physiological traits, allow­ing drought tolerance. The difference be­tween genotypes is related to the capacity of the plant material to decrease its foliar

Table 2. Wax content variation, evaluated in different ecological conditions.

Locality Altitude Rainfall Number Average Wax (m) (mm) of genotypes foliar surface content (cm2) (mg/cm2)

Aïn Taoujdate 450 470 11 8.03 0,212Tafraout 150 m 150 16 7.02 0,138

Figure 2. Variation of the wax content recorded from June (left) to September (right).

Figure 3. Evolution of the leaf wax content of the studied genotypes.

7FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Kester, D.E.; Micke, C.W.; Rough, D.; Morrison, D. and Curtis, R. 1980. Al­mond variety evaluation. California Agri­culture, 30(10):4­7.

Laghezali, M. 1985. L’amandier au Ma­roc. Options Méditerranéennes, Edition IAMZ 85/I : 91­95.

Lansari, A. 1993. Self­incompatibility in Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) , In­breeding and Multivariate relationships among almond [ Prunus dulcis (Miller) D. A. Webb] cultivars. Thèse , Michigan State University, USA.

Lansari, A. 2005. Les populations de semis d’amandier au Maroc: Atouts et contraintes. Proceeding journée aman­dier INRA, pp:41­51.

Lansari, A. and Lakhal, H. 2001. Inter­incompatibility evaluation in Morroc­can almond seedling populations. III international Symposium on Pistachio and Almond. XII GREMPA colloquium. Zaragoza, Spain.

Oukabli, A.; Mamouni, A. and Mek­kaoui, A. 2006 et 2007. Rapports des prospections « amandiers » effectuées dans les régions de Marrakech­Azilal et au Sud marocain. Documents internes INRA .

Oukabli, A.; Mamouni, A.; Kodad, O. and Balaghi, R. 2008. Almond phenology as an indicator of climatic change in Mo­rocco. Options Méditerranéennes, (in press).

Oukabli, A.; Mamouni, A.; Laghezali, M.; Oufquir, M.; Quennou, M.; Amahrach, M.; Lahlou, M; Allabou, A.; Mekkaoui, A. and Ibrahimi Abdelwafi, A. 2008. Evalu­ation des performances de 102 variétés d’amandier local et introduit en culture pluviale sous climat semi aride (Alawa­mia, in press).

Oukabli, A.; Mekaoui, A.; Lahlou, M. and Abdellah B. 2007. Sélection de porte­greffes d’amandier tolérant à la séche­resse. Al­Awamia, 118 Vol.3 (1):3­23.

Oukabli, A.; Mamouni, A.; Laghezali, M.; Oufquir, M.; Quennou, M.; Amah­rach, M.; Lahlou, M.; Allabou, M. and Mekaoui, A. 2008. Caracterisation phe­nologique d’une collection de variétés d’amandier en conditions de moyenne altitude (Alawamia, in press).

Vavilov N.I. 1926. Studies on the origin of cultivated plants. Leningrad, 129­238.

A. Oukabli, INRA.Research unit: Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Regional Agricultural Research

Center of Meknes, Moroccooukabli2001@yahoo.fr

winter respiration (Salvador et al., 2006). The carbon stocked in branches and trunk could be used, according to the season and growth conditions.

REFERENCES

Barbeau, G. and Elbouami, 1980. Prospections ‘Amandier’ dans le sud marocain. Fruits 35(1):39­50.

Chahbar, 1986. Rapport d’activités 1984­1985, Station Centrale des Arbres Fruitiers, INRA.57p.

Chahbar, A. and Abir, M. 1980. Compte rendu de la prospection « Amandier » ef­fectuée dans la région d’Al­Hoceima.

Egea, J. and Burgos, L. 1994. Supernu­marary ovules in flowers of apricot. Acta Horticulturae, 384:373­376.

El Khatib­Biujibar, N. 1983. Le Maroc et Carthage. Le Memorial du Maroc (I). Nord organisation. Ed. p. 140.

Grasselly, Ch.; Gall, H. and Leglise, P. 1969. Etude pomologique de quarante variétés d’amandier. Bull. Technique d’information, 241:507­522.

Grasselly, Ch. and Crossa Raynaud, P. 1980. L’amandier, Edition Coster, R. GP. Maisonneuve et Larose, 446 p.

Kester, D.E.; Gradziel, T.M. and Grassel­ly, Ch. 1991. Almond ( Prunus). Genetics Resources of Temperate Fruits and Nut Crops. Acta Hort. 290:701­758.

Table 3. Variation of the pore number and CID between genotypes originated from different altitudes.

Genotype Altitude Rainfall Pore Estimated Trunk ∆c (‰) C(%) number Yield Circumference

967 200 14.97 20.7 92.72 26.82 44.95 558 466.66 16.05 41.08 82.08 26.77 44.39

Table 4. Average and accumulated yield registered in ‘Marcona’on different rootstocks.

Genotype Trunk Yield year Porosities Average Average Wax Leaf section 2006 ∆ C C (%) content surface surface (kg/tree) of the leaf (cm2) (cm2) surfaces (ST) (mg/ cm2)

Bitter almonds 96.7 2.3 10.32 -26.85 43.66 0.067 10.32(12 genotypes)

Sweet almonds 107.2 3.3 8.7 -27.54 42.95 0.085 8.7 (4 genotypes)

Significance 0.0001 0.049 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001level (***) (*) (***) (***) (***) (***)

surface and to produce an important wax content in its surface to reduce transpira­tion.

In comparison with other xylophetic spe­cies such as jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) and argane (Argana spinosa), the almond tree produces an important wax quantity per surface unit (Rao and Raja Reddy, 1980, Bouzoubaa et al., 2005) which contri­butes to drought stress tolerance in al­mond trees. The almond triggers several mechanisms in drought stress conditions and its strategy used depends on stress intensity. In extreme conditions (arid con­ditions), the almond tree drops its leaves as a mechanism to avoid drought stress. The use of the isotopic carbon discrimi­nation is a difficult selection tool for mea­suring drought stress tolerance in almond (a tedious technique). Important CID vari­ation was observed and the environmen­tal factors could affect the delta values. The use of isotopic carbon was confron­ted to the annual plant cycle and to the re­serve mobilisation during drought years. The ∆ leaf analyses have provided an idea about the seasonal growth, whereas the leaf age and its position on the tree could be the origin of variation on this aspect. The complexity of the tree structure and the possible interactions between auto­trophies (leaf) and heteroptophies (trunk, root) could make these results non useful for this plant material. The stocked carbon in branches and trunks, as reserve, could be considered as carbon source, depen­ding of the growth season. One part of the stocked carbon was used during leaf ini­tiation and branch elaboration during the

8 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

THE ALMOND SCION BREEDING PROGRAMME OF IRTA IN CATALONIA (SPAIN)

ABSTRACT The almond is an important crop in Spain. It covers around 400,000 ha (MARM, 2010), most in rainfed conditions, produ­cing about 10% of the total world produc­tion. An almond scion breeding program­me by controlled crosses was started at IRTA Mas de Bover in 1975. The main ob­jectives were to obtain new cultivars ha­ving late blooming (to avoid spring frost damage), self­fertility (to reduce pollina­tion drawbacks), high producing capa­city, nut and kernel quality (hard shell, good kernel appearance, without double kernels, etc.), easy training and pruning, sufficient vigour and tolerance to dryness and diseases. Over the period 1975­2010, 535 different crosses were made, usin g 199 genitors, which originated 36,651 seedlings. Stylar ribonucleases, determi­ning S alleles of incompatibility were used to raise crosses producing only self­com­patible seedlings. Early selection in the nursery has allowed the handling of large seedling numbers. In 1992, the three first released cultivars were registered, ‘Mas­bovera’, ‘Glorieta’ and ‘Francolí’, which have been widely planted. Recently, in 2005, four new cultivars, ‘Vairo’, ‘Marina­da’, ‘Constantí’ and ‘Tarraco’ were also released and successfully commercia­lized.

BACKGROUNDR & D ActivityIn the mid 1960’s, R. Vidal i Barraquer and J. Vilà started in Mas de Bover, depen­ding then from the “Diputació of Tarra­

gona”, the establishment of an extensive collection of Spanish and foreign almond cultivars that would be very useful later for the breeding activity. In 1973, a large research, development and transference programme on almond (plant material and technology) was started (Vargas, 1975).

SectorAt that time, Spain produced about 25% of the world production. Traditional varie­ties with early blooming time were culti­vated, often exposed to spring cold and crop losses. Due to its irregular produc­tions, the almond tree was considered as a supplementary crop, very often located in marginal conditions, in poor soils, un­suitable for other crops.

Scientific environmentIn the decade of 1970, the INRA in France developed an important programme to improve almond varieties well suited to the Mediterranean conditions. Worldwide there were also other programmes with different characteristics to scion bree­ding, in the USA (California) and the for­mer USSR (Ukraine). In those years, pro­grammes were also initiated in other Medi terranean countries: Italy, Tunisia, Greece and Spain (CITA, Zaragoza and later, CEBAS­CSIC, Murcia).

Breeding programmeThe IRTA’s programme to obtain new al­mond varieties from controlled crosses began in 1975 focussed on increasing or­chard competitiveness. The specific ob­jectives are late flowering cultivars (redu­cing frost risk), self­fertility (decreasing pollination problems), high cropping ca­pacity, kernel quality, easy training and pruning, good vigour and tolerance to

adverse growing conditions (diseases, drought, etc.).

PROGRAMME DEvELOPMENTFrameAfter the assignment of the center of Mas de Bover to IRTA, in 1986, the breed­ing programme received a boost and more funding through various projects. Although the programme is commer­cial, since the priority has always been the development of interesting cultivars for growers, it has also directed to the achievement of scientific breakthroughs. In the framework of various projects, col­laborations with several research teams have been maintained: genetics (using markers and elaborating genetic maps), ecophysiology (drought tolerance), pa­thology (disease tolerance) and food tech­nology (physical characterization, chemi­cal and industrial fitness of almond varie­ties and advanced selections). These sci­entific advances were later followed and adopted by some other almond breeding programmes.

CrossesTable 1 presents a summary of the size of IRTA’s programme. Over the period 1975­2010 there were made 783 crosses (535 of which were different), having obtained, studied and selected 36.651 trees.

In the early years, the number of cross­es made and trees studied was relative­ly small. Efforts were focused on obtain­ing information on the transmission of characters from parents used, selection me thods, etc. (Vargas et al., 1984, Var­gas and Romero, 1984 and 1988). Sub­sequently, the size of the programme ex­panded significantly, applying early seed­ling selection.

During cross design, several traits were considered to rise trees with the follo­wing characteristics: very late bloo ming, self fertile, high cropping capacity, vigo­rous, no excessive branching, medi­um growth habit, hard or semihard nuts, good kernel aspect, no double almonds, etc. Other characters considered were drought tolerance and two major diseases: Phomopsis amygdali Del. (“fusicoccum”) and Polystigma ochraceum Whale. (“red leaf blotch”) (Martins et al., 2005; Luque et al., 2006; Vargas, 2007, Vargas and Miar­nau, 2009).

Early in the programme, local high­fruit quality cultivars were used as genitors and also foreign late flowering cultivars and, in some cases, self­fertile cultivars (in those years the choice of interesting self­fertile genitors was very limited). Sub­sequently, it was possible to add new pa­rents, selections generated mostly by IRTA’s programme. Almond self­fertility observation in the field.

9FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Table 2 shows information on the types of genitors used in different phases of the programme. In the period 1975­2010, 199 parents were used: 14 Spanish local cul­tivars, 20 foreign local cultivars, 17 cul­tivars and selections from various pro­grammes and 148 cultivars and selections of IRTA. The use of the material generated by the breeding programme has increased considerably in recent years, as a logical consequence of the genetic resources ob­tained.

Usually, when making controlled almond crosses, flowers are emasculated before anthesis and then immediately pollina­ted artificially, earlier than in natural con­ditions. It is common to achieve low set­tings, lower than those produced in the same genitors in normal conditions. Sig­nificant differences were observed, which repeated consistently, in the behavior of female cultivars as female parents. In Ta­ble 4, 30 genitors are classified accor ding to their average fruit set in the crosses made (Vargas et al., 2002).

Techniques developedTwo useful techniques were developed from the 1990’s for increasing the efficien­cy of the breeding process: a) early selec­tion b) electrophoresis of stylar ribonucle­ases.

Early selection made handling of a large number of seedlings possible with limited resources (Vargas et al., 2005). The seeds obtained from the crosses are planted at a close spacing (about 4 m x 0.3 m) and seedlings are submitted to an early selec­tion process in the nursery, without their transplant to orchards, eliminating unin­teresting seedlings quickly. Thus, it makes handling of a large number of almonds

possible in a small area (8,000 trees/ha). Table 5 shows the outline of the applied proceedings. In almond, several charac­ters can be detected early. Observation of bud break date (usually correlated with blooming) at the beginning of the second

year, is useful to eliminate early­bloom­ing trees (mainly in offspring of crosses in which one of the two parents used is not late­blooming). Other important features such as vigour, growth habit, branching density, blooming time, bearing precocity

Table 1. Controlled crosses. IRTA, Mas de Bover. Number of crosses made, flowers pollinated, seeds obtained and trees studied in different periods.

Years Crosses Flowers Seeds Trees

1975/1979 60 20,990 4,589 1,8461980/1984 31 13,034 2,787 1,3591985/1989 11 2,518 288 1461990/1994 110 63,949 21,390 7,7751995/1999 170 101,017 16,460 9,5972000/2004 305 140,864 22,526 12,1772005-2010 96 45,389 5,579 3,751Total 1975/2010 783 387,761 73,619 36,651(535 different crosses)

Table 2. Genitors used in crosses in different periods. Genetic resources (GR) of domestic origin (generated in the programme) and external (local Spanish and foreign cultivars, also cultivars and selections from other breeding programmes).

Native GR Foreign GR

Years Cultivars and Local Local cultivars and selections of Spanish foreign selections from Total IRTA’s cultivars Cultivars other genitors programme programmes

1975/1979 0 8 8 2 181980/1984 14 2 3 3 221985/1989 3 2 1 1 71990/1994 7 4 5 9 251995/1999 44 2 7 9 622000/2004 90 5 8 9 1122005/2010 51 1 4 1 57Summary 1975/2010 148 14 20 17 199(different)

Table 3. Some progenitors widely used: Spanish local cultivars and foreign cultivars and selections originated in breeding programmes.

Local cultivars Cultivars and selections originated in breeding programmes.

NDC NT NDC NT

Spanish: IRTA’s Programmes: ‘Marcona’ 20 2,447 ‘Glorieta’ 28 3,757‘Desmayo Largueta’ 14 1,739 ‘Masbovera’ 28 3,196‘Ramillete’ 6 551 ‘Anxaneta’ 22 2,971‘Mena d’en Musté’ 5 244 ’23-173’ 37 3,182 ‘Constantí’ 20 2,112 Foreign: Other programmes: ‘Belle d’Aurons’ 7 1,687 ‘Lauranne’ 24 5,101‘Cristomorto’ 17 1,435 ‘FLTU18’ 13 3,002‘Genco’ 9 1,283 ‘FGTR13’ 9 1,722‘Tuono’ 8 758 ‘Primorskiy’ 8 1,655‘Falsa Barese’ 5 692 ‘FGTR30’ 10 1,311

NDC = Number of different crosses that have been used. NT = Number of trees obtained.

High production in ‘Vairo’ cultivar.

10 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

and susceptibility to some diseases can be observed when trees are very young, facilitating the elimination of plants with­out interest. In a short period a large num­ber of seedlings can be removed. Table

Table 4. Average fruit set obtained in cultivars used frequently as female genitors in controlled crosses (%). Flowers emasculated before anthesis

and pollinated artificially*.

Low fruit set (<15 %) Medium fruit set (15-30 %) High fruit set (>30 %)

Female genitor Fruit Set Female genitor Fruit Set Female genitor Fruit Set

‘Wawona’ 6.25 ‘Tarraco’ 17.94 ‘Belle d’Aurons’ 31.97‘Anxaneta’ 6.51 ‘10-98’ 18.24 ‘Falsa Barese’ 33.76‘8-1’ 7.50 ‘Cristomorto’ 20.00 ‘Ferragnes’ 34.21‘FGFP092’ 8.46 ‘Glorieta’ 20.11 ‘21-22’ 36.81‘10-57’ 9.89 ‘Tardive Verdière’ 20.70 ‘Stelliette’ 38.55‘4-665’ 10.12 ‘Garbi’ 21.93 ‘FGTR30’ 40.13‘8-33’ 10.60 ‘Masbovera’ 22.74 ‘Primorskiy’ 45.50‘8-47’ 13.73 ‘Genco’ 24.50 ‘Lauranne’ 45.58 ‘FLTU18’ 25.27 ‘FGTR13’ 48.47 ‘TUAI6’ 26.79 ‘Rana’ 28.14 ‘Tarragonés’ 28.37 ‘Francolí’ 29.70

* In all cases: Nº flowers >1000; Nº years ≥2; Nº crosses ≥4; Nº male parents ≥3.Adapted from Vargas et al., 2002.

Table 5. Early selection. Main steps in the process.

Year Season Activity / Observation

0 Winter Making crosses 0 Autumn - winter Sowing seeds 1 Spring - autumn Seedlings growing in the nursery 2 Winter Foliation date 2 Fall - winter Vigour, growth habit and branching habit 3 Winter - spring Blooming date, bearing precocity3 Summer - winter Fruit characteristics, general tree appearance 4 Winter - spring Self-fertility, blooming time, yield potential4 Summer - winter Fruit, general seedling appearance, sensitivity to drought and diseases 5 Winter - spring Self-fertility, blooming time, yield potential5 Summer - winter Fruit, general seedling appearance, sensitivity to drought and diseases

Table 6. Early selection. Selection intensity. Kept seedlings at the end of different years and seasons*. Mean data from crosses

made in the period 1991-2004 (482 families).

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Trees Start P2 O2 P3 O3 P4 O4 P5 O5

Nº kept seedlings 26,977 19,077 15,117 5,818 4,248 3,210 1,203 879 164% kept seedlings 100 71 56 22 16 12 4.5 3.3 0.6

*P2, P3, P4 and P5: seedlings kept after selection in spring in years 2, 3, 4, and 5.*O2, O3, O4 and O5: seedlings kept after selection in autumn-winter of the years 2, 3, 4 and 5. Almond seedlings germination in the field.

6 shows a summary of the selection pro­cess undertaken in the period 1991­2004 (482 families with a total of 26,977 trees). The selection speed is fast: the average percentage of kept trees at the end of the

second year was 56%, reducing to 16% in the third, to 4.5% in the fourth and only to 0.6% after the fifth year. Due to such se­lection intensity, it was only necessary to observe fruit characters in 9.8% of the seedlings raised and assess self­fertility in 9.16% (Table 7).

Electrophoresis of stylar ribonucleases (RNase) has allowed to identify the S al­leles which regulate pollen­style compat­ibility relations. Information about the self­incompatibility genotypes of the parents is very useful for a breeding programme because it allows the planning of cross­es that generate progenies with all indi­viduals being self­compatible (Batlle et al, 2001, Boskovic et al., 2003; Mnejja et al, 2002). For example, in the case of a cross between two parents, one self­compatible and the other self­incompatible, sharing one common allele, the use as male pa­rental of the self­compatible genitor will provide 100% descendants of self­com­patible trees, while if its reciprocal cross is made (using the self­compatible genitor as female genitor) the expected propor­tion of self­compatible trees would redu­ce to 50% (Table 8). With the information provided by electrophoresis of RNases and based in the crossed S­genotypes, 63 exclusively self­compatible progenies were obtained.

RESULTS Advances in variety breedingAmong others, the following may be in­cluded:• Obtention of useful information on breeding cultivars:

­ Early seedlings selection (Vargas et al., 2005).­ Use of electrophoresis of stylar rib­onucleases for determining incompa­tibility of S alleles (Batlle et al., 1997; Batlle et al., 2001, Boskovic et al., 1997, 1999 and 2003, Lopez 2004, Lopez et al., 2004 and 2006; Mnejja et al., 2002; Martins et al., 2005).

Table 7. Early selection. Selection intensity at the time of fruit characterisation (3rd -4th year) and self-fertility (4th -5th year) observations.

Crossing Nº of Study on fruit character Study on autofertility

years seedlings Nº of % of Nº of % of

start seedlings seedlings seedlings seedlings

1991-2004 26,977 2,644 9.80 2,472 9.16

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­ Use of molecular markers in bree­ding (Arús et al., 1994; Ballester et al., 1998, López et al., 2004, 2005a and 2005b, Martins et al., 2005; Viruel et al., 1995).­ Transmission of characters: self­compatibility (López et al., 2006), au­togamy (Vargas et al., 1998), blooming date (Vargas et al., 1984, Vargas and Romero 2001), almond taste / flavor (Vargas et al ., 2001) and tolerance to “Fusicoccum” (Luque, 2006, Vargas and Miarnau, 2009).­ Fruit set in controlled crosses (Var­gas et al., 2002).­ Tolerance to diseases (Vargas and Miarnau, 2009, Vargas et al., 2009b) and drought (Batlle et al., 1998; Gispert et al., 2009).­ Effect of pollination type in self­fer­tile varieties (Martin and Rovira, 2008, Martin et al., 2009).

• Collection of information on varie­ties and selections (Miarnau et al., 2010, Romero et al., 2009a, 2009b and 2009c; Vargas and Miarnau, 2009, Vargas and Romero, 1994 and 1999, Vargas et al., 2008, 2009a and 2009b).

• Introduction of new almond genetic re­sources, very useful for the breeding pro­gramme. Achievement of new varietiesIn 1992 three cultivars were registrated: ‘Masbovera’, ‘Glorieta’ and ‘Francolí’. They achieved a wide distribution (repor­ted sales of about 600,000 trees).

In 2005, the IRTA requested the Plant Ma­terial Rights for four new cultivars, “Vai­ro’, ‘Constantí’, ‘Marinada’ and ‘Tarraco’, which have been very well received in the sector and they have been spread very quickly (reported sales more than 500.000 trees).

Table 9 gathers the origin of the cultivars. Tables 10­15 summarize their main agro­

Table 8. Example of the use of stylar ribonucleases in crossing design. Progenies obtained in the case of crossing two parents,

one self-compatible (SF) and another self-incompatible (INC) with one common allele, depending on the crossing sense In the example:

Sf with alleles S1Sf and INC with alleles S1S2.

Crossing type Alleles Descendants (female x male)

INC x SF S1S2 x S1Sf S1Sf or S2Sf * 100 % self-compatible seedlingsSF x INC S1Sf x S1S2 S1S2 (self-incompatible) o S2Sf (self-compatible) 50% self-compatible seedlings

* In this crossing, only the pollen grains with the Sf allele will fertilize the flowers of the female parent. The S1 allele pollen can not fertilize flowers having the same allele (in this case S1S2).

Table 9. Origin of the cultivars.

Cultivar Parentage Crossing year

IRTA, new cvs.: ‘Vairo’ ‘4-665’ x ‘Lauranne’ 1991‘Constantí’ ‘FGFD2’ x Polinización libre 1993‘Marinada’ ‘Lauranne’ x ‘Glorieta’ 1994‘Tarraco’ ‘FLTU18’ x ‘Anxaneta’ 1991IRTA, first cvs.: ‘Masbovera’ ‘Primorskiy’ x ‘Cristomorto’ 1975‘Glorieta’ ‘Primorskiy’ x ‘Cristomorto’ 1975‘Francolí’ ‘Cristomorto’ x ‘Tuono’ 1976

Table 10. Blooming, pollination and ripening period. Flowering time, mean fullblooming date of 14 years (1998-2011) at Mas de Bover as number of days from ‘Desmayo Largueta’ (‘DL’) full bloom, self-compatibility,

S genotypes and harvesting season.

Cultivar Blooming Nº of days Self- Genotype S Ripening period after ‘DL’ compatibility period

IRTA, new cvs.: ‘Vairo’ Late 25 Yes S9Sf Early ‘Constantí’ Late 25 Yes S3Sf Early-Medium‘Marinada’ Very late 32 Yes S5Sf Medium‘Tarraco’ Very late 34 No S1S9 Medium-lateIRTA, first cvs.: ‘Masbovera’ Late 27 No S1S9 Medium‘Glorieta’ Late 24 No S1S5 Medium‘Francolí’ Late 24 Yes S1Sf Early Reference cvs.: ‘D. Largueta’ Early 0 No S1S25 Late ‘Marcona’ Medium 13 No S11S12 Medium‘Ferragnès’ Late 28 No S1S3 Medium‘Guara’ Late 25 Yes S1Sf Early

nomic and commercial characteristics. The tables include well­known reference cultivars for comparative purposes.

‘Vairo’, ‘Constantí’, ‘Masbovera’, ‘Glorie­ta’ and ‘Francolí’ are late blooming, ‘Mari­nada’ and ‘Tarraco’ are very late blooming (Table 10).

‘Vairo’, ‘Constantí’, ‘Marinada’ and ‘Fran­colí’ are self­fertile, with a high level of auto­gamy; ‘Tarraco’, ‘Masbovera’ and ‘Glorieta’ need cross­pollination (Tables 10 and 11).

All cultivars have shown a high bear­ing capacity and are easily trained and pruned (Table 12). Several of them have a remarkable tolerance level to two major diseases: “Fusicoc­cum” (P. amygdali Del.) and “red leaf blotch” (P. ochraceum Whal.) (Table 13).

IRTA’s varieties have good fruit char­acteristics. They are hard­shelled, producing a good kernel appearance and having no doubles. The kernel

Blooming in ‘Tarraco’ cultivar.

12 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

vances. In the future the reconversion pro­cess of varieties will have to be continued.

Breeding programmes Considerable progress has been made, but there are still plenty of aspects to be further improved. The aims of the crosses should be basically the same, as it is clear that a good variety should meet a number of outstanding characters, with particu­lar emphasis on: a) kernel quality, b) toler­ance to diseases and c) very late bloom­ing. Referring to these three, with the cur­rently available genetic resources, it is ex­pected to achieve significant progress in the coming years.

Regarding support, to carry on IRTA’s breeding programme in the future, ap­proaches to the industry are being made to seek sources of additional funding.

Kernel qualityIn the crosses made in recent years, par­ticular attention has been focussed on kernel size and aspect. Trees with big sized kernels were obtained and with ex­cellent appearance, with high interest as genitors. With the information current­ly available, also crosses can be made aimed at specific features related to the industrial kernel properties (oil content, oleic acid, stability, etc.).

DiseasesThere are considerable differences among varieties in their level of sensitivity or to­lerance to two important diseases: “Fu­sicoccum” and “red leaf blotch”. There­fore it is possible to select trees with a good tolerance level to these two diseas­es (eg. ‘Vairo’). Tolerance to diseases (es­pecially “Fusicoccum”) has been consi­dered from the start of the programme; In future programmes, it will be a priority.

Extremely late bloomingSome of the new cultivars have already a late or very late blooming period (‘Mari­nada’ and ‘Tarraco’). It is relatively easy to delay blooming even more, crossing two very late blooming selections (the pro­gramme has generated outstanding ge­netic resources for this character) or by using the American genitor ‘Tardy Nonpa­reil’ (late­blooming mutation of ‘Nonpa­reil’) or any of its offsprings. However, it is not easy that outstanding individuals for their extreme blooming delay also carry a range of good features. It will probably be necessary to rise F

2 or even several gene­rations to produce extremely late bloom­ing interesting cultivars.

We acknowledge funding from Spa nish INIA and the EU to IRTA’ almond bree­ding programme Projects SC1997­049, RTA2001­081, RTA2004­030, RTA2007­057, RTA2011­0130 and TRT2006­00021­00­00).

Table 12. Production (yield potential and bearing precocity), tree vigour, growth habit and training and pruning ease.

Cultivar Yield Bearing Tree Growth Training and potential precocity vigour habit pruning

IRTA, new cvs.: ‘Vairo’ Very high Early Very strong Medium Very easy‘Constantí’ High-very high Early Strong Medium-upright Very easy‘Marinada’ Very high Very early Mid-low Medium-upright Very easy‘Tarraco’ Very high Very early Mid-low Medium-upright Very easyIRTA, first cvs.: ‘Masbovera’ High-very high Medium Very strong Medium-upright Very easy‘Glorieta’ High-very high Early Very strong Medium-upright Very easy‘Francolí’ High-very high Early Strong Medium Very easyReference cvs.: ‘D. Largueta’ High Mid-late Mid-high Spreading Medium‘Marcona’ High Early Mid Medium Medium‘Ferragnès’ High-very high Mid Strong Medium-upright Very easy‘Guara’ High-very high Early Mid-low Drooping Difficult

Table 13. Estimation of tolerance or sensitivity degree to “fusicoccum” (P. amygdali Del.) and “red leaf blotch” (P. ochraceum Whal.).

Cultivar “Fusicoccum” “Mancha ocre”

IRTA, new cvs.: ‘Vairo’ Tolerant Very tolerant‘Constantí’ Sensitive Tolerant‘Marinada’ Tolerant Medium‘Tarraco’ Tolerant SensitiveIRTA, first cvs.: ‘Masbovera’ Very tolerant Medium‘Glorieta’ Medium Medium‘Francolí’ Sensitive MediumReference cvs.: ‘D. Largueta’ Very sensitive Tolerant‘Marcona’ Very sensitive Tolerant‘Ferragnès’ Very sensitive Tolerant‘Guara’ Sensitive Very sensitive

size of the cultivar ‘Tarraco’ should be highlighted and also the oil content of several of them (Tables 14 and 15).

PROSPECTSSectorThe almond is an important crop in Spain (about 400,000 ha, producing 10% of the world production). Often, orchards are located in marginal land, giving very low yields, but in recent years a slow but steady trend resulted in higher crop yield (drip irrigation, better soils, productive cultivars, etc.). To become competitive, the current Spanish production systems

need a deep change. In many Spa nish re­gions, the almond crop is the only, or one of the few alternatives for sustainable farming production.

Cultivars The plant material is a basic producing fac­tor in the orchards. The traditional Spa nish cultivars have important cropping limita­tions. The range of cultivars has undergone a remarkable renewal over the last 25 years due to the use of varieties generated by breeding programmes, first in France (INRA) and then in Spain (CITA, CEBAS and IRTA). The new varieties made significant crop ad­

Table 11. Self-fertility and autogamy in self-compatible cultivars. Mean fruit setting in bagged branches before blooming (%).

Cultivar Years of observations Mean fruit set

IRTA, new cvs.: ‘Vairo’ 12 22‘Constantí’ 11 28‘Marinada’ 11 27IRTA, first cvs.: ‘Francolí’ 6 24

13FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

REFERENCES

Arús, P.; Olarte, C.; Romero, M.A.; Var­gas, F.J., 1994. Linkage analysis of ten isozyme genes in F1 segregating proge­nies of almond. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 119 (2): 339­344.

Ballester, J.; Boskovic, R.; Batlle, I.; Arús, P.; Vargas, F.J.; De Vicente, M.C., 1998. Location of the self­incompatibili­ty gene in the almond linkage map. Plant Breeding, 117: 69­72.

Batlle, I.; Ballester, J.; Boskovic, R.; Romero, M.A.; Tobutt, K.R.; Vargas, F.J. (1997). Use of stylar ribonucleases in almond breeding to design crosses and select self­compatible seedlings. FAO­CIHEAM Network on Nuts, Nucis­News­letter 6 :12­14.

Batlle, I.; Tanriver, E.; Lakhal, H.; Rome­ro, M.A.; Vargas, F.J., 2001. Use of sti­lar ribonucleases in almond breeding. XI GREMPA Seminar on pistachios and al­monds, Sanliurfa (Turkey), 1999. Cahiers Options méditerranéennes, 56: 111­115.

Batlle, I.; Sanz, G.; Romero, M.A.; Var­gas, F.J.; Savé, R.; de Herralde, F.; Cohen, M.; Biel, C.; Campanals, A.; Messeguer, R.; Pagès, J.M.; De Vicente, M.C.; Arús, P. (1998). Almond breeding for drought resistence. Acta Horticultu­rae , 470: 72­73.

Boskovic, R.; Tobutt, K.R.; Batlle, I.; Du­val, H., 1997. Correlation of ribonuclease zymograms and incompatibility geno­types in almond. Euphytica, 97: 167­176.

Boskovic, R.; Tobutt, K.R.; Batlle, I.; Du­val, H.; Martinez Gómez, P.; GRADZIEL, T.M., 2003. Stylar ribonucleases in al­mond: correlation with and prediction of incompatibility genotypes. Plant Breed­ing, 122: 70­76.

Boskovic, R.; Tobutt, K.R.; Duval, H.; Batlle, I.; Dicenta, F.;Vargas, F.J., 1999. A stilar ribonuclease assay to detect self­compatible seedlings in almond proge­nies. Theor. Appl. Genet., 99: 800­810.

Gispert, J.R.; Vargas, F.J.; Miarnau, X.; Alegre, S., 2009. Parameters to charac­terize drought tolerance in almond va­rieties. 5th International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Abstract Book: 18. ISHS, Acta Horticulturae (in press).

López, M., 2004. Mejora del almendro para autocompatibilidad utilizando téc­nicas biológicas y moleculares. Tesis doctoral. Universidad de Lleida, 270 p.

López, M.; Mnejja, M.; Romero, M.A.; Vargas, F.J.; Arús, P.; Batlle, I., 2005a. Use of Sf –specific PCR for early selec­tion of self­compatible seedlings in al­mond breeding. XIII GREMPA Meeting on Almonds and Pistachios, Mirandela (Portugal), 2003. M.M. Oliveira and V. Cordeiro (eds). Options Méditerra­néennes, Série A, 63: 269­274.

Table 14. Nut characteristics. Physical traits. Weight of unshelled nuts (g), kernel weight (g), kernel yield (shelling percentage) (%) and double kernels (%).

Mean values of samples analyzed during 10-35 years.

Cultivar Number of analyzed Nut Kernel Shelling Double samples weight weight percentage kernels

IRTA, new cvs.: ‘Vairo’ 62 4.19 1.20 28.75 0.06‘Constantí’ 69 4.31 1.18 27.64 1.48‘Marinada’ 57 4.14 1.31 31.86 0.32‘Tarraco’ 54 5.20 1.60 31.09 0.06IRTA, first cvs.: ‘Masbovera’ 190 4.88 1.36 27.94 0.38‘Glorieta’ 159 5.03 1.43 28.55 1.86‘Francolí’ 146 4.08 1.22 30.33 3.77Reference cvs.: ‘D. Largueta’ 85 4.99 1.34 27.19 1.38‘Marcona’ 209 5.12 1.33 26.38 2.70‘Nonpareil’ 14 1.98 1.24 62.68 3.29‘Guara’ 97 3.88 1.35 35.13 12.38

Table 15. Fruit characteristics. Chemical composition of blanched kernels.

Oil (%), protein (%), soluble sugars (%), total fiber (%) and water (%). Average values (2005-2009 crops, 1-3 locations, 3 trees per cultivar and location).

Cultivar Oil Protein Soluble sugars Total fiber Water

IRTA, new cvs.:‘Vairo’ 55.0 25.2 2.88 8.01 4.03‘Constantí’ 54.2 25.5 2.82 8.32 3.99‘Marinada’ 54.0 24.3 3.44 8.61 4.08‘Tarraco’ 55.0 25.5 2.82 8.22 4.08IRTA, first cvs.: ‘Masbovera’ 57.0 23.3 2.53 8.02 3.79‘Glorieta’ 55.8 24.9 2.57 8.32 3.86‘Francolí’ 54.9 26.1 2.92 7.71 4.13Reference cvs.: ‘Marcona’ 53.7 25.9 2.62 8.89 4.11‘Nonpareil’ 46.3 24.9 2.18 9.77 4.80

(Romero et al., 2009).

López, M.; Mnejja, M.; Rovira, M.; Col­lins, G.; Vargas, F.J.; Arús, P.; Batlle, I., 2004. Self­incompatibility genotypes in almond re­evaluated by PCR, stylar ri­bonucleases, sequencing analysis and controlled pollinations. Theor. Appl. Ge­net., 109: 954­964.

López, M.; Romero, M.A.; Vargas, F.J.; Ba­tlle, I., 2005b. ‘Francolí’, a late flowering almond cultivar re­classified as self­com­patible. Plant Breeding, 124 (5): 502­506.

López, M.; Vargas, F.J.; Batlle, I., 2006. Self­(in)compatibility almond genotypes: a review. Euphytica, 150 (1): 1­16.

Luque, J.; Martos, S.; Batlle, I.; Clavé, J.; Romero, M.; Vargas, F., 2006. Suscep­tibilidad a Phomopsis amygdali en al­mendros descendientes del cruzamiento ‘Primorskiy’ x ‘Lauranne’. Actas del XIII Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Fitopatología (SEF), Murcia (Spain), 251.

MARM ­ http://www.marm.es/

Martín, I.; Rovira, M., 2010. The im­portance of pollination type (self or cross) in two self –compatible almond cultivars: ‘Francolí’ and ‘Guara’. XIV GREMPA Meeting of the Mediterra­nean Research Group for Almond and Pistachio, Atenas, Greece, 2008. G. Zakynthinos (ed.). Options Méditer­ranéennes, Series A, 94: 123­128.

Martín, I.; Rovira, M.; Vargas, F.J., 2009. Pollen tube growth and fruit characteristics in self­compatible al­mond cvs. depending on self or cross­pollination. 5th International Sympo­sium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Ab­stract Book: 140. ISHS, Acta Horticul­turae (in press).

Martins, M.; Sarmento, D.; Batlle, I.; Vargas, F.J. Oliveira, M.M., 2005. De­velopment of SCAR/CAPS markers linked to tolerance/sensitivity to Fu-sicoccum in almond. Options Méditer­ranéennes, Série A, 63: 187­192.

14 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A., 1999. En­sayo de de variedades de almendro de floración tardía en Tarragona. Fruticultu­ra Profesional, Especial Frutos Secos II, 104: 43­47.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A., 2001. Blooming time in almond progenies. XI GREMPA Seminar on pistachios and al­monds, Sanliurfa (Turkey), 1999. Cahiers Options méditerranéennes, 56: 29­34.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Batlle, I., 2001. Kernel taste inheritance in al­mond. XI GREMPA Seminar on pista­chios and almonds, Sanliurfa (Turkey), 1999. Cahiers Options méditerra­néennes, 56: 129­134.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Clavé, J.; Batlle, I., 2005. Early selection in the al­mond breeding programme at IRTA Mas Bové. XIII GREMPA Meeting on Almonds and Pistachios, Mirandela (Portugal), 2003. M.M. Oliveira and V. Cordeiro (eds). Options Méditerranéennes, Série A, 63: 17­22.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Clavé, J; Alegre, S.; Miarnau, X., 2009a. Varie­dades de almendro IRTA. Revista de Fruticultura, 2: 35­45.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Clavé, J; Batlle, I.; Alegre, S.; Miarnau, X., 2009b. Important traits in IRTA’s new almond cultivars. 5th International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Abstract Book: 59. ISHS, Acta Horticulturae (in press).

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Clavé, J; Santos, J.; Batlle, I.; Rovira, M., 2002. Fruit set in controlled crosses of almond cultivars. III International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds and XII GREM­PA Colloquium, Zaragoza (Spain), 2001. ISHS. Acta Horticulturae, 591: 365­370.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Clavé, J; Vergés, J.; Santos, J.; Batlle, I., 2008. ‘Vairo’, ‘Marinada’, ‘Constantí’ and ‘Tar­raco’ almonds. HortScience, 43 (2): 535­537.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A.; Rovira, M.; Girona, J., 1984. Amélioration de l’amandier par croisements des variétés. Résultats préliminaires à Tarragone (Es­pagne). V Colloque GREMPA, Sfax (Tuni­sia), 1983. Options Méditerranéennes, IAMZ 84/II: 101­122.

Viruel, M.A.; Messeguer, R.; De Vicente, M.C.; Garcia Mas, J.; Puigdomenech, P.; Vargas, F.J.; Arús, P., 1995. A linkage map with RFLP and isozyme markers for almond. Theor. Appl. Genet., 91: 964­971.

F. Vargas1, M. Romero1, M. Rovira1, J. R. Gispert1, A. Romero1, S. Alegre2,

X. Miarnau2 and I. Batlle1.IRTA

1 Mas de Bover. Ctra. Reus­El Morell, Km 3,8. E­43120 Constantí (Tarragona), Spain.

2 Estació Experimental de Lleida. Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure, 191. E­25198

Lleida, Spain.

Miarnau, X.; Alegre, S.; Vargas, F.J.,2010. Productive potential of six al­mond cultivars under regulated deficit irrigation. Options Méditerranéennes, Series A, 94: 267­271.

Mnejja, M.; López, M.; Romero, M.A.; Vargas, F.J.; Batlle, I., 2002. Cross de­sign for self­compatibility in almond us­ing stylar sibonucleases. III International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds and XII GREMPA Colloquium, Zaragoza (Spain), 2001. ISHS. Acta Horticulturae, 591: 233­238.

Romero, A.; Vargas, F.; Miarnau, X.; Tous, J.; Ninot, A., 2009a. Industrial apti­tude of new almond varieties from IRTA’s breeding programme. 5th International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Ab­stract Book: 68. ISHS, Acta Horticul­turae (in press).

Romero, A.; Vargas, F.; Miarnau, X.; Tous, J.; Ninot, A., 2009b. New almond varie­ties from IRTA’s breeding programme. (1) Chemical composition and nutritional value. 5th International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Abstract Book: 200. ISHS, Acta Horticulturae (in press).

Romero, A.; Vargas, F.; Miarnau, X.; Tous, J.; Ninot, A., 2009c. New almond varieties from IRTA’s breeding pro­gramme. (2) Physical and textural pro­perties. 5th International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Abstract Book: 201. ISHS, Acta Horticulturae (in press).

Vargas, F.J., 1975. El almendro en la pro­vincia de Tarragona. Ed. Diputación de Tarragona, Tarragona (Spain), 165 p.

Vargas, F.J., 2007. Mejora de variedades de almendro en Cataluña. Simposio In­ternacional Frutos Secos, Lleida, 2007. Fruticultura Profesional, 169: 10­22.

Vargas, F.J.; Clavé, J.; Romero, M.A.; Batlle, I.; Rovira, M., 1998. Autogamy studies on almond progenies. Second In­ternational Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds. Davis (California, USA), 1997. ISHS. Acta Horticulturae, 470: 74­81.

Vargas, F.J.; Miarnau, X., 2009. Field sus­ceptibility to fusicoccum canker of almond cultivars. 5th International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Octubre, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey). Abstract Book: 241. ISHS, Acta Horticulturae (in press).

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A., 1984. Consi­dérations autour de la sélection précoce dans des programmes d’amélioration de variétés d’amandier. V Colloque GREM­PA, Sfax (Tunisia), 1993. Options Médite­rranéennes, IAMZ 84/II: 143­145.

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A., 1988. Com­paración entre descendencias interva­rietales de almendro en relación con la época de floración y la calidad del fruto. VII Colloque GREMPA­AGRIMED, Reus (Spain), 1987. Rapport EUR 11557: 59­72

Vargas, F.J.; Romero, M.A., 1994. ‘Mas­bovera’, ‘Glorieta’ y ‘Francolí’, nuevas variedades de almendro. Fruticultura Profesional, 63: 16­22.

THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW ALMOND CULTIvARS IN SPANISH ALMOND GROWING

INTRODUCTIONSpain is the second world’s almond pro­ducer (Table 1). Although the United States of America, basically by the Cali­fornian production, is the leading pro­ducer ahead of all the others, the almond breeding programs of Spain are the most active in the world and those releasing the largest number of new cultivars (Socias i Company et al., 2011). This work has pro­duced a clear penetration of the new plant materials, both cultivars and rootstocks, in the Spanish almond growing regions (Socias i Company et al., 2009).

Table 1. Average almond world production for the period 2000-2009

(web page of FAO).

Country Average production 2000-09 (tm in shell)

USA 884,914Spain 223,431Syria 110,595Italy 108,648Iran 99,582Morocco 78,636Tunisia 46,300Turkey 45,466Greece 45,219Algeria 37,526Lebanon 27,210Pakistan 26,247China 25,600Libya 25,400Afghanistan 22,299Portugal 17,099Uzbekistan 17,016Australia 12,981Chile 10,364Israel 7,091France 3,712Rest 25,708Total 1,901,041

The Spanish market only distinguishes two cultivars as such, ‘Marcona’ and ‘Desmayo Largueta’, whilst the rest of cul­tivars are grouped under the undefined name of ‘Comunas’. Even such impor­tant cultivars as ‘Guara’ and ‘Ferragnès’, representing and important share of the Spanish production, are not marketed as individual cultivars. Similarly, some new releases with an excellent kernel quality are also marketed in a mixture of kernels. As a consequence, the Spanish produc­tion statistics do not reflect the level of production attributable to the new culti­vars. In addition, the statistics on the sur­face planted with each cultivar are not

15FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

fully reliable and do not give a trustworthy picture of the presence of the new culti­vars in the Spanish orchards. The long life of the almond orchards renders updating of these figures quite difficult, thus not re­flecting the dynamics of cultivar change produced in the Spanish orchards during the last four decades.

Probably the best figure to show the changes produced in the Spanish almond orchards is the production of almond plants by the Spanish nurseries. There­fore, in order to obtain a real figure of the introduction of the new cultivars in the Spanish orchards, we have revised the statistics of the plants marketed by the Spanish nurseries as collected by the Spanish Office of Plant Varieties.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The Spanish Office of Plant Varieties at the Ministry of the Environment and Rural

and Marine Affairs collects the data from the different Autonomous Regions on the production of fruit plants by the Spanish nurseries. The years studied were from the 1995/96 to the 2009/10 seasons. The data collected had to be carefully revised in order to avoid unaccuracies, such as synonyms and incorrect wording. Some clones were identified with acronyms or abbreviations not corresponding to any known selection or breeding clone. The most notable case of synonymy was that of ‘Desmayo Largueta’, also referred to as ‘Largueta’, ‘Desmayo blanco’, ‘Des­mayo común’ or ‘Desmayo verde’. The same cultivar could also be identified in different lists by the cultivar name or the trade mark, such as ‘Avijor’ or ‘Lauranne’.

Once the data were refined from any detec ted unaccuracies, the cultivars were grouped according to their origin (Table 2). These figures allowed obtaining the total

Figure 1. Evolution of the production of plants of almond cultivars from the CITA breeding program by the Spanish nurseries.

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'Guara'

Figure 2. Evolution of the production of plants of almond cultivars from the IRTA breeding program by the Spanish nurseries.

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Table 2. Production of almond plants by the Spanish nurseries

(1995/96 to 2009/10).

Cultivar Nº of plants

Guara 6,999,329 Aylés 25,028 Moncayo 134,024 Blanquerna 18,461 Cambra 31,853 Felisia 10,663 Belona 78,036 Soleta 68,784 Mardía 4,000

CITA cultivars 7,370,178

Masbovera 322,234 Francolí 80,613 Glorieta 240,360 Tardor 2,500 Constantí 95,020 Marinada 183,253 Tarraco 53,416 Vairo 132,790

IRTA cultivars 1,110,186

Almudena 1,560 Antoñeta 85,778 Marta 119,309 Penta 4,304 Tardona 647

CEBAS cultivars 211,598

Marcona 1,659,200 Desmayo Largueta 1,560,723 Garrigues 344,906 Ramillete 269,016 Atocha 104,561 Desmayo Rojo 109,124 Carreró 103,486 Soft-shell 7,920 Other Spanish 435,007

Traditional Spanish cultivars 4,593,943

Ferragnès 2,408,780 Ferraduel 1,866,750 Lauranne 47,985 Other French 22,101

French cultivars 4,345,616

Tuono 497,816 Cristomorto 61,832 Fragiulio 4,320

Italian cultivars 563,968

Nonpareil 1,100 Texas 8,365

Californian cultivars 9,465

Others 37,910

Total 18,095,625

16 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

values of each cultivar or group of culti­vars and the percentages of each, in or­der to draw the graphs showing their evo­lution trends during the period examined.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe first observation from the data is the undoubtful prevalence of the CITA culti­vars during the 14 seasons over the to­tal amount of more than 18 million plants produced by the Spanish nurseries. Over this period, the CITA cultivars amounted to 40.73%, with ‘Guara’ as the leading cultivar, with 38.68%, which represents 94.97% of the CITA cultivars. Although in 2009/10 the percentage of these cultivars slightly decreased (Fig.1), during this peri­od the trend has been towards a constant increase. The new cultivars ‘Belona’ and ‘Soleta’ appeared in the season 2006/07 and ‘Mardía’ in 2009/10. Therefore, for the

moment the data do not allow establishing the real level of penetration of these new cultivars in spite of the references of their introduction in the new orchards.

The second Spanish breeding program is that of IRTA developed at the Centre of Mas de Bover. The incidence of the cul­tivars released by this program amounts to 6.14% of total, although their evolution can be clearly differentiated. Thus, their percentage ranged from 0.15 to 6.64% (Fig. 2) until 2007/08, but the following season there was a sharp increase up to 23.36%, mainly due to the introduction of the last releases from this program and the sound recommendations by the main growers’ associations. Probably the data of the coming years will show if this upturn is seasonal (in 2009/10 this percentage was 12.86%) or is maintained.

Figure 3. Evolution of the almond cultivars plant production from the CEBAS breeding program by the Spanish nurseries.

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Figure 4. Evolution of the traditional almond cultivars plant production by the Spanish nurseries.

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'Marcona'

'Desmayo Largueta'

The cultivars released by CEBAS­CSIC of Murcia do not appear in the statistics un­til the season 2001/02 because this pro­gram started later than the previous ones (Fig. 3 ) . From that season their incidence has ranged from 0.2 to 5%, with a global average of 1.17%, showing a lower inci­dence than the older programs.

The traditional Spanish cultivars still repre sent nearly a quarter of the total, with 24.57%, with significant variations along the period, although any trend can be noticed (Fig. 4). Among these cultivars, ‘Marcona’ with 9.17% and ‘Desmayo Lar­gueta’ with 8.62% are the most important, both with a stable presence along these seasons. The other traditional Spanish cultivars are much less present, including ‘Garrigues’, ‘Ramillete’, ‘Desmayo Rojo’, ‘Atocha’, ‘Carreró’, ‘Pajarera’, ‘Aspirilla’, ‘Cartagenera’, ‘Peraleja’, ‘Planeta’ and many others less important. The presence of soft­shell cultivars, as opposed to the Californian production, is extremely low, with 0.04%.

The French cultivars developed by INRA also represent another quarter of the nursery production, with 24.01%. ‘Fer­ragnès’ with 13.31% and ‘Ferraduel’ with 10.32% are undoubtedly the most impor­tant cultivars, although their share is con­tinuously decreasing along this period (Fig. 5), as their presence lowered from 39.69% in the season 1995/96 to 12.85% in the last one. Nearly insignificant is the presence of the self­compatible cultivar ‘Lauranne’, as well as that of other culti­vars, either releases from the breeding program (‘Ferralise’ and ‘Ferrastar’) or tra­ditional French cultivars (‘Aï’, ‘Bartre’ and ‘Princesse’).

The presence of Italian cultivars, mainly ‘Tuono’ and ‘Cristomorto’, was very im­portant in the 1970s, but during the peri­od under study only amounted to 3.12%, most of them of ‘Tuono’, with a few plants of ‘Cristomorto’ and ‘Fragiulio’, follo­wing a decreasing trend. The presen ce of Californian cultivars is fully testimo­nial (0.05%), being most of the plants of ‘Texas’ and a few of ‘Nonpareil’. Finally, 0.21% of the plants could not be identi­fied.

Taking into account that most French cul­tivars produced by the Spanish nurseries are releases from the INRA breeding pro­gram carried out by C. Grasselly , as well as the incidence of the releases from the different Spanish programs, it is evident that the Spanish production is every time more dependant on improved cultivars. The share of new bred cultivars amounts to 71.93%, divided into 48.03% of Spa­nish programs and 23.89% of the French program. Although the total remains quite

17FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

share of self­compatible cultivars is re­ally significant, with 47.52% of total. The weight of the self­compatible cultivars is mainly due to the new Spanish cultivars because the presence of the traditional Italian cultivars such as ‘Tuono’ and ‘Fra­giulio’ is very low, and that of the French ‘Lauranne’ only testimonial. The trend during this period has been the increase of the presence of self­compatible cul­tivars (Fig. 7), confirming that the Span­ish orchards really represent a success of these cultivars (Socias i Company, 2002).

The productive success of these new cul­tivars is being fully recognized not only by the growers, but also the market and the industry have valued the physical and or­ganoleptic quality of the kernels of some of these cultivars. It must be emphasized that some CITA releases such as ‘Belona’ and ‘Soleta’ may exceed the quality rating of the best evaluated traditional cultivars ‘Marcona’ and ‘Desmayo Largueta’.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis research was supported by the Spa­nish grant AGL2010­22197­C02­01 and the Research Group A12 of Aragón. Tech­nical assistance by O. Frontera is highly recognized.

REFERENCES

Socias i Company, R. 1990. Breeding self­compatible almonds. Plant Breed. Rev. 8, 313­338.

Socias i Company, R. 2002. Latest ad­vances in almond self­compatibility. Acta Hort. 591, 205­212.

Socias i Company, R., Gómez Aparisi, J., Alonso, J.M., Rubio­Cabetas, M.J., Kodad, O. 2009. Retos y perspectivas de los nuevos cultivares y patrones de almendro para un cultivo sostenible. Inf. Técn. Econ. Agrar. 105, 99­116.

Socias i Company, R., Alonso, J.M., Ko­dad, O., Gradziel, T.M. 2011. Almond [Prunus dulcis syn. P. amygdalus]. In: M.L. Badenes and D. Byrne (Eds.): Fruit Breeding, Springer Verlag, in press.

R. Socias i Company1, O. Kodad1, J. M. Alonso1,

J. L. Espada2, P. Chomé3, A. Martínez­Treceño3

1 Unidad de Fruticultura, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología

Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), Av. Montañana 930,

50059 Zaragoza ­ Spain2 Unidad de Cultivos Leñosos,

Centro de Técnicas Agrarias, DGA, Av. Montañana 930,

50059 Zaragoza ­ Spain3 Oficina Española de Variedades Vegetales,

C. Alfonso XII 62, 28014 Madrid ­ Spain

E­mail: rsocias@aragon.es

Figure 5. Evolution of the production of plants of French almond cultivars by the Spanish nurseries.

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'Ferraduel'

'Ferragnes'

Figure 6. Evolution of the production of plants of bred almond cultivars by the Spanish nurseries.

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Figure 7. Evolution of the production of plants of self-compatible almond cultivars by the Spanish nurseries.

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95/96 98/99 99/00 01/02 02/03 03/04 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/1097/98 04/05

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Self-compatible varieties

stable along the period studied, there is a clear increase of the presence of the Spanish releases in detriment of the French releases (Fig. 6).

Considering that self­compatibility has been the main objective of most breeding programs to solve the problems of almond pollination (Socias i Company, 1990), the

18 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

ALMOND COMPOSITION AND QUALITY: ASSUMPTIONS

AND FACTS

INRODUCTIONThe quality of any product is a concept of very difficult definition. This difficul­ty is usually increased in all agricultu ral products because their composition is often very complex and, most of times, unknown. As a consequence, not only the quality concept is difficult to establish, but also ephemeral (Janick, 2005), because of the continuous changes in the market preferences. In a species very close to al­mond such as peach, these continuous changes in the market demands is clear­ly evident giving rise to constant changes in many qualitative aspects, such as skin and flesh color, shape, skin hairiness, etc.

Almond is the most important tree nut crop in terms of commercial production. This production is limited to areas charac­terized by a Mediterranean climate (Kes­ter and Asay, 1975), including regions in the Mediterranean countries, the Central Valley of California, the Middle East, and some equivalent areas in the Southern Hemisphere. Traditional almond culture utilized open­pollinated seedlings (Gras­selly, 1972; Rikhter, 1972) which, together with self­incompatibility, produced a very high heterozygosity in this species (Kester et al., 1990; Socias i Company and Felipe, 1992). This large variability has provided a useful genetic pool for almond evolution, allowing in each growing region the selec­tion of almond cultivars well adapted to this area (Kester et al., 1990). Some culti­vars, however, have shown high plasticity, being adapted to different growing condi­tions (Felipe, 2000).

Traditional almond production was cen­tered in the Mediterranean countries, but in the 20th century it shifted to new growing regions. At present there is a clear dominance of the Californian pro­duction and an increasing importance of the Australian production, with a clear possibility of displacing the Spanish pro­duction from the second to the third place. From the commercial point of view, the Spanish almond imports from Califor­nia represent an important volume of the exports from the United States, giving rise to continuous controversies on the possi ble differential quality of both pro­ductions. These discussions, however, lack of a sound scientific basis to estab­lish clear criteria on quality differentiation. Some parameters can be clearly mea­sured and used to characterize each cul­tivar. This information is crucial not only in order to increase the knowledge of the almond diversity, but also the nutritional and healthy value of the kernels, and the

possibility of selecting the most adequate cultivars for the industry (Socias i Com­pany et al., 2008). The modern almond in­dustry requires commercial cultivars char­acterized by kernels with high quality attri­butes, because the best end­use for each cultivar is a function of its chemical com­position (Berger, 1969) and of the con­sumers’ trend for foods without synthetic additives (Krings and Berger, 2001). Ker­nels with a high percentage of oil could be used to produce nougat or to extract oil, which is used in the cosmetic and phar­maceutical industries (Socias i Company et al., 2008). In addition, high oil content is desirable because higher oil contents result in less water absorption by the al­mond paste (Alessandroni, 1980). On the contrary, high oil contents are not desir­able in the production of almond flour or almond milk. In the case of individual fatty acids, low content of linoleic acid is corre­lated with high oil stability (Zacheo et al., 2000), whereas high content of oleic acid is considered a positive trait from the nu­tritional point of view (Socias i Company et al., 2008).

The information available at present on the chemical composition of the almond kernels is restricted to a reduced num­ber of cultivars, mostly from the coun­try where these cultivars originated or are grown. As a consequence, compari­sons among cultivars from different coun­tries are affected by possible differences related to the climatic conditions of each country and to the different management of the almond orchards. Therefore, the study of the chemical composition of a set of cultivars from different origin but grown in the same conditions was considered in­teresting, taking the opportunity of the al­mond collection belonging to the Spanish National Germplasm Network maintained at the CITA of Aragón (Espiau et al., 2002). This collection was initially assembled by

A. J. Felipe and shows a very large ge­netic diversity as related to all traits taken into account for almond des cription (Gül­can, 1985), including not only the morpho­logical traits of the tree, the vegetative or­gans and the fruit, but also the physiologi­cal traits, such as blooming time and sus­ceptibility to pests, diseases, and frosts (Socias i Company and Felipe, 1992), as well as their molecular characterization (Fernández i Martí et al., 2009).

The knowledge of the chemical compo­sition of the almond kernels would allow establishing not only quality criteria, but also consumption criteria, due to the inci­dence of some compositional parameters on the nutritional and healthy values of almond kernels (Socias i Company et al., 2011). Some recent studies point out that almond consumption in the Mediterra­nean region represents a complementary source of vitamin E (Gimeno, 2000). Al­mond consumption has also been related to a decrease of the problems of colon cancer and of high blood pressure (Davis et al., 2003), as well as a decrease in the risk of heart diseases (Chen et al., 2006).

The high nutritive value of almond ker­nels arises mainly from their high lipid content, which constitutes an important caloric source but does not contribute to cholesterol formation in humans. This is due to their high level of unsaturated fatty acids , mainly monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), since MUFAs are inversely correlated with serum cholesterol levels (Sabate and Hook, 1996). Kernel tenden­cy to rancidity during storage and trans­port is a quality loss and is related to oxi­dation of the kernel fatty acids (Senessi et al., 1996). Thus, oil stability and fatty acid composition, essentially the O/L ratio (Kester et al., 1993), are considered an im­portant criterion to evaluate kernel quality. The presence of natural anti­oxidants in

Hard­shell almond nuts, more favourable to maintain kernel quality.

19FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

almond kernels, such as tocopherols, is another determinant of almond quality (Socias i Company et al., 2008).

Thus, our main objective was the study of the genetic diversity present at the Spanish National Almond Collection present at the CITA of Aragón in relation to their kernel oil content, as well as for oil composition in the main fatty acids. This knowledge would be essential for esta­blishing the value of the different cultivars from the quality point of view.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThe kernels of 73 almond cultivars com­ing from 10 different countries were ana­lyzed for this study (Kodad et al., 2011). The trees are maintained as living plants grafted on the almond x peach hybrid clonal rootstock INRA GF­677, using standard management practices (Espiau et al., 2002). Nuts from open pollination were harvested in 2008 and 2009 at ma­ture stage, when fruit mesocarp was fully dried and split along the fruit suture and peduncle abscission was complete (Feli­pe, 1977). Two samples of 20 fruits were collected for each treatment.

Fruits were left to dry and then shelled to obtain the kernels. The kernels were blanched in hot water. After drying, the kernels were ground in an electrical grinder to obtain almond flour. Oil was extracted from 4­5 g of ground almond kernel in a commercial fat­extractor. The oil content was expressed as the differen­ce in weight of the dried kernel sample before and after extraction. The oil sam­ple was utilized to determine the diffe­rent fatty acids according to the official method UNE­EN ISO 5509:2000 (ISO, 2000). The ratio O/L (relation between the concentrations of oleic acid and linoleic acid) was also obtained.

The results of the two years of analysis were averaged for all the cultivars of each country. The means were compared by LSD at 5%.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONWhen considering the average values of each cultivar (data not shown), the first notion to be deduced was the large vari­ability for the oil content and the concen­tration of the different fatty acids among the different almond cultivars, indepen­dently of their country of origin. The ave­rage value of oil content, on a dry matter basis, ranged from 51.39% in ‘Siria­3’ and 66.80% in ‘Filippo Ceo’. When this range of variability was examined for the cul­tivars of each country, the widest range was observed among the cultivars from Spain (from 54.75% to 66.40%), fol lo­we d by a medium range of variability for the cultivars of France (from 54.75%

to 64.73%) and Italy (from 56.23% to 66.80%), being low for the cultivars of Portugal (from 58.33% to 63.66%) and the USA (from 57.36% to 63.60%). It is worth noting that nearly all cultivars from France, Italy and the USA showed a mean value of oil content higher than 60%. This range of variability for the cultivars of Ar­gentina, India, Ukraine and Syria, present in a much lower number than those from the other countries, was found to be be­tween the limits observed for the culti­vars of the other countries. These results showed the inconsistency of the opinion often manifested that the Californian cul­tivars have lower oil contents than the Eu­ropean cultivars.

The range of variability for the main fatty acids was also wide. For oleic acid it was from 62.86% in ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ to 77.35% in ‘Yosemite’, being both cultivars from the USA. For linoleic acid it was from 14.04% in ‘Yosemite’ to 26.85% in ‘Spi­lo’. For palmitic acid it was from 4.88% in ‘Tardive de la Verdière’ to 7.01% in ‘Des­mayo Largueta’. For stearic acid it was from 1.47% in ‘Nonpareil’ to 3.41% in ‘Filippo Ceo’. Finally, for palmitoleic acid it was from 0.31% in ‘Siria­3’ to 0,61% in ‘LeGrand’.

Considering oleic acid, the fatty acid with the highest content in almond oil, the widest range of variability was observed among the cultivars from the USA (from 62.86% to 77.35%), followed by those from France (from 65.31% to 76.99%), Greece (from 64.00% to 74.97%), Spain (from 67.42% to 74.92%) and Portugal (from 67.66% to 74.10%). The highest mean value for the content in oleic acid (Table 1) was found for the cultivars from Italy (72.93%), followed by those of France (72.42%), Spain (72.20%), Por­tugal (70.39%), the USA (70.26%) and Greece (69.39%), although the differences between these countries were not sig­nificant. Only for the cultivars from In­dia (present only with three accessions), the content of oleic acid was significantly lower than the content of the cultivars from the other countries.

For linoleic acid, the widest ranges of vari­ability were observed for the cultivars of the USA (from 14.04% to 26.63%) and France (from 14.29% to 24.71%), and the shortest for those of Portugal (from 17.03% to 23.22%) and Spain (from 15.37% to 22.44%). The lowest values for the content of linoleic acid were found among the cultivars from Italy, France and Spain, with values significantly lower than those for the cultivars of some coun­tries. In relation to the O/L ratio, the high­est values were found among the cultivars from Italy, France and Spain, whereas the values from India were significantly lower (Table 1). It must be taken into account that a high O/L ratio implies higher oil sta­bility and, therefore, an index of almond quality and of resistance to rancidity must be considered.

The three other main fatty acids are pre­sent in much lower amounts, and the diffe rences observed between cultivars from different countries are not important (Table1).

As a whole, thus, the lipid composition of the almond kernels is a characteristic trait of each cultivar, independently of its

Table 1. Average oil content and composition in the main fatty acids of almond cultivars from different countries.

Country Oil Oleic Linoleic O/L Palmitic Palmitoleic Stearic

Argentina 65,19 a 70,60 ab 20,91 ab 3,40 b 5,86 ab 0,40 ab 1,65 cSpain 60,40 bc 72,20 a 18,46 bc 4,02 ab 6,15 a 0,45 ab 2,05 bcUSA 60,90 bc 70,26 ab 20,56 ab 3,59 b 6,03 a 0,46 ab 1,94 bcFrance 60,51 bc 72,42 a 18,22 c 4,13 a 5,83 ab 0,44 ab 2,17 bcGreece 58,68 c 69,39 ab 21,09 ab 3,42 b 6,19 a 0,48 a 2,30 bIndia 64,08 a 66,25 b 23,85 a 2,83 c 6,22 a 0,42 ab 2,41 aItaly 61,30 b 72,93 a 18,06 c 4,22 a 5,81 ab 0,45 ab 2,07 bcPortugal 60,57 bc 70,39 ab 20,11 ab 3,63 b 6,02 a 0,45 ab 2,31 abSyria 55,63 d 71,75 a 19,76 b 3,66 b 5,65 b 0,35 b 1,83 bcUkraine 60,44 bc 71,85 a 19,02 bc 3,92 ab 5,98 a 0,39 ab 1,96 bc

Blanched almond kernels with rugous surface, a trait decreasing quality.

20 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

ISO, 2000. Animal and vegetable fats and oils – Preparation of methyl esters of fatty acids. International Organization for Standardization, Standard 5509. Ge­neva. Switzerland.

Janick, J., 2005. Breeding intractable traits in fruit crops: dream the impossi­ble dream. HortScience 40: 1944.

Kester, D.E., Asay, R., 1975. Almonds: 387­419. In: J. Janick and J.N. Moore (eds.). Advances in fruit breeding. Pur­due Univ. Press, West Lafayette, IN, U.S.

Kester, D.E., Gradziel, T.M., Grasselly, C., 1990. Almonds (Prunus). Acta Hort. 290: 699­758.

Kester, D.E., Cunningham, S., Kader, A.A., 1993. Almonds: 121­126. In: En­cyclopedia of food science, food tech­nology and nutrition. Academic Press, London, UK.

Kodad, O., Alonso, J.M., Espiau, M.T., Estopañán, G., Juan, T., Socias i Com­pany, R., 2011. Chemometric characteri­zation of almond germplasm: composi­tional aspects involved in quality and breeding. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 136: 273­281.

Krings, U., Berger, R.G., 2001. Anti­oxidant activity of some roasted foods. Food Chem. 72: 223­229.

Rikhter, A.A., 1972. Biological bases for the creation of almond cultivars and com­mercial orchards (in Russian). Glavny Bo­tanical Garden, Moscow, Russia.

Sabate, J., Hook, D.G., 1996. Almonds, walnuts, and serum lipids: 137­144. In: Spiller, G.A. (ed.). Lipids in human nutri­tion. CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton, FL, U.S.

Senessi, E., Rizzolo, A., Colombo, C. Te­stoni, A., 1996. Influence of pre­process­ing storage conditions on peeled almond quality. Ital. J. Food Sci. 2: 115­125.

Socias i Company, R., Felipe, A.J., 1992. Almond: a diverse germplasm. Hort­Science 27: 717­718, 863.

Socias i Company, R., Kodad, O., Alon­so, J.M., Gradziel, T.M., 2008. Almond quality: a breeding perspective. Hort. Rev. 34: 197­238.

Socias i Company, R., Alonso, J.M., Ko­dad, O., Gradziel, T.M., 2011. Almond [Prunus dulcis syn. P. amygdalus]. In: Badenes M.L. and D. Byrne (eds.). Fruit Breeding. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Ger­many (in press).

Zacheo, G., Capello, M.S., Gallo, A., Santino, A., Capello, A.R., 2000. Chang­es associated with postharvest ageing in almond seeds. Lebens. Wissens. Tech­nol. 33: 415­423.

O. Kodad and R. Socias i CompanyUnidad de Fruticultura, CITA de Aragón,

Av. Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, SpainE­mail: rsocias@aragon.es

quality trait, not only inte resting from the consumers’ point of view, but also in any breeding program, taking into account the breeding objective of in creasing the or­ganoleptic and nutritive quality of the al­mond kernels.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSReview funded by the Spanish projects CICYT AGL2010­22197­C02­01 and INIA RF2008­00027­00­00, the European pro­ject AGRI GEN RES 870/2004 068 (SAFE­NUT) and the activity of the Research Group A12 of Aragón. We appreciate the technical assistance of J. Búbal and O. Frontera.

REFERENCES

Alessandroni, A., 1980. Le mandorle. Panific. Pastic. 8 : 67­71.

Berger, P., 1969. Aptitude à la transfor­mation industrielle de quelques variétés d’amandier. Bull. Techn. Inf. 241: 577­580.

Chen, C.Y., Lapsley, K., Bloomburg, G.J., 2006. A nutrition and health perspec­tive on almonds. J. Sci. Food. Agric. 86: 2245­2250.

Davis, P., Iwahashi, C.K., Yokahama, W., 2003. Whole almonds activate gastroin­testinal tract anti­proliferative signaling in APCmin (multiple intestinal neoplasia) mice. FASEB J. 17: A1153.

Espiau, M.T., Ansón, J.M., Socias i Com­pany, R., 2002. The almond germplasm bank of Zaragoza. Acta Hort. 591: 275­278.

Felipe, A.J., 1977. Almendro: estados fenólogicos. Inf. Técn. Econ. Agrar. 27: 8­9.

Felipe, A.J., 2000. El almendro: el mate­rial vegetal. Integrum, Lérida.

Fernández i Martí, À., Alonso, J.M., Espiau, M.T., Rubio­Cabetas, M.J., Socias i Company, R., 2009. Genetic diversity in Spanish and foreign al­mond germplasm assessed by mo­lecular characterization with simple sequence repeats. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 134: 535­542.

Gimeno, E., Calero, E., Castellote, A.I., Lamuela­Raventós, R.M.. de la Torre, M.C., López­Sabater, M.C., 2000. Simul­taneous determination of a­tocopherol and b­carotene in olive oil by RP­HPLC. J. Chromatogr. A 881: 255­259.

Grasselly, C., 1972. L’amandier: car­actères morphologiques et physiolo­giques des variétés, modalité de leurs transmissions chez les hybrids de premi­ère génération. PhD Thesis, Univ. Bor­deaux.

Gülcan, R., 1985. Almond descriptors (re­vised). IBPGR, Rome.

country of origin. Therefore, the nutritive value and the quality stability of the ker­nel depend on the genotype and not on the geographic origin. These results show that the valorization of the almond quality must not take into account the geographi­cal origin of the cultivar, but other aspects of its composition, not only the lipid frac­tion. The oil content and the percentages of the different fatty acids do not directly affect the subjective appreciation of the kernel quality, but the different possibili­ties of its industrial utilization, showing again that the definition of quality is extre­mely difficult.

The present industrial trend for specific requirements in relation to the kernel quality for the different confectioneries made with almond implies a better know­ledge of the kernel composition in or­der to establish selection criteria for the best adequate cultivars for each product. These criteria have been incorporated into the almond breeding program of the CITA of Aragón and have been an important point for the commercial qualitative ker­nel valorization of the new releases such as ‘Belo na’, ‘Soleta’, and ‘Mardía’, with low content of linoleic acid, because this low content is correlated with a high oil stability.

The results of this study show the wide variability present in the lipid fraction of the almond kernels, independently of their country of origin, as cultivars of 10 coun­tries were included, not only from the Mediterranean area, but also an important group of cultivars from the USA, as well as some representatives from Argentina and India. However, it was impossible to es­tablish a compositional pattern of any re­gion because in each region there are cul­tivars with very different values for each component. In addition, it has been also impossible to establish valorization crite­ria based only on the lipid composition. However, these results are extremely im­portant for the industry in order to choose the adequate cultivar for each confec­tionery. Thus, as already mentioned, ker­nels with high oil content are the best for making “Jijona” turrón (soft nougat) or for extracting oil, as required by the pharma­ceutical and cosmetic industries.

However, it is note worthy to stress the high O/L ratio of the cultivars from Italy, France and Spain. This fact may allow in­creasing the storage ability not only of the kernels of these cultivars, but also of their derivative products, such as nougat, mar­zipan, etc. This implies all the intermedi­ate steps, from the field, at harvesting, to consumption of each of these products. From this point of view the Spanish culti­vars can be distinguished from the Cali­fornian ones, thus showing a distinctive

21FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

THE ALMOND sf ALLELE: AN ALLELE IN QUESTION

INTRODUCTIONOnce self­compatibility in almond was re­discovered in the 1970s, its importance in almond growing was clearly stressed and its relevance in almond breeding was fully understood (Socias i Company, 1978). The horticultural importance of almond self­compatibility is obtaining commercial yields after an acceptable fruit set (Socias i Company et al., 2009). Therefore, one of the major challenges in the breeding pro­cess has been the evaluation of self­com­patibility (Socias i Company et al., 2010). The first approaches included fruit set (Almeida, 1945) and pollen tube growth (Socias i Company et al., 1976), but this evalua tion was focused on the expres­sion of self­compatibility, not in its genetic identification. These approaches involved both field and laboratory tests, usually la­borious and time­consuming, subject to several external contingencies, such as climatic conditions handling procedures, because working with fruit trees implies more work, more space and more time than in annual species (Socias i Company, 1998).

The first results suggested that, as in othe r Rosaceous species, almond showed a mono­allelic gametophytic self­incom­patibility system (Socias i Company et al., 1976). As a consequence, self­com­patibility could be due to the presence of an Sf allele, as it happened in other close species. First of all, transmission to the offspring was quickly confirmed (Socias i Company and Felipe, 1977), and trans­mission data indicated that Sf was domi­nant over the S alleles of self­incompati­bility (Socias i Company, 1984). The es­tablishment of its heritability following a Mendelian pattern (Socias i Company and Felipe, 1988), allowed a better definition of crosses in the breeding process (So­cias i Company, 1990). However, all these approaches were based on the phenotyp­ic expression of self­compatibility or ­in­

compatibility in the parents and the off­spring of the almond crosses.

ALLELE IDENTIFICATIONIdentification of S alleles was first at­tempted in order to establish cross­in­compatibility groups by test pollination crosses (Kester et al., 1994). However, this approach also involved laborious field tests and could not allow the identification of the Sf allele. Only after Bošković et al. (1999) found no RNase activity for the Sf allele, an efficient identification of this al­lele could be initiated, although limited by the assumption that lack of RNase activity was due to the presence of the Sf allele. However, the presence of one band is not enough to assess the presence of the Sf allele. The absence of RNase activity may not only be due to the lack of transcription of the S­RNase in the pistil, but also to the very low level of this transcription, as re­ported in Japanese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) by Watari et al. (2007). Inbreeding may also produce an incompatible ex­pression of self­compatible genotypes with a single RNase band (Alonso and Socias i Company, 2005a). Two different RNase bands may coincide after electro­phoresis separation, thus giving a wrong “one band” result when a real superposi­tion of two bands is occurring.

The more recent advances in genetic analysis at the gene level have allowed a closer approach to the Sf allele in al­mond. First, S alleles, including Sf, were identified by PCR analysis using conser­ved and allele­specific primers (Chan­nuntapipat et al., 2001; Ma and Oliveira, 2001). Various consensus primer sets have been designed to determinate S­genotypes in almond. They were designed from conserved regions of S­genes to am­plify across the second intron (Channun­tapipat et al., 2003; Tamura et al., 2000), the first intron (Ortega et al., 2005), or both (Sutherland et al., 2004). However, PCR primers designed from conserved re­gions do not always distinguish between alleles with a similar number of nucleo­

tides (López et al., 2004). In addition, the detection of some alleles is masked by the presence of another allele, thus gi­ving a wrong single band. This confusion was first detected by Channuntapipat et al. (2003) when the presence of either S1 or S7 masked the amplification of S8 by PCR when using conserved primers. The same masking has also been observed with other alleles (Alonso and Socias i Company, 2005b; Fernández i Martí et al., 2009).

As a consequence, other primer sets have been designed specifically to amplify Sf (Channuntapipat et al., 2001; Ma and Oliveira, 2001). Screening efficiency and flexibility have been also greatly increased with the development of successful mul­tiplex PCR techniques by Sánchez Pérez et al. (2004). This technique avoids the problem of the masked presence of an al­lele by the expression of another. Once the Sf allele could be identified, the amino acid sequence of its RNase could be de­termined. However, since the beginning, several amino acid sequences for the Sf­RNase have been deposited in the data­bases by different authors.

ALLELE SEQUENCINGWhen the different sequences of the Sf­RNases deposited in the databases were compared, several differences could be observed between them. This diversity was closely examined by Hanada et al. (2009) in order to solve previous confu­sions on their identity. As a result of this examination, the sequences could be contrasted because most of them had been determined in ‘Tuono’ and geno­types derived from it, consequently for the same Sf­RNase. This identity allowed dif­ferent sources of self­compatibility for the genotypes studied to be discarded. The first sequences by Channuntapipat et al. (2001) and Ma and Oliveira (2001) were already different. Further sequencings suggest that the sequence by Channun­tapipat et al. (2001) was the correct and must be taken as the consensus se­quence.

Figure 1. Multiple alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of different S almond alleles. Accession numbers are referred in Table 1.

22 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

suggested for the active Sf allele show­ing a self­incompatible expression (Kodad et al, 2009a), whereas the denomination Sfi was suggested for the inactive Sf al­lele showing a self­compatible expression (Fernández i Martí et al., 2009). As already mentioned, these two forms of the Sf al­lele are equally identified by specific prim­ers and show an identical allele sequence (Fernández i Martí et al., 2009; Kodad et al, 2009). Thus, the only difference be­tween them is their expression, not their genetic identity.

As the priority sequence was the se­quence published by Channuntapipat et al. (2001), and being considered the con­sensus sequence, any change in allele terminology must take into account this priority and cannot be based in erroneous results.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis research was supported by the Spa­nish grant AGL2010­22197­C02­01 and Research Group A12 of Aragón.

REFERENCES

Almeida, C.R. Marques de., 1945. Âcer­ca da improdutividade na amendoeira. An Inst. Agron. Lisboa 15: 1­186.

Alonso, J.M., Socias i Company, R., 2005a. Self­incompatibility expression in self­compatible almond genotypes may be due to inbreeding. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 130: 868­869.

Alonso, J.M., Socias i Company, R., 2005b. Identification of the S3 self­in­compatibility allele in almond by specific primers. Span. J. Agric. Res. 3: 296­303.

Barckley, K.K., Uratsu, S.L., Gradziel, T.M., Dandekar, A.M., 2006. Multidimen­sional analysis of S­alleles from cross­incompatible groups of California al­mond cultivars. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 131: 632­636.

Bošković, R., Tobutt, K.R., Duval, H., Batlle, I., Dicenta, F., Vargas, F.J., 1999. A stylar ribonuclease assay to detect self­compatible seedlings in almond progenies. Theor. Appl. Genet. 99: 800­810.

Bošković, R., Tobutt, K.R., Ortega, E. Sutherland, B.C., Godini, A., 2007. Self­(in)compatibility of the almond P. dulcis and P. webbii: detection and cloning of ‘wild­type Sf’ and new self­compatibility alleles encoding inactive S­RNases. Mol. Genet. Genomics 278: 665­676.

Channuntapipat, C., Sedgley, M., Col­lins, G., 2001. Sequences of the cD­NAs and genomic DNAs encoding the S1, S7, S8 and Sf alleles from almond, Prunus dulcis. Theor. Appl. Genet. 103: 1115­1122.

Ma and Oliveira (2001) showed valine in­s tead of isoleucine and histidine instead of arginine in the C2 region, probably as a result of a mistake in sequencing (Fig. 1). Fig. 1 shows the alignment of the pub­lished sequences for the Sf­RNase as well as some other S­RNases for comparison and mostly agrees with the results of Ha­nada et al. (2009) and Fernández i Martí et al. (2010). The consensus sequence of Channuntapipat et al. (2001) was ampli­fied in ‘Lauranne’ and selection IRTA12­2, two self­compatible genotypes deriving from ‘Tuono’, the cultivar utilized in several determinations as shown in Table 1, although not always correctly.

Barckley et al. (2006) gave an amino acid sequence for ‘Tuono’ Sf identical to S1, probably due to missampling. Conse­quently, they incorrectly suggested that the ‘Tuono’ genotype present in Califor­nia, although self­compatible, showed a different Sf allele and could be a different clone than the ‘Tuono’ genotype studied in the other reports. As a consequence of this missampling, all the conclusions of this paper must be discarded.

A similar confusion was produced by the paper of Bošković et al. (2007), who had to recognize a missequencing in a note added in proof, thus invalidating most of the reasoning of their conclusions. Their ‘Tuono’ Sf did not really show the sup­posed histidine substitution instead of arginine in its sequence, thus confirming that the consensus sequence of Chan­nuntapipat et al. (2001) must be main­tained for all the Sf alleles so far se­quenced. This consensus sequence is identical to the Sf sequence of ‘Cambra’, another cultivar derived from ‘Tuono’, to the Sfi sequence of ‘Blanquerna’, a culti­var derived from ‘Genco’, not from ‘Tuo­no’, and to five S alleles reportedly con­ferring self­incompatibility in almond (Ta­ble 1).

The identity of the Sf sequences from both self­compatible and self­incom­patible genotypes gave rise to another question: the double expression of this allele (Kodad et al., 2009; Socias i Com­pany et al., 2011). These two forms of the Sf allele are equally identified by specific primers and show an identical allele se­quence (Fernández i Martí et al., 2009; Kodad et al, 2009).This double expres­sion suggests that the coding region of the Sf gene may not be the exclusive ori­gin of self­compati bility in almond (Kodad et al., 2009a) and that some genetic modi­fication outside this coding region must be affecting that expression (Fernández i Martí et al., 2009), taking into account that this identity is not only restricted to the coding region (C1 to C5), as deduced from their sequences (Fig. 1), but also to the alignment of their 5’­flanking regions as shown by the construction of a fosmid library (Fernández i Martí et al., 2010).

All the almond self­compatible genotypes so far identified have shown the same Sf allele (Table 1), thus suggesting a mono­phyletic origin of self­compatibility in al­mond. Work in process (Fernández i Martí et al., in preparation) is proposing a point change in the Sf allele producing this ex­pression change from self­incompatibility to self­compatibility.

ALLELE TERMINOLOGYThe mistakes in allele sequences ob­served by Bošković et al. (2007) led them to incorrectly name a new allele, S30, which they wrongly considered differ­ent from Sf, although it is identical to Sf, but showing a different activity (Kodad et al., 2009a). This new name may cre­ate new confusions in almond S allele re­search because the identity of any allele must be preserved, once correctly de­fined by its sequence, in spite of showing a different phenotypic expression. As a consequence, the denomination Sfa was

Table 1. Similarity of different almond S-RNases with the consensus Sf -RNase.

Allele Genotype Database Coincidence Reference code with the Sf

consensus allele (%)

Sf consensus ‘Lauranne’ AY291117 100 Channuntapipat selection et al. (2001) IRTA12-2 Sf ‘Tuono’ AF157009 98 Ma and Oliveira (2001)Sf ‘Tuono’ DQ156217 64 Barckley et al. (2006)Sf ‘Tuono’ AM690356 99.3 et al. (2007)Sf ‘Cambra’ EU684318 100 Kodad et al. (2009a)Sfa ‘Ponç’ EU293146 100 Kodad et al. (2009a)Sfa ‘Alzina’ FJ887784 100 Kodad et al. (2010)Sfa ‘Garondès’ FJ887783 100 Kodad et al. (2010)Sfa ‘Vivot’ AB467370.1 100 Fernández i Martí et al. (2010a)S30 ‘Fra Giulio Grande’ AM690361 100 et al. (2007)

23FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Socias i Company, R., 1978. La au­tocompatibilidad en la mejora del al­mendro. I Congreso Internacional de Al­mendra y Avellana, Reus, 25­28 octubre 1976: 513­522.

Socias i Company, R., 1984. Genetic ap­proach to the transmission of self­com­patibility in almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch). Options Méditerranéennes CI­HEAM/IAMZ I/84: 123­127.

Socias i Company, R., 1990. Breeding self­compatible almonds. Plant Breed. Rev. 8: 313­338.

Socias i Company, R., 1998. Fruit tree genetics at a turning point: the almond example. Theor. Appl. Genet. 96: 588­601.

Socias i Company, R., Felipe, A.J., 1977. Heritability of self­compatibility in al­mond. III Colloque GREMPA, Bari, 3­7 October 1977: 181­183.

Socias i Company, R., Felipe, A.J., 1988. Self­compatibility in almond: transmis­sion and recent advances in breeding. Acta Hort. 224: 307­317.

Socias i Company, R., D.E. Kester, and M.V. Bradley, 1976. Effects of tempera­ture and genotype on pollen tube growth of some self­compatible and self­incom­patible almond cultivars. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 101: 490­493.

Socias i Company, R., Gómez Aparisi, J., Alonso, J.M., Rubio­Cabetas, M.J., Kodad, O., 2009. Retos y perspectivas de los nuevos cultivares y patrones de almendro para un cultivo sostenible. Inf. Técn. Econ. Agrar. 105: 99­116.

Socias i Company, R., Fernández i Martí, À., Kodad, O., Alonso, J.M., 2010. Self­compatibility evaluation in almond: stra­tegies, achievements and failures. Hort­Science 45: 1155–1159.

Socias i Company, R., Kodad, O., Alon­so, J.M. Fernández i Martí, À., 2011. The double expression of the S

f allele in al­mond. Workshop “Floral Biology and S­Incompatibility in Fruit Species”. San Michele all’Adige­Bologna, Italia, 22­25 June 2011. Acta Hort. (in press).

Tamura, M., Ushijima, K., Sassa, H., Hirano, H., Tao, R., Gradziel, T.M., Dan­dekar, A.M., 2000. Identification of self­incompatibility genotype of almond by allele­specific PCR analysis. Theor. Appl. Genet. 101: 344­349.

Watari, A., Hanada, T., Yamane, H., Esu­mi, T., Tao, R., Yaegaki, H., Yamaguchi, M., Beppu, B., Kataoka, I., 2007. A low transcriptional level of Se-RNase in the Se-haplotype confers self­com­patibility in Japanese plum. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 132: 396­406.

R. Socias i Company, O. Kodad, À. Fernández i Martí and J.M. Alonso

Unidad de Fruticultura, CITA de Aragón,Av. Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain

E­mail: rsocias@aragon.es

Channuntapipat, C., Wirthensohn, M., Ramesh, S.A., Batlle, I., Arús, P., Sedgley, M., Collins, G., 2003: Identi­fication of incompatibility genotypes in almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) using spe­cific primers based on the introns of the S­alleles. Plant Breed. 122: 164­168.

Fernández i Martí, A., Hanada, T., Alonso, J.M., Yamane, H., Tao, R. So­cias i Company, R., 2009. A modifier locus affecting the expression of the S–RNase gene could be the cause of breakdown of self­incompatibility in almond. Sex. Plant Reprod. 22: 179­186.

Fernández i Martí, À., Hanada, T., Alon­so, J.M., Yamane, H., Tao, R., Socias i Company, R., 2010. The almond Sf hap­lotype shows a double expression des­pite its comprehensive genetic identity. Scientia Hort. 125: 685­691.

Hanada, T., Fukuta, K., Yamane, H., Esu­mi, T., Gradziel, T.M., Dandekar, A.M., Fernández i Martí, A., Alonso, J.M., So­cias i Company, R., Tao, R., 2009. Clon­ing and characterization of self­com­patible Sf haplotype in almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb.). HortScience 44: 609­613.

Kester, D.E., Gradziel, T.M., Micke, W.C., 1994. Identifying pollen incompatibility groups in California almond cultivars. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 119: 106­109.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., Sán­chez, A., Oliveira. M.M., 2009. The ex­pression of self­compatibility in almond may not only be due to the presence of the Sf allele. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 134: 221­227.

Kodad, O., Alonso, J.M., Fernández i Martí, A., Oliveira, M.M., Socias i Com­pany, R., 2010. Molecular and physio­logical identification of new S­alleles associated with self­(in)compatibility in local Spanish almond cultivars. Scientia Hort. 123: 308­311.

López, M., Mnejja, M., Rovira, M., Col­lins, G., Vargas F.J., Arús, P., Batlle, I., 2004. Self­incompatibility genotypes in almond re­evaluated by PCR, sty­lar ribonucleases, sequencing analysis and controlled pollinations. Theor. Appl. Genet. 109: 954­964.

Ma, R.C., Oliveira, M.M., 2001. The RNase PD2 gene of almond (Prunus dul-cis) represents an evolutionary distinct class of S­like RNase genes. Mol. Gen. Genet. 263: 925­933.

Ortega, E., Sutherland, B.G., Dicenta, F., Bošković, R., Tobutt, K.R., 2005. Deter­mination of incompatibility genotypes in almond using first and second intron consensus primers: detection of new S alleles and correction of reported S geno types. Plant Breed. 124: 188–196.

Sánchez­Pérez, R., Dicenta, F., Martín­ez­Gómez, P., 2004. Identification of S­alleles in almond using multiplex­PCR. Euphytica 138: 263­269.

‘MARDÍA’, AN EXTRA-LATE BLOOMING ALMOND CULTIvAR

INTRODUCTIONThe almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch) breeding program of the CITA of Aragón aims to develop new self­compatible and late­blooming cultivars to solve the main problem detected in Spanish almond growing, its low productivity, due to the occurrence of frosts at blooming time or later and to a deficient pollination (Felipe, 2000). The first three cultivars released from this breeding program were ‘Aylés’, ‘Guara’ and ‘Moncayo’ (Felipe and Socias i Company, 1987), ‘Guara’ having repre­sented more than 50% of the new almond orchards in the last years (MAPA, 2002). Later three more cultivars were registered in 1998, ‘Blanquerna’, ‘Cambra’ and ‘Feli­sia’ (Socias i Company and Felipe, 1999), ‘Blanquerna’ being of very good produc­tivity and kernel quality, and ‘Felisia’ of very late blooming time (Fig. 1). Two more cultivars ‘Belona’ and ‘Soleta’ were regis­tered in 2005 (Socias i Company and Feli­pe, 2007), characterized by their high ker­nel quality and considered possible com­mercial substitutes for the two preferred cultivars in the Spanish market, ‘Marcona’ and ‘Desmayo Largueta’. The last release from this breeding program is ‘Mardía’, re­cently registered because of its good hor­ticultural and commercial traits.

ORIGIN‘Mardía’ (selection G­2­25, clone 541) comes from the cross of ‘Felisia’, a self­compatible and late­blooming release of the Zaragoza breeding program of small kernel size (Socias i Company and Felipe , 1999), and ‘Bertina’, a late­blooming lo­cal selection of large kernel size (Felipe, 2000). This cross was made with the aim of utilizing two late blooming almond culti­vars, one of them carrying the late­bloom allele Lb (Socias i Company et al., 1999), of very different kernel size and geneti­cally very distant, in order to avoid the problems related to inbreeding depression (Alonso and Socias i Company, 2007).

BLOOMING TIMEBlooming time has been a very important evaluation trait. As an average, its bloom­ing time is 25 days later than ‘Nonpareil’, 20 days after ‘Guara’ and 13 days after ‘Felisia’, the latest blooming cultivar re­leased so far (Fig. 1). The consistent late blooming time is due to very high chil­ling and heat requirements (Alonso et al., 2005; Alonso and Socias i Company, 2009), much higher than in any other al­mond genotype (Table 1). Flowers are of small size, white, with epistigmatic pistil, both on spurs and on one­year shoots. Bloom density is regular and high (Kodad and Socias i Company, 2008b).

24 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

AUTOGAMYSelf­compatibility was tested as soon as the original seedlings produced the first flowers by examining the arrival or not of pollen tubes at the ovary after self­pol­lination (data not shown). Sets after self­pollination and autogamy were studied on three grafted trees of each selection du­ring several years due to the large variabil­ity found between years in field trials for fruit set (Socias i Company et al., 2005). Average set after artificial self­pollination was 17.9%, higher than after cross­polli­nation, 15.7%, showing a good self­com­patible behavior, although this difference was not statistically significant. Average set in bagged branches was 9.8%, high­

er than the threshold of 6% indicated by Grasselly et al. (1981) for autogamy, and 23.7% for open pollination. These sets (Kodad and Socias i Company, 2008a) are lower than those considered for a com­mercial crop in Californian cultivars (Kes­ter and Griggs, 1959), but ensure a good crop level because of the high bloom den­sity of this selection, resulting in a high productivity (Kodad and Socias i Compa­ny, 2006). Its S­allele genotype has been determined as S6Sf (Kodad and Socias i Company, 2008a).

PERFORMANCEField behavior has been evaluated with three grafted trees in an experimental plot

Table 1- Chilling and heat requirements of ‘Mardía’ as related to other cultivars (Alonso et al., 2005; Alonso and Socias i Company, 2009).

Cultivar Chilling requirements (CU)z Heat requirements (GDH)y

Desmayo Largueta 428 5458Marcona 428 6603Nonpareil 403 7758Belona 353 7741Soleta 340 7872Ferragnès 444 8051Guara 340 8159Felisia 329 9465Mardía 503 10233

zChilling units - yGrowing Degree Hours in ºCelsius.

Table 2 - Chemical composition of ‘Mardía’ as compared to other cultivars.

Cultivar Protein Oil Oleic Linoleic Oleic/linoleic α-tocopherol γ-tocopherol δ-tocopherol Total (% DWz) (% DWz) acid acid acid ratio (mg·kg-1 oil) (mg·kg-1 oil) (mg·kg-1 oil) tocopherol (% oil) (% oil) (mg·kg-1 oil)

D. Largueta 24.5 57.35 70.65 20.55 3.44 304.3 15.3 1.66 321.3Marcona 23.8 59.10 71.75 19.40 3.70 463.3 18.5 1.87 483.7Nonpareil 13.0 60.47 67.72 23.28 2.91 400.0 27.8 1.57 429.4Belona 16.4 65.40 75.60 12.73 5.94 418.4 15.4 2.18 436.0Soleta 20.0 61.80 69.20 19.70 3.51 214.0 13.3 1.51 228.8Ferragnès 25.4 57.53 70.20 20.10 3.49 377.5 18.7 1.84 398.0Guara 29.3 54.33 63.10 25.70 2.46 385.4 15.7 1.76 402.9Felisia 27.0 56.32 68.05 22.10 3.08 250.6 18.2 1.73 270.6Mardía 19.8 59.10 74.95 16.55 4.53 201.5 12.1 1.23 214.8

zDry weight.

and in three external trials. One of the most important points considered was the behavior in relation to spring frost in­jury. Especially important were the ob­servations in 2003 and 2004, with severe frosts in most almond growing regions of Spain. Whereas cultivars considered as resistant to frosts such as ‘Guara’ (Felipe, 1988) suffered important yield reductions, ‘Mardía’, due to its extremely late bloom­ing season, did not suffer any damage (Kodad and Socias i Company, 2005).

Tree training has been easy because of its slightly upright growth habit (Kodad and Socias i Company, 2008b), with­out the problem of bending branches of ‘Guara’. Thus, induction of lateral branch­ing is recommended during the first years. Adult trees show an intermediate vigor and branching intensity, as well as a good equilibrium between vegetative growth and production, thus allowing reduction of pruning. Field observations in the differ­ent locations showed its tolerance to Po-lystigma and other fungal diseases.

Ripening time is early, although later than in ‘Guara’, which allows the succession of harvest. Nut fall before harvest has been very low, but nuts fell easily when shaken. Yield rating has been slightly lower than for ‘Guara’ (7 vs. 8 in a 0­9 scale).

Fig. 1. Mean flowering time of ‘Mardía’ as related to other cultivars (7-years average). Percentages refer to the amount of flowers opened.

CULTIVAR

DESMAYO LARGUETAMARCONANONPAREILSOLETABELONAFERRAGNÈSGUARAFELISIAMARDÍA

FEBRUARY MARCH1 5 10 15 20 25 1 5 10 15 20 25

0% 5% 50% 90% 100%

25FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

tivar has been funded by successive re­search projects, most recently AGL2007­65853­C02­02 of the Spanish CICYT, and the activity of the Consolidated Research Group A12 of Aragón. We appreciate the technical work of J.M. Ansón, M.T. Es­piau, J. Búbal and A. Escota, as well as the collaboration of the industries “Frutos Secos Alcañiz” and “Castillo de Loarre”, the growers of the external trials, mainly J.L. Sánchez and J.A. Espiau, and the col­laboration of J.L. Espada and P. Castañer (Centro de Transferencia Agroalimentaria de Aragón) and G. Valdés (Estació Experi­mental Agrària, Elx) in the experimental orchards.

REFERENCES

Alonso Segura, J.M., Socias i Company, R., 2007. Negative inbreeding effects in tree fruit breeding: self­compatibility transmission in almond. Theor. Appl. Genet. 115: 151­158.

Alonso, J.M., Socias i Company, R., 2009. Chill and heat requirements for blooming of the CITA almond cultivars. Acta Hort. 814: 215­220.

Alonso, J.M., Ansón, J.M., Espiau, M.T., Socias i Company, R., 2005. Determina­tion of endodormancy break in almond flower buds by a correlation model us­ing the average temperature of different day intervals and its application to the estimation of chill and heat requirements and blooming date. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 130: 308­318.

Felipe, A.J., 1988. Observaciones sobre comportamiento frente a heladas tardías en almendro. Rap. EUR 11557: 123­130.

Felipe, A.J., 2000. El almendro. I. El ma­terial vegetal. Integrum, Lleida, Spain.

2009). Number of trade mark register: M 2872613 (8) class 31 (21 April 2009).

Tree: Semi­erect growth habit. Intermedi­ate vigour.

Flower: Extremely late blooming time, 20 days after ‘Guara’. White flowers, of inter­mediate to small size, both on spurs and on one­year shoots. High bloom density.

Pollination: Autogamous, does not re­quire cross­pollination, but could be cross­pollinated with simultaneous blooming cultivars if available. Only tested with selections of similar blooming time.

Fruit: Hard shell, without layers, heart­shaped. Shelling percentage 24%.

Kernel: Heart­shaped. Mean weight of 1.2 g. Good taste. Easy blanching.

Observations: The latest blooming al­mond cultivar so far released. Flower morphology allows self­pollination. Easy tree formation. Pruning requires some re­juvenation. Interesting for the quality and composition of the kernel. The intermedi­ate ripening time may allow a progressive harvesting with other cultivars.

REGISTER AND AvAILABILITY‘Mardía’® (M 2872613 [8] class 31) has been presented to patent on 11 Decem­ber 2007 at the Spanish Registry of Pro­tected Cultivars and on 18 February 2009 at the Community Plant Variety Office. It is available to nurseries through provisio­nal licenses by Geslive, A.I.E. (C. Juan de Mena 19­3º­D, 28014, Madrid, Spain).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe long­term work to develop this cul­

The external trials have shown their good adaptation to different growing and weather conditions, maintaining a high level of bud density in all locations (Ko­dad and Socias i Company, 2008b). A tria l in Aniñón (Zaragoza) at 730 m above sea level and of very cold climate has had good production even in years with late frosts. A trial in El Pinós (Alacant), at 575 m above sea level but with a milder cli­mate, has shown their very good produc­tion as well as vegetation (G. Valdés, un­published). Blooming and ripening dates observed in these locations have been, as expected, earlier in El Pinós than in Zara­goza, but later in Aniñón.

INDUSTRIAL QUALITY AND COMPOSITIONNut and fruit evaluation has been done through seven years according to the IPGRI and UPOV descriptors. Nuts show a very good aspect and good size (4.9±0.5g). Shell is hard (shelling percent­age of 24%), adapted to the Spanish in­dustry. Kernels also show a very good aspect and good size (1.2±0.2g), heart­shaped, without double kernels (Fig. 2). Industrial cracking has been carried out by the Cooperative “Frutos Secos Alca­ñiz” and has shown very good results, without presence of double layers in the shell. Kernel breakage at cracking has been low, with 86.2% of whole kernels.

The chemical composition of the kernels has been determined in order to estab­lish their best utilization opportunities. The content in protein is medium and that of oil is high, similar to that of ‘Marcona’ (Ta­ble 2), a very interesting trait for “turrón” (nougat) production. The percentage of oleic acid, that of higher quality for fat sta­bility and nutritive value in the lipid frac­tion, is especially high (Kodad and Socias i Company, 2008c), close to 75% (Table 2). The content in linoleic acid, of lower quality than the oleic acid, is low, show­ing a very high ratio of oleic/linoleic acids (4.5), as another index of high oil quality. The amount of tocopherol is lower than in other cultivars (Kodad et al., 2006), indi­cating the need for a rapid processing of kernels after cracking.

Roasting has been tested by the industry “Almendras Castillo de Loarre” for appe­tizer use. Behaviour has been good, al­though less than in the favorite one in the Spanish market, ‘Desmayo Largueta’. Kernel taste, both raw and roasted, is ex­cellent.

DESCRIPTIONOrigin: ‘Felisia’ x ‘Bertina’. Selection number: G­2­25. Clone 541. Number of register in OEVV 20074764 (11 December 2007). Number of register in CPVO (Eu­ropean patent): 2009/0306 (18 February

Fig. 2. Nut and kernel of ‘Mardía’.

26 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Felipe, A.J., Socias i Company, R., 1987. ‘Aylés’, ‘Guara’, and ‘Moncayo’ al­monds. HortScience 22: 961­962.

Grasselly, C., Crossa­Raynaud, P., Oli­vier, G., Gall, H., 1981. Transmission du caractère d’autocompatibilité chez l’amandier. Options Méditerr. CIHEAM/IAMZ 81/I: 71­75.

Kester, D.E., Griggs, W.H., 1959. Fruit setting in the almond: the effect of cross­pollinating various percentages of flowers. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 74: 214­219.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., 2005. Daños diferenciales por heladas en flores y frutos y criterios de selección para la tolerancia a heladas en el almendro. Inf. Técn. Econ. Agrar. 101: 349­365.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., 2006. Influence of genotype, year and type of fruiting branches on the productive be­haviour of almond. Scientia Hort. 109: 297­302.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., 2008a. Fruit set evaluation for self­com­patibility selection in almond. Scientia Hort. 118: 260­265.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., 2008b. Significance of flower bud den­sity for cultivar evaluation in almond. HortScience 43: 1753­1758.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., 2008c. Variability of oil content and major fatty acid composition in almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch) and its re­lationship with kernel quality. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 4096­4101.

Kodad, O., Socias i Company, R., Prats, M.S., López Ortiz, M.C., 2006. Variability in tocopherol concentrations in almond oil and its use as a selection criterion in almond breeding. J. Hort. Sci. Biotech­nol. 81: 501­507.

MAPA, 2002. Web page of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. http//www.mapya.es/agric/pags/semillas/vivero/almendro.pdf.

Socias i Company, R., Felipe, A.J., 1999. ‘Blanquerna’, ‘Cambra’ y ‘Felisia’: tres nuevos cultivares autógamos de al­mendro. Inf. Técn. Econ. Agrar. 95V: 111­117.

Socias i Company, R., Felipe, A.J., 2007. ‘Belona’ and ‘Soleta’ almonds. Hort­Science 42: 704­706.

Socias i Company, R., Felipe, A.J., Gó­mez Aparisi, J., 1999. A major gene for flowering time in almond. Plant Breed. 118: 443­448.

Socias i Company, R., Gómez Aparisi, J., Alonso, J.M., 2005. Year and enclosure effects on fruit set in an autogamous al­mond. Scientia Hort. 104: 369­377.

R. Socias i Company, O. Kodad, J.M. Alonso and A.J. Felipe

Unidad de Fruticultura, CITA de Aragón,Av. Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain

E­mail: rsocias@aragon.es

THE EFFECT OF SOME ECOLOGICAL FACTORS

ON ALMOND (Prunus amygdalus L.) HULLS BIO-ANTIOXIDANT

CONTENT AND ANTIRADICAL ACTIvITY FROM DIFFERENT GENOTYPES AND SPECIES

ABSTRACTThe effect of four ecological factors in­cluding precipitation, annual water cycle, soil texture and sun light were investiga­ted in this study. Therefore, 20 genotypes of Amygdalus communis L. and 4 species of wild Azarbaijanian almonds present in Azarbaijan region of Iran were selected from Esfahlan, Khosroshahr, Shabestar, Mamagan, Sofian and Shahindezh. The fruits of these almonds were collected; their hulls were separated, dried, ground and then a methanolic extract was pre­pared from powdered hulls. Total pheno­lic content, extracts’ reducing power and scavenging capacity were evaluated. Sig­nificant differences were found in phenolic content, reducing power and radical sca­venging capacity of hulls among almond genotypes and species of different regions. The values of almond hull’s total phenol­ic content showed that collected almond fruits from Esfahlan and Shahindezh had a high total phenolic hull content. Results of this investigation showed that among the ecological factors studied, sun light in re­lation to tree spacing among different al­mond orchards and annual water cycle can affect almond hull’s total phenolic content.

INTRODUCTIONNuts are traditionally food associated with the Mediterranean­type diet. Their regular consumption, in moderate doses, is re­lated to a lower risk of cardiovascular dis­eases. The anticancer activity of nuts has also been demonstrated in experiments with animals. These beneficial effects are mainly attributed to their lipid profile, argi­nine, fiber, and vitamin E contents as well as to other compounds with antioxidant properties, such as polyphenols (Monagas et al., 2007).

Almonds (Prunus amygdalus Batsch) are one of the most popular tree nuts on a worldwide basis and rank number one in tree nut production. They belong to the Rosaceae family that also includes ap­ples, pears, prunes, and raspberries (Sang et al., 2002a; Wijeratne et al., 2006; Ja­hanban Esfahlan et al., 2009). Although the exact origin of almonds has been dif­ficult to determine, it has been suggested that almonds are native to the temperate, desert areas of western Asia, from where they gradually spread to other regions of the world. Domesticated almonds have

been documented from Bronze Age sites in Greece and Cyprus and were com­mon in Palestine by 1700 BC. In addition to cultivated almond, Prunus dulcis, >30 wild or minor cultivated almond species are known to exist (Sathe et al., 2002). Al­monds are typically used as snack foods and as ingredients in a variety of pro­cessed foods, especially in bakery and confectionery products (Wijeratne et al., 2006; Jahanban Esfahlan et al., 2009). The United States is the largest almond producer in the world and most of the US almonds are grown in California in an area that stretches over 400 miles from Ba­kersfield to Red Bluff (Sang et al., 2002b).

Almond fruit consists of an outer hull with an intermediate shell that contains a ker­nel or edible seed covered by a brown skin. The hull splits open when maturi­ty is reached and is then separated from the shelled almond (whole natural al­mond). During some industrial proces­sing of almonds, the skin (seed coat) is re­moved from the kernel by blanching and then discarded. For roasted almonds and other appetizers, skins are not removed. The skin, which has very low econo­mic value, represents 4% of the total al­mond weight but contains 70–100% of total phenols present in the nut. By pro­ducts derived from almond industrial pro­cessing (skins, shells, and hulls) are nor­mally used for livestock feed and as raw material for energy production (Mona­gas et al., 2007). However, over the past few years, research has been conducted to evaluate the possible use of these by­products as sources of compounds/frac­tions with antioxidant properties that could be used to control the oxidative process in the food industry or as func­tional ingredients for the elaboration of nutritional supplements (Siriwardhana et al., 2006). Extracts of whole almond seed, brown skin, shell and green shell cover (hull) possess potent free radical scaven­ging capacities (Siriwardhana and Shahi­

A. Jahanban Esfahlan.

27FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

di, 2002; Pinelo et al., 2004; Amarowicz et al., 2005; Wijeratne, et al., 2006; Siriward­hana et al., 2006; Moure et al., 2007; Ja­hanban Esfahlan et al., 2009; Jahanban Esfahlan et al., 2010a,b). These activities can be related to the presence of flavo­noids and other phenolic compounds in nuts. High amounts of phenolics, main­ly tannins, such as rhamnetin, quercetin and kaempherol aglycones, have been re­ported in almond hulls (Siriwardhana and Shahidi, 2002; Siriwardhana et al., 2006; Wijeratne et al., 2006), representing 4.5% of total hull weight. Other phenolic com­pounds, such as chlorogenic and benzo­ic acid derivatives were also found in low­er quantities (Takeoka and Dao, 2003). In addition almond hulls have been shown to be a rich source of three triterpenoids (about 1% of the hulls), betulinic acid, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid (Takeo­ka et al., 2000), which have reported an­tiinflammatory, anti­HIV, and anticancer activities. Sang et al. (2002c) identified 3­prenyl­4­O­α­glucopyranosyloxy­4­hydroxylbenzoic acid, catechin, protoca­techuic acid, and ursolic acid in almond hulls. These constituents have beneficial biological activities. The production of al­mond hulls, which are mainly used in live­stock feed, is estimated to exceed 6 mil­lion tons annually, thus being a potential­ly good source from which to extract an­tioxidants that are present, if any, in high quantities (Siriwardhana et al., 2006). Re­cently, there is interest in using almond hulls as a natural source for sweetener concentrate and dietary fiber. The very interesting antioxidant activities of these phenolic compounds prompted us to in­vestigate the effect of ecological factors on almond hulls phenolics content among different genotypes and species.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Preparation and extraction of samplesFruit samples of Amygdalus fenzliana (Fritsch) Lipsky, Amygdalus orientalis Duh., Amygdalus urumiensis (Bornm.) Bro wicz and Amygdalus trichamygdalus (Hand. –Mzt.) Woronow were collected from Sha­hindezh in West Azarbaijan province and Amygdalus communis L. fruits were col­lected from Esfahlan, Khosroshahr, Shabe­star, Mamagan, Sofian regions in East Azarbaijan province of Iran. The hulls of al­monds were separated, dried at room tem­perature and then reduced to coarse pow­der. This powder (6 g) was extracted with methanol (100mL) in Sohxelet apparatus for 30 min at 80 °C. The methanol extract of almond hulls was evaporated to dry­ness using a rotary evaporator and stored in the dark at 4 °C until used (Wijeratne et al., 2006; Jahanban Esfahlan et al., 2009). Determination of total phenolics The content of total phenolics was deter­mined colorimetrically using Folin­Ciocal­

teus’s phenol reagent, as described by Singleton and Rossi (1965). Briefly, 2.5 ml of ten­fold diluted Folin­Ciocalteu re­agent, 2 ml of 7.5% sodium carbonate, and 0.5 ml phenolic extract (1mg/ml) were mixed well. The absorbance was meas­ured at 765 nm after 15 min heating at 45 °C. A mixture of water and reagents was used as a blank. The phenolic content was expressed as mg gallic acid equiva­lents per g of extract.

Reducing powerThe reducing power of almond hulls phe­nolic extracts was determined according to the method of Oyaizu (1986). Almond hulls phenolic extract (1 mg/ml), phos­phate buffer (1 ml, 0.2 M, pH 6.6) and po­tassium ferricyanide (1.0 ml, 10 mg/ml) were mixed together and incubated at 50 °C for 20 min. Trichloroacetic acid (1.0 ml, 100 mg/ml) was added to the mixture and centrifuged at 13,400 g for 5 min. The su­pernatant (1.0 ml) was mixed with distilled water (1.0 ml) and ferric chloride (0.1 ml, 1.0 mg/ml), and then the absorbance was measured at 700 nm.

DPPH radical scavenging activityThe DPPH radical scavenging activity of almond hulls was estimated according to the method of Blois (1958). After mix­ing 0.1 mL (1mg/ml) of almond hulls with

0.9 ml of 0.041 mM DPPH in ethanol for 10 min, the absorbance of the sample was measured at 517 nm. Radical scavenging activity was expressed as percentage ac­cording to the following formula:

%DPPH radical scavenging activity= (1 ­ sample OD/control OD) × 100

Statistical analysisAll the assays were carried out in tripli­cate. The results are expressed as mean values and standard error (SE) of the mean or standard deviation (SD) of the mean. The differences between the al­mond genotypes and species were ana­lyzed using one­way analysis of variance (ANOVA). This treatment was carried out using SPSS v.15 program. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONAlmond is an important tree nut with high resistance to arid or semiarid climates. In addition, almond trees can adapt them­selves easily to these waterless condi­tions (Sathe et al., 2002). In regions used for collecting almond fruit samples, an­nual precipitation was approximately con­stant for all regions and the mean value of rainfall was 429 mm (Table 1). Therefore, this shows that annual precipitation can not affect almond hull total phenolics con­tent.In studied regions, most of the precipita­tion was seen in spring, autumn and win­ter seasons within the year. But in sum­mers there was little or low precipitation. Therefore, farmers irrigate almond trees to increase kernel yields. Annual wa­ter cycles of almond gardens in different studied regions in this investigation are shown in Table 1. These results show that almond tree plots with low irrigation (Es­fahlan) or no irrigation (Shahindezh) have a high concentration of almond hull total phenolics content. In other words, this in­dicates that almond tree irrigation regime can affect almond hull total phenolics content.

Soil samples for each studied region are shown in Table 1. Soil texture of almond orchards in different regions was almost clay­sandy. On the other hand, almond genotypes and species with high total phenolics content in their hulls extract had been grown in clay or clay­sandy soils and

Table 1. Ecological characterization of collected almond fruits regions.

Regions precipitation annual water cycle soil Tree spacing (mm) (irrigation, day) texture in relation to sun light (m)

Esfahlan 400 60 Clay 10Khosroshahr 410 10 Clay-Sandy 4Shabestar 460 10 Sandy 4Mamagan 420 20 Clay 4Sofian 450 20 Clay-Sandy 3Shahindezh 433 not irrigated Clay-Sandy 20

Almond blooming in Esfahlan

28 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

genotypes or species with low total phe­nolics content had also been cultivated in clay­sandy or sandy soils. These results show that the soil texture of an almond growing region can not have an effect on almond hull total phenolics content.

The almond mesocarp becomes dry, leathery, and astringent to the taste, re­flecting the fact that the mature almond mesocarp has an unusually high concen­tration of flavonoids compared to its bo­tanical relatives, as well as to other fruits. This is thought to be a consequence of the length of time that the mesocarp is subjected to intense heat, ultraviolet ra­diation, and pest infestation, as the fla­vonoids play protective roles against all these stress factors (Rabinowitz, 1991; 2002; 2004). The effect of sunlight radia­tion on almond hulls total phenolics con­tent is shown in Table 2. The results ob­tained in this study show that almond genotypes and species from Esfahlan and Shahindezh regions suffered much heat and ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, due to the considerable tree spacing in these regions. Therefore, the almond trees pre­sent in these regions have increased the synthesis of flavonoids and other phe­nolics compounds in their hulls to pro­tect their inner materials content, specifi­cally seed or kernel, against harmful ef­fects of ultraviolet radiation. Effects of in­frared, heat and gamma irradiation have been studied in vitro conditions. Lee et al. (2006) reported that far­infrared radiation and heat treatment enhanced total phe­nolics content, radical scavenging acti vity and reducing power of water extracts in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) hulls. In an­other study, Harrison and Were (2007) re­corded that gamma irradiation increases the total phenolics content yield and an­tioxidant activity of almond skins. Finally,

it was concluded that among four ecologi­cal factors studied, sunlight radiation and irrigation regime affected almond hulls’ to­tal phenolics content.

Contents of total phenolics in almond hulls differed statistically (P < 0.05) (Ta­ble 2). The mean value of total phe­nolics content in 24 almond hull phe­nolic extracts was 65.8±1.67 mg gal­lic acid equivalents/g extract. Maximum total phenolics content in hulls extract was 134.7±2.74 mg/g for A. fenzliana (Fritsch) Lipsky from Shahindezh re­gion and minimum total phenolics con­tent was 30.2±0.98 mg/g for A5­118 from Sofian region. The content of total phe­nolics in almond hull extract reported by Siriwardhana and Shahidi (2002), Wejer­atne et al. (2006), Siriwadhana et al. (2006) and Jahanban Esfahlan et al. (2009) were 71.1±1.74 mg catechin equivalents/g ex­tract, 71±2 mg quercetin equivalents/g extract and 78.2±3.41 mg gallic acid equivalents/g extract respectively. In this study, although the mean value of total phenolics content in 24 almond hull phe­nolic extracts showed similar findings to

related references with respect to total phenolics content, some genotypes and species contained higher total pheno­lics than the identified almonds. For the measurements of the reductive ability, the Fe3+ to Fe2+ transformation was investi­gated, in the presence of methanolic ex­tract, using the method of Oyaizu (1986). The reducing power increased along with a higher phenolic extract content and it was positively correlated with phenolic content. The results of correlation analy­ses between the total phenolics content, reducing power and antiradical activities are depicted in Figure 1. Statistically sig­nificant (P< 0.05) correlation was found between total phenolics versus antiradi­cal activity and reducing power. Using a 24­point correlation between total pheno­lics and antioxidant activity, the data were significant at P < 0.05. In the case of le­guminous seeds extracts, a statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01) correlation was also determined for total phenolics versus to­tal antioxidant activity (Amarowicz et al., 2004a). The strong correlation between the content of total phenolics and the re­ducing power was found in the extracts of selected plant species from the Cana­dian prairies as reported by Amarowicz et al. (2004b). Velioglu et al. (1998) examined 28 plant products and found a significant relationship between the total antioxidant activity and total phenolics in flaxseed and cereal products.

The extended maturation period of the al­mond fruit mesocarp, flowing into remark­ably stable senescence period, allows for biosynthesis of lignans in the mesocarp, compared to the nearly absence of these compounds in other fruits. The mesocarp in senescence, after harvesting the nut meats, remains remarkably stable as it re­tains its high sugars, flavonoids, and lig­

Figure 1. Correlations between the total phenolics content of almond hulls and observed antioxidant activity from reducing power (A) and antiradical activity (B), p<0.05.

Traditional irrigation in Esfahlan almond gardens.

29FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

conditions. Therefore, more investigations are needed on the extent of cultivar­envi­ronment interactions that affect almond polyphenol content.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe would like to thank H. J. Esfahlan and Dr. Y. Shiri for proofreading the manu­script.

REFERENCES

Amarowicz, R., Troszynska, A., Barylko­­Pikielna, N. & Shahidi, F., (2004a). Poly­phenolics extracts from legume seeds: correlation between total antioxidant ac­tivity, total phenolics content and astrin­gency. J Food Lipids, 11: 278–286.

Amarowicz, R., Pegg, R. B., Rahimi­Moghaddam, P., Barl, B. & Weil, J. A., (2004b). Free­radical scavenging capa­city and antioxidant activity of selected plant species from the Canadian prai­ries. Food Chem, 84: 551–562.

Amarowicz, R., Troszynska, A. & Sha­hidi, F., 2005. Antioxidant activities of almond seed extract and its fractions. J Food Lipids, 12: 344­358.

Blois, M. S., 1958. Antioxidant determi­nation by the use of a stable free radical. Nature, 181: 1199–1200.

Harrison, K. & Were, L. M., 2007. Effect of gamma irradiation on total phenolic content yield and antioxidant capacity of almond skin extracts. Food Chem, 102: 932–937.

Jahanban Esfahlan, A., Mahmoodzadeh, A., Hasanzadeh, A., Heidari, R. & Jamei, R ., 2009. Antioxidants and antiradicals in almond hull and shell (Amygdalus communis L.) as a function of genotype. Food Chem, 115: 529–533.

Jahanban Esfahlan, A., Jamei, R. & Ja­hanban Esfahlan, R., 2010a. The impor­tance of almond (Prunus amygdalus L.) and it’s by­ products. Food Chem, 120: 349­360.

Jahanban Esfahlan, A., Mahmoodzadeh, A., Hasanzadeh, A., Heidari, R. & Jamei, R., 2010b. Antioxidant and antiradical activities of phenolic extracts from Ira­nian almond (Prunus amygdalus L.) hulls and shells. Turk J Biol, 34: 165­173.

Lee, S. C., Jeong, S. M., Kim S. Y., Park, H. R., Nam, K. C. & Ahn D. U., 2006. Ef­fect of far­infrared radiation and heat treatment on the antioxidant activity of water extracts from peanut hulls. Food Chem, 94: 489–493.

Monagas, M., Garrido, I., Lebron­Agui­lar, R.; Bartolome, B. & Gomez­Cordo­ves, C., 2007. Almond [(Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] skins as a potential source of bioactive polyphenols. J Agric Food Chem, 55: 8498­8507.

Moure, A., Pazos, M., Medina, I., Domınguez, H. & Parajo, J. C., 2000. Antioxidant activity of extracts produced by solvent extraction of almond shells acid hydrolysates. Food Chem, 101: 193–201.

Oyaizu, M., 1986. Studies on products of browning reaction: antioxidative activities of products of browning reaction pre­pared from glucosamine. Jap J Nutr, 44: 307–315.

Table 2. Phenol content, reducing power and antiradical activity of collected almond genotypes and species hulls phenolics extracts from different locations

of Azarbaijan region (1:A1-101, 2:A1-102, 3:A1-103, 4:A1-104, 5:A2-105, 6:A2-106, 7:A2-107, 8:A2-108, 9:A3-

109, 10:A3-110, 11:A3-111, 12:A3-112, 13: A4-113, 14:A4-114, 15:A4-115, 16:A4-116, 17:A5-117, 18:A5-118, 19:A5-119, 20:A5-120, 21:

A. fenzliana (Fritsch) Lipsky, 22: A. orientalis Duh., 23: A. urumiensis (Bornm.) Browicz, 24:A. trichamygdalus (Hand. –Mzt.) Woronow).

Regions Sample Phenol content Reducing power Antiradical number (mg/g GAE g extract) (Absorbance at 700nm) (%)

Esfahlan 1 82.9±2.51 0.759 80.3±2.23 2 92.8±1.91 0.804 86.5±1.56 3 101.1±2.31 0.809 90.3±0.39 4 80.6±2.35 0.738 80.1±0.58Mean - 89.3±2.27 0.777 84.3±1.23

Khosroshah 5 35.9±1.25 0.366 49.2±0.39 6 59.6±1.33 0.591 64.7±2.25 7 66.2±1.11 0.614 70.5±2.36 8 41.4±1.05 0.517 50.1±0.84Mean - 50.7±1.18 0.521 58.6±1.46

Shabestar 9 48.4±1.51 0.547 56.5±0.47 10 62.7±0.57 0.601 69.2±1.32 11 39.0±1.91 0.489 51.5±1.11 12 36.8±1.72 0.398 49.6±1.47Mean - 46.7±1.42 0.508 56.7±1.09

Mamagan 13 48.1±1.42 0.555 55.3±1.44 14 73.2±2.35 0.658 76.4±1.44 15 43.9±1.79 0.503 52.3±2.33 16 48.9±1.48 0.526 58.2±0.65Mean - 53.5±1.76 0.560 60.5±1.46

Sofian 17 38.2±1.24 0.475 52.1±0.33 18 30.2±0.98 0.398 46.3±2.11 19 49.3±1.32 0.568 58.6±1.26 20 43.2±2.22 0.489 52.5±0.65Mean - 40.2±1.44 0.482 51.8±1.08

Shahindezh 21 134.7±2.74 0.929 95.2±1.39 22 94.5±1.11 0.845 85.4±2.36 23 104.8±2.53 0.856 92.3±0.14 24 123.9±1.54 0.911 95.1±0.68Mean - 114.4±1.98 0.885 92.0±1.14

Total mean - 65.8±1.67 0.662 67.3±1.24

The values are means of three replicates with standard errors (mean ± S.E, n =3), p<0.05.

nan content for years, as long as the mes­ocarps, referred to as hulls, remain in their dry harvested condition. Moisture content is approximately 8­20%, usually averag­ing about 12%. In addition to these dry solubles, the hulls also contain insoluble fiber, constructing cellulose, hemicello­lose, pectins, tannin­like complex poly­phenols, and ash. As dry hulls, therefore, the almond mesocarp represent a poten­tial source of useful foods, food additives, pharmaceuticals, and feed additives, in­cluding low value usage as roughage or cat litter (Rabinowitz, 1991; 2002; 2004).

CONCLUSIONSPolyphenols and other antioxidant con­

stituents may contribute to the health pro­moting effect of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. Agricultural by­products of almond such as hull and shell are im­portant resources for extraction of poly­phenols and dietary fiber. Almond poly­phenols include simple phenols, flavo­noids, tannins, condensed or polymerised flavonoids or phenols, and proanthocya­nidins. Results of this study showed that practices such as low or no irrigation and tree spacing can inhance almond hull to­tal phenolics content. Moreover, it should be considered that the concentration and composition of phenolic compounds in plants is influenced by a large number of factors such as climate and agricultural

30 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Pinelo, M., Rubilar, M., Sineiro, J. & Nu­nez, M. J., 2004. Extraction of antioxi­dant phenolics from almond hulls (Prunus amygdalus) and pine sawdust (Pinus pin-aster). Food Chem, 85: 267­273.

Rabinowitz, I. N., 1991. Increasing the inositol yield from almond hulls. US Pat­ent, 5064762.

Rabinowitz, I. N., 2002. Method of pro­ducing aqueous extracts from almond hulls. US Patent, 0132031.

Rabinowitz, I. N., 2004. Dietary fiber, pro­cess for preparing it, and augmented die­tary fiber from almond hulls. US Patent, 0018255.

Sang, S., Lapsley, K., Jeong, W. S., Lachence, P. A., Ho, C. T. & Rosen, R. T., 2002a. Antioxidative phenolic com­pounds isolated from almond skins (Pru-nus amygdalus Batsch). J Agric Food Chem, 50: 2459­2463.

Sang, S., Cheng, X., Fu, H. Y., Shieh, D. E., Bai, N., Lapsley, K., Stark, R. E., Rosen, R. T. & Ho, C. T., 2002b. New type sesquiterpene lactone from almond hulls (Prunus amygdalus Batsch). Tetrahedron Letters, 43: 2547–2549.

Sang, S., Lapsley, K., Rosen. R. T. & Ho, C. T., 2002c. New prenylated benzoic acid and other constituents from almond hulls (Prunus amygdalus Batsch). J Agric Food Chem, 50: 607­609.

Sathe, S. K., Wolf, W. J., Roux, K. H., Teuber, S. S., Venkatacham, M. & Sze­Tao, K. W. C., 2002. Biochemical charac­terization of amandin, the major storage protein in almond (Prunus dulcis L.). J Agric Food Chem, 50: 4333­4341.

Singleton, V. L. & Rossi, J. A., 1965. Colo rimetry of total phenolics with phos­phomolybdic–phosphotungstic acid rea­gents. Am J Enol Vitic, 16: 144­158.

Siriwardhana, S. K. W., Amarowicz, R. & Shahidi, F., 2006. Antioxidant activity of almonds and their by­products in food model systems. J Am Oil Chem Soc, 83: 223­230.

Siriwardhana, S. K. W. & Shahidi, F., 2002. Antiradical activity of extracts of al­mond and its by­products. J Agric Food Chem, 79: 903­908.

Takeoka, G. R. & Dao, L. T., 2003. Anti­oxidant constituents of almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] hulls. J Agric Food Chem, 51: 496­501.

Takeoka, G., Dao, L., Teranishi, R., Wong, R.; Flessa, S.; Harden, L. & Edwards, R., 2000. Identification of three triterpenoids in almond hulls. J Agric Food Chem, 48: 3437­3439.

Velioglu, Y. S., Mazza, G., Gao, L. & Oomah, B. D., 1998. Antioxidant activi­ty and total phenolics in selected fruits, vegetables, and grain products. J Agric Food Chem, 46: 4113–4117.

Wijeratne, S. S. K., Abou­Zaid, M. M. & Shahidi, F., 2006. Antioxidant polyphe­nols in almond and its coproducts. J Agric Food Chem, 54: 312­318.

A. Jahanban Esfahlan*, R. JameiDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Urmia University, Sero Road Urmia, Islamic

Republic of Iran*Corresponding author:

E­mail: a.jahanban@yahoo.com, a­jahanban@live.com,

ali.jahanban@gmail.com

THE AGRI GEN RES “SAFENUT” ACTION:

A EUROPEAN STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERvATION AND

UTILIZATION OF HAZELNUT AND ALMOND GENETIC

RESOURCES

ABSTRACTThe SAFENUT project aims at enhancing the characterization, preservation and uti­lization of the European hazelnut and al­mond germplasm (Corylus avellana and Prunus dulci) through the recovery and valorisation of local cultivars in the tradi­tional productive areas of the Mediterra­nean basin. The project, financed by the European Commission ­ Directorate Ge­neral for Agriculture and Rural Develop­ment ­ benefits from the participation of eleven partners from six European Coun­tries (Italy, France, Greece, Portugal, Slo­venia, Spain).

The general interest for genetic resources is based on the opportunities offered by their utilization (Berthaud, 1997). Genetic resources not only provide the required raw material for sustainable genetic im­provement of crops, but offer a unique gene combination to ensure adaptability and productivity. This is reflected in the objectives of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CDB) and in the FAO Interna­tional Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA).

The concept of conservation of genetic resources has recently evolved to inte­grate also the process that leads to the creation and conservation of varieties as well as to the maintenance of genes of these varieties. Furthermore, the problem of continuously expanding the number of accessions in gene banks introduces the concept of “core collections” as selected and smaller collections, representative of species’ diversity (Brown 1989), where the sampling is made in a basic collection with the purpose to conserve most of the genetic variability. The result is a smaller collection representative of the existing diversity which is easier to manage, evalu­ate and utilise. In fact, it has been noted that one of the reasons why plant breed­ers are using less basic germplasm in re­search is the lack of information on traits of economic importance which often shows high genotypes for environmental interaction and requires replicated multi­location evaluations. As information builds up, the utilisation of genetic resources be­comes more active.

Therefore, from a methodological point of view, the SAFENUT action implements and fosters the application of the core

collection concept together with the de­velopment of an interactive web­system in the Mediterranean bio­region for dis­semination and exchange of all the gath­ered data and information on hazelnut and almond genetic resources in sustainable agricultural systems. This paper describes the general objectives and the final output of the Action.

INTRODUCTIONPlant genetic resources (PGR), which are the backbone of agriculture, play a posi­tive and unique role in the enhancement of crop productivity and adaptability in sus­tainable systems. As for nuts, their cultiva­tion is also an agro­ecosystem of good en­vironmental and landscape quality. Explo­ration, exchange and conservation of PGR is one of the main objectives to achieve sustainable food security for future gener­ations and poverty reduction in develo ping countries. This concept arises from the objectives of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CDB) and the FAO Interna­tional Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA).

Although germplasm exchange and plant introduction have sporadically occurred for centuries, aimed efforts started only in 1920s. During the seventies, taking into account the concept of genetic erosion, the efforts have been focused on the limi­ted availability of genetic resources. Sur­veys have been carried out and collec­tions have been established. According to the FAO, today there are about 6 million accessions in 1400 gene banks (Glasz­mann et al., 2010).

The current issue on genetic resources is how to manage them. So far the manage­ment of genetic resources considered the three steps linear model: conservation­evaluation­utilization. Moreover, the bio­technologies support the management of genetic resources offering different tech­niques for the safeguard of genetic re­sources, from in vitro culture to DNA stor­age.

The difficulties in the management and utilization of the continuously expanding number of conserved accessions can be limited by the identification of ‘core col­lections’: a selected and smaller collec­tion representative of species’ genetic di­versity (Brown, 1989). Designing core col­lections involves an appropriate use of diversity, offering to the breeders an op­portunity to work with a quite manageable number of accessions evaluated on traits of economic importance. In fact, one of the reasons why plant breeders are using less basic germplasm in research is the lack of information on quantitative traits which often show high genotypes ver­sus environmental interaction and require

31FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

replicated multi­location evaluations (Upa ­dhyaya et al, 2006). As a complement, the conservation is also organized in situ sys­tems where the current diversity has been maintained. Evaluation of genetic mate­rial in situ allows preserving the relation­ship between species and environment, taking into account the continual interac­tion among physical, human factors and crops. In this contest, the farmer becomes one of the main actors of the creation and maintenance of the present diversity. At the farm level, conservation involves the maintenance of traditional crop varieties within the traditional agricultural system.

On these premises, the European SAFE­NUT Project, elaborated within the Coun­cil Regulation (EC) N. 870/2004 AGRI GEN RES, represents a resourceful strategy for re­organizing and sharing, in a more ef­ficient manner, the hazelnut and almond genetic resources by upgrading the know­ledge on their value as well as the precious cultural meaning related to their traditional and historical uses. The two Mediterrane­an species, commodities of relevant Euro­pean economic importance, represent two interesting case studies, since their utiliza­tion is strongly intertwined with human civi­lization (Bacchetta et al, 2009). More than 5000 years before Christ, a Chinese man­uscript highlighted the medical properties of Corylus avellana, while Catone (234­149 BC), the most ancient Latin writer, spurred the cultivation of this crop indicated as ‘….nuces, calvas, avellanas, praenestinas et graecas’. Almonds date back in print to the Bible. Romans referred to almond as ‘Nouces Grecae’ since this crop was culti­vated firstly by Greek people.

In addition to the above mentioned con­siderations, the present work describes

the main objectives of the SAFENUT Ac­tion and the general results that focus on the characteristics of the final outcome of the activities.

THE SAFENUT ObjectivesThe Action benefits from the participation of 11 Research Institutions in 6 European Countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Slovenia, Greece) and from the involve­ment of some of the most important ha­zelnut and almond producers, directly en­gaged in breeding activities and conser­vation of genetic resources.

The management of the Action has been organised in the following activities:

Survey of local, National and Europe-an Corylus avellana collections and on farm recovery of ‘ecotypes’ Leading partner: IRTA (Spain), with the in­volvement of ENEA, UNITO (Italy), Slove­nia, NAGREF (Greece) and UTAD (Portu­gal). With the aim to safeguard the European hazelnut genetic resources, the first acti­vity aimed at increasing the knowledge of the hazelnut material in ex situ and in situ collections among Partner Countries. An exhaustive list of all the accessions con­served in the European collections is use­ful to check the misnaming of different ac­cessions and to centralize and share the germplasm. The second step, for a suit­able and complete evaluation, is the har­monization of morphological descriptors. Most of the hazelnut genetic resources that are not present in collections are ‘on farm’ preserved. With the aim to recover and safeguard ­ to the maximum possible extent ­ useful genetic diversity, a survey has been carried out in Spain, Slovenia, Greece and Italy.

Recovery of old endangered almond varieties and in situ characterization of germplasm. Leading partner: INRA (France), with the involvement of CRA­ISF (Italy), NAGREF (Greece) and CITA (Spain).The aim of this activity is twofold: the centralization and harmonization of al­mond germplasm among Country part­ners and the data acquisition on morpho­logical characterization with reference to the previous work carried out by the Pru-nus Working Group. Despite local almond genetic resources maintained in national collections, many traditional cultivars are endangered. The recovery of this materi­al, often conserved “on farm”, represents an important goal to achieve in order to preserve the agro­biodiversity heritage. Moreover, some local hand­made pro­ducts, realized using imported almonds, lost their typical taste. Consumers’ inter­est in components with beneficial proper­ties on human health requires almonds’ chemical and molecular analysis to iden­tify the nutritional and nutraceutical valu e, as well as the germplasm’s origin and identity.

Evaluation of Corylus avellana plant material. Leading partner: UNITO (Italy), with the in­volvement of ENEA and CRAB (Italy), IRTA (Spain), Slovenia, and NAGREF (Greece).Traditional methods of identifying hazel­nut cultivars are mostly based on mor­phological and phenological traits. The primary characterisation using harmo­nised descriptors of cultivars and new survived ecotypes, was the first step of this objective. The characterization of se­lected accessions, with particular atten­tion to nutritional and nutraceutical as­pects, meets the consumers’ demand for high food quality, favouring new agro in­dustrial opportunities. Nuts are the best source of fibre, micronutrients, antioxidant and polyunsaturated fats. Many research­es showed that eating a handful of nuts per day is a good nutritional advice in the contest of a healthful and balanced diet. Furthermore, potential benefit of nuts were shown on cardiovascular patholo­gies and also some effects were found on diabetes and some forms of cancer. The positive trend on ‘functional food’ makes this crop particularly interesting. The defi­nition of nutritional value of hazelnut cul­tivars focused on oil quantity and quality, mineral, and phenolic content. Moreover, the characteristics of nuts are of interest to define quality and potential uses of the product.

The availability of reliable data on bio­chemical and molecular traits of the germ­plasms allowed to define the suitable use of the nut products, as required by indus­tries, row consumes, etc. This informa­

Hazelnut collection in Maribor (Slovenia).

32 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

tion is also very useful for breeding pro­grams. Results in DNA analysis can show the true­to­type identification as well as problems of germplasm’s misnaming or homonymous and synonymous present in the collection. The aim of this objec­tive was to apply SSR technique to a first set of traditional cultivars and selected ecotypes in order to verify their origin. This will allow the establishment of a da­tabase with genetic cultivar profiles.

Ecological, economic and socio-cultu-ral aspects related to sustainable pro-duction and traditional knowledge Leading partner: CRA­ISF (Italy), all Part­ners with the involvement of ONG and farmer’s Associations. This objective aims at highlighting the im­portance of typical products in a global agricultural system. The survey and dis­semination of the existing fruit exhibitions in Europe (exposing nuts and/or their products; celebrating almond or hazelnut as trees) valorise the traditional products and increase knowledge of local uses. One of the main goals was the “cultural target”, namely the safeguard of the his­torical memory of old varieties’ local and traditional uses. This memory, usually be­longing to the old farmers, needs to be preserved and transferred to the young generations or it will be lost forever. On the basis of this consideration, a first step was to develop a questionnaire to gather information and data on this topic. As a second step, a survey of almond and ha­zelnut traditional uses was promoted in­volving students and stakeholders. The knowledge and the safeguard of the tra­ditional agricultural practices, land uses, orchard structures and organizations can be potentially useful for new sustainable agro­industrial applications. Therefore, the activities have also been focused on the development of a tool to gather infor­mation and data on this topic.

Designing an almond core collection Leading partner: CITA (Spain)This objective aimed at identifying the un­registered almond varieties present in the Partner Countries for their selection and introduction in the European almond refer­ence collection in Spain. Chemical analy­ses were performed on the promising ma­terial and the nursery for grafting plant materials was established. In the light of defining the almond core collection, the traits for accession and characteriza­tion have been reviewed to obtain a wide spectrum of almond genetic variability. Another activity has been the establish­ment of a DNA bank, which is a valuable tool to enhance the utilisation of germ­plasm.

SAFENUT website and database Leading partner: ENEA (Italy)­ All Partners

A Mediterranean widely accessible web­based system (the SAFENUT database) has been established in order to develop a European virtual collection of the char­acterized hazelnut and almond genetic re­sources. This is a precious tool to wide­spread the knowledge on the accessions, to monitor the management of Corylus avellana and Prunus dulci genetic resour­ces and their localisation, including tradi­tional and ecological information.

RESULTSOne of the first outputs is on germplasm’s centralization: 13 hazelnut collections have been recognized and a list of about 222 clones and selections was comple­ted to verify synonyms and misnaming. A widespread survey was carried out in Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal in or­der to recover the ‘on farm’ conserved ecotypes at risk of genetic erosion: about 121 accessions have been pre­selected, more than 30% of which are already iden­tified as new genotypes by SSR markers. A fruitful survey was carried out in Abruz­zo (Italy) and in France to recuperate and restore numerous old endangered almond clones.

With the aim to harmonise the morpho­logical evaluations, specific descriptors were elaborated for the genetic materials’ characterization both in the permanent collection and in new selections. More than 150 almond and 305 hazelnut acces­sions were analyzed at 10 SSR loci over 3 years in order to verify the genetic authen­ticity. One hundred ten accessions of the two species were evaluated for fat acids, tocopherols, phenolic compounds, mine­ral and protein contents during the three years of the Action. Seven reference ha­zelnut cultivars were identified and moni­tored each year to investigate the envi­ronmental effect on the biochemical nut

properties. On these concerns, the multi­variate analysis of the entire data allowed the individuation of the core collections.

The recovery of traditional knowledge was undertaken by different activities: 2097 questionnaires were elaborated following the interviews of students and their par­ents in all Partner Countries; a survey on the festivals related to the two Mediterra­nean species was carried out and a pub­lication was released. Furthermore, ques­tionnaires addressed to farmers offer the opportunity to compare problems, techni­cal practices and biodiversity at European level.

Documentation of information on Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) is imperative for planning and implementing activities rela­ted to their conservation, sustainable uti­lization and benefit sharing accrued from their use.

The SAFENUT Database (DB) has been implemented on the basis of the frame­work of the Scrigno Database which is a National virtual Atlas, related to the tradi­tional Italian Food Crops. The SAFENUT DB tools are the following: DB manage­ment system is MDB Access, the appli­cation programming interface is Asp 3.0, web server program: IIS. Currently, the host of the DB is Aruba (AR­Italy), subse­quently ENEA Casaccia (Italy). The core of the DB includes four sections: the data, the policy of access, the administrative tools and the outputs.

The SAFENUT DB, web interface avail­able at the address: hppt://www.safenut.net, has been organised in order to pro­vide users driven on­line interrogation of search­queries, across multi­trait data based on germplasm evaluation data. The virtual inventory is coherent with other in­

Hazelnut cookies in Piloña Festival (Asturias­Spain).

33FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

REFERENCES

Agrawal, R.C., Behera, D., Saxena S., 2007. Genebank Information Manage­ment System (GBIMS). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 59: 90­96.

Bacchetta, L., Avanzato, D., Botta, R., Bellon, B., Boccacci P., Drogoudi, P., Metzidakis, I., Rovira, M., Silva, A.P., Solar, A., Spera, D. 2008. First results of SAFENUT: a European project for the preservation and utilization of hazelnut local genetic resources, Acta Horticul­ture 845: 66­60.

Berthaud, J., 1997. Strategies for con­servation of genetic resources in relation with their utilization. Euphytica 96: 1­12.

Brown, AHD. 1989. The case for core collections. In The use of plant Genetic resources. Edited by Brown AHD, Fran­kel OH, Marshall DR, Williams JT. Cam­bridge UK: Stralinger P. Cambridge Uni­versity Press: 1989: 135­156.

Glaszmann, JC., Kilian, B., Upadhyaya, HD., Varshney, RK., 2010. Accessing genetic diversity for crop improvement. Current opinion in Plant Biology, 13: 167­173.

Thompson, M.M., Romisondo, P., Ger­main, E., Vidal­Barraquer, R., Tasias­Valls, J. 1978. An evaluation system for Filberts (Corylus avellana L.). Hort­Science, 13(5):514:517.

Upadhyaya, Hd., Gowda, CLL., Buhan­walla, HK., Crouch, JH., 2006. Efficient use of crop germplasm resources: iden­tifying useful germplasm for crop im­provement through core and mini­core collections and molecular marker ap­proaches.

UPOV, 1979.Guidelines for conduct of test for distinctness, homogeneity and stability. Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L. & Corylus maxima Mill.) TG/71/3, 19.p.

Coordinator Team1 Bacchetta L., Di Giovanni B.,

1ENEA, UTAGRI ­ Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia

e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile

All Partners2D. Avanzato, 3R. Botta, 10B. Bellon,

3P. Boccacci, 4P. Drogoudi, 5I. Metzidakis, 6M. Rovira, 11J­P. Sarraquigne, 7A. P. Silva,

8A. Solar, 9D. Spera. 2Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura

(CRA), Italy;3Universita’ degli Studi di Torino (UNITO), Italy;

4National Agricultural Research Foundation Pomology Institute (NAGREF), Greece;

5National Agricultural Research Foundation­Institute of Olive Trees and Subtropical Plants

(NAGREF ­ ISPOT), Greece;6Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Spain;

7Universidade de Trás­os­Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal;

8Univerza v Ljubljani, Biotehniska Fakulteta, Slovenia;

9Consorzio di Ricerche Applicate alla Biotecnologia (CRAB), Italy.

(10) Spazio Verde s.r.l.;11Association Nationale des Producteurs

de Noisette (ANPN), France

ternational databases, such as the Pru-nus database. The following information is accessible: passport data, morphologi­cal, biochemical (phenols, fatty acids, to­copherols, mineral contents) and mole­cular data (SSR loci) as well as photos for 58 hazelnut and 248 almond accessions. A list of new selected hazelnut ecotypes has also been included. Following the in­dications of the EPGR Bioversity Interna­tional, UPOV (1979) and the descriptors of Thompson et al. (1978), each accession is described by Passport data and Specific Primary descriptors. To facilitate its utili­zation, web­pages are dynamically inter­faced with the database. This approach ensures that the information derived from the database is up­to­date. The SAFENUT Database allows two kinds of research: the basic research, where selecting the specie is possible to entry the list of ac­cessions, and the advanced research, in which all topics are shown. The user can apply for more than one topic; the results show a list of accessions, which link the requested characteristics.

CONCLUSIONThe assessment and characterization of diversity in germplasm collections, also in the recovered local ecotypes, are signifi­cant for plant breeders, for an efficient use and an effective management of genetic resources.

The re­organization of hazelnut and al­mond Partners’ collections, based on the morphological biochemical and molecular evaluations of plant materials, increases the knowledge on germplasm’s potential­ity. The recovery of “on farm” almond and hazelnut clones which could be endan­gered, enlarges the genetic diversity of the two species and integrates the work of previous actions.

The European SAFENUT experience has allowed the realization of an efficient working group, able to draw out the au­thentic significance of genetic resources, not only working on the unique genetic background offered by genetic resour ces, but also on the cultural meaning which they represent.

Finally, the SAFENUT database, as the ul­timate result of the Action, provides a free useful tool for sharing information to en­hance the utilisation of germplasm by dif­ferent stakeholders.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSResearch has been conducted under the support of AGRI GEN RES, Action 068. This Action has received financial support from the European Commission, Directo­rante­General for Agriculture and Rural Development, under Council Regulation (EC) No 870/2004.

EXPANSION OF HAZELNUT RESEARCH IN NORTH AMERICA

The United States typically produces 2–4% of the world hazelnut (Corylus avel-lana) crop, with 70­80% produced in Tur­key, 15–18% in Italy, and the remainder produced in Spain, Azerbaijan, France, the Republic of Georgia, and several othe r countries with Mediterranean­like cli­mates (FAOStat, 2010). In recent years, interest in growing hazelnuts has been ex­panding in North America outside of the traditional area of the Willamette Valley of Oregon where 99% of the USA crop is currently produced. For decades, the only university­based hazelnut research was centered at Oregon State Univ. (OSU), in Corvallis, Oregon. Today, work is also un­derway at Rutgers Univ. in New Jersey, the Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, the Univ. of Minnesota, the Univ. of Wisconsin, and the Univ. of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Ha­zelnut research is also being done by the National Arbor Day Foundation, a not­for­profit educational organization also in Ne­braska, as well as several private nurse­ries. This increase in interest in hazelnut production is likely due to their low­input, sustainable nature and the high value and rising popularity of the crop.

OREGON STATE UNIvERSITYThe world’s largest hazelnut research and genetics program is located at OSU where comprehensive work supports the com­mercial hazelnut industry in the region. With research starting in the mid­1900s and breeding since 1969, significant ad­vances have been made at OSU in many aspects of hazelnut production, research, and genetic improvement, much of which has been summarized in a number of re­view publications (Mehlenbacher, 1991; Thompson et al., 1996; Mehlenbacher, 1994; Mehlenbacher, 2005; Mehlenbach­er, 2007; Mehlenbacher, 2009). While this backlog of information provides support for the current expansion of hazelnut re­search at other institutions, the most no­table advances come from their research on the fungal pathogen Anisogramma anomala, which causes eastern filbert blight disease (EFB). EFB has been long considered the primary limiting factor to hazelnut culture in the eastern United States (Thompson et al., 1996). This dis­ease, which is harbored by the tolerant wild American hazelnut Corylus america-na, causes severe cankers and die­back on the European hazelnut (Johnson and Pinkerton, 2002). Nearly all cultivars of C. avellana are highly susceptible to this disease (Coyne et al., 1998; Lunde et al., 2000). The EFB pathogen, native to the eastern USA , was not present in the Pa­cific Northwest at the initiation of its ha­zelnut industry in the late 1800s. As

34 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

such, the industry thrived in its absence for nearly 100 years, and, being of mo­dest economic importance, the EFB fun­gus remained unstudied and poorly un­derstood. Unfortunately, the disease was introduced into southwest Washington in the late 1960s causing significant loss in the Washington hazelnut industry. Since that time, it subsequently spread through­out the entire hazelnut producing region in Washington and Oregon. Fortunately, the prevailing weather patterns in the re­gion slowed its southward spread, provid­ing time for researchers at OSU to study A. anomala. They were able to success­fully discern its reproductive and infec­tive behavior, while also developing fun­gicide regiments and cultural controls to keep the existing orchards alive, although not without added expense and challenge

(Johnson and Pinkerton, 2002). The ma­jor breakthrough came with the identifi­cation of genetic resistance to the patho­gen in the C. avellana pollinizer ‘Gasaway’ (Mehlenbacher et al., 1991). Finally, after more than 30 years, the release of the new EFB­resistant cultivars ‘Jefferson’ for the in­shell market and ‘Yamhill’ for the kernel market have revitalized the Oregon indus­try (Mehlenbacher et al., 2009, 2010). To­day, research and breeding is ongoing at OSU, with a focus on developing superi­or cultivars expressing resistance to EFB from other genetic backgrounds (Sathu­valli and Mehlenbacher, 2009a & b; Sathu­valli et al., 2010), in addition to develop­ing a greater understanding of the genetic diversity and genomic makeup of C. avel-lana (Mehlenbacher, 2009; Gürcan et al., 2010). This work further supports the de­

velopment of hazelnut production in other regions of North America and worldwide.

RUTGERS UNIvERSITYThe Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) hazelnut research program was initi­ated in 1996. Early on, the Rutgers pro­gram developed close ties with OSU, which generously provided access to Corylus germplasm not previously tested in the eastern USA , including a number of sources of resistance to EFB. Since Rut­gers is located within the native range of A. anomala and there is no hazelnut in­dustry in NJ, it was possible to screen plants there under very high disease pres­sure. To investigate prospective sources of resistance, breeding selections and cul­tivars shown resistant in Oregon, where it is believed a limited diversity of the fun­gus is present, were grown at Rutgers and inoculated using isolates collected across the pathogen’s native range. Through this work, pathogenic variation was observed in A. anomala, in terms of several isolates being able to cause cankers on known sources of resistance in Oregon (Molnar et al., 2010a). This finding supported a need to identify and utilize a diversity of resis­tance genes in breeding, including pyra­miding genes, to develop cultivars more likely to maintain resistance for long pe­riods of time. Fortunately, this work also led to the identification of several plants that held up against a wide diversity of isolates (Molnar et al., 2010a). To better understand the pathogen, a draft genome sequence of A. anomala was completed in December 2010 (Cai et al., 2011a), along with a much more extensive collection of A. anomala isolates gathered from over 40 locations across the eastern USA and southern Canada. The immediate goal of the research now underway is to mine the genome of A. anomala for simple se­quence repeats (SSRs) that can be used to examine the genetic diversity and po­pulation structure of isolates in our collec­tion (Cai et al., 2011b). This information, when coupled with pathogenicity tests, may provide a much better understanding of the fungus and may also allow for se­lection of isolates for improved resistance breeding. It will also allow opportunities to investigate the breakdown of resist­ance genes, if and when they occur, such as that observed on ‘Gasaway’ in New Jersey (Molnar et al. 2010b). To broaden the genetic base for breeding, collections of C. avellana were made in Eastern Eu­rope and the former Soviet Union for sub­sequent evaluation at Rutgers. These col­lections were made from a number of re­search institutes and botanical gardens, as well as local markets, bazaars, and road side stands in western and southern Russia, Poland, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Republic of Georgia, Uz­bekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Additional ma­

Productive EFB resistant seedling selection at Rutgers University (New Jersey).

Five year old hazelnuts susceptible to EFB.

35FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

terial was provided from OSU from collec­tions made in Turkey, increasing the total number of C. avellana seedlings from for­eign collections evaluated at Rutgers to over 5,000 plants. The goal of the germ­plasm collection work is to search for novel sources of heritable resistance with hopes that some would also produce nuts of improved quality (Molnar et al., 2007).

The first controlled hybridizations of ha­zelnuts began at Rutgers in 2001 and have continued yearly. Breeding priori­ties include selecting for resistance to EFB, the production of medium to large­size round nuts with high­quality ker­nels, cold hardiness of male flowers, re­sistance to bud mite (Phytopus avellanae Nal.), nuts that drop free of the husks, and high, consistent yields (kg/ha). Two dif­ferent approaches are being taken to ob­tain progeny that meet these objectives. One is to identify and utilize EFB­resistant C. avellana in an intra­specific hybridiza­tion program similar to that underway at OSU (Mehlenbacher, 1994), but select­ing for plants adapted to New Jersey and similar eastern regions. However, limita­tions may present themselves in this sce­nario when trying to enhance adaptation to colder, more stressful environments, based on the current production range of cultivated C. avellana. The other method being employed is to use a wide variety of EFB­resistant, cold­hardy selections of C. americana as parents in an interspe­cific hyrbidization program with C. avel-lana, with unrelated C. avellana with ex­cellent nut and kernel qualities used as the recurrent parents. It is expected that this approach will take several additional generations of breeding due to the small nut size and other negative attributes of C. americana, such as nuts that remain in the husks upon maturity. All seedlings are exposed to EFB through greenhouse and/or field inoculations starting in their first year, and only those that remain free of disease in year five are retained for evalu­ation of nuts and kernels. Currently, there are over 25,000 hazelnut seedlings result­ing from controlled crosses under evalua­tion at Rutgers. From the earliest cros ses, 14 improved EFB­resistant plants have been selected and are now being planted in replicated yield trials across the north­eastern USA , as well as in Nebraska and southern Ontario.

NATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATIONThe National Arbor Day Foundation is a not­for­profit educational organization de­voted to inspiring people to plant trees. They currently have over one­million members. Hazelnut research was initiated there in 1996 with the planting of a nine­acre field at Arbor Day Farms in Nebras­ka City, Nebraska. Over 5,000 seedlings, purchased from Badgersett Research

Corporation in Canton, Minnesota, were planted and provided minimal inputs. The plants were derived from open­pollinated seed of plants of hybrid origin (Corylus americana × C. avellana), which provid­ed a diverse body of germplasm to grow and evaluate. Over time, most of the plants proved to be well­adapted to the harsh Nebraska climate even under the very low maintenance conditions. Based on the ear­ly success of the planting, a hazelnut “char­ter members” project was initiated in 2000, which had members growing and evalua­ting hazelnut plants at their homes or farms derived from hybrid seed collected at the Arbor Day Farm. Members were asked to respond to a survey to report attributes of survival, plant size, nut yield, and nut size. In 2010, the membership totaled 100,000 people who were shipped more than 500,000 hazelnut seedlings.

UNIvERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLNTo more systematically evaluate the plant­ing at Arbor Day Farm, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln became involved with the project, which ultimately leads to the identification of several consistently high­yielding selections (Hammond, 2006). Based on single­plant estimates, the four­year average of the highest yielding selec­tion was four tons per hectare of dried, in­

shell nuts. Although single­plant estimates can be unreliable, the fact that the plants yielded a significant amount while grown on a marginal site with little inputs is com­pelling. This work bolstered support for the potential of growing hazelnuts for pro­duction in the Midwest, leading to further research, including characterizing nut and kernel aspects of the best performers from the Arbor Day collection in terms of their feedstock potential for biodiesel and oth­er oleochemicals (Xu et al., 2007; Xu and Hanna, 2009; Xu and Hanna, 2010).

HYBRID HAZELNUT CONSORTIUMRecognizing a need to leverage existing research and germplasm holdings at se­veral institutions around the USA to en­hance the development of hazelnuts as a new widely adapted, sustainable crop, the Arbor Day Foundation initiated the devel­opment of the Hybrid Hazelnut Consor­tium in 2008. Partners in the consortium now include OSU, Rutgers, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, the Nebraska For­est Service, and the Arbor Day Founda­tion. This partnership provides a unique opportunity to combine the strengths of research programs located on both coasts and in the Midwestern USA. By utilizing the breadth of breeding knowledge and genetic resources developed at OSU, the

Corylus americana used as parent in breeding cold hardy disease resistant plants.

36 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

EFB resistance research and breeding at Rutgers, and the extreme climate and land resources of Nebraska, developing and commercializing hazelnuts over a much wider growing region, a goal of substantial proportions, comes into reach. The po­tential of this partnership was recognized and bolstered by the USA Department of Agriculture, which awarded a $1.39 Million Specialty Crops Research Initiative grant to the group in 2009.

THE UNIvERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND UNIvERSITY OF WISCONSINIn 2006, hazelnut research was initiated at the Univ. of Minnesota (St. Paul, MN) in collaboration with the University of Wis­consin (Washburn and Ashland, WI) ope­rating under the name the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative (UMHDI). Much of the work underway at these lo­cations is in response to numerous small farmers planting hybrid hazelnut seed­lings in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. The UMHDI was largely orga­nized to provide production information, and eventually improved clonal plant ma­terial for growers to further develop the fledgling industry. Hazelnut production is a new endeavor in this part of the coun­try and information on growing needs, harvesting, drying, cracking, and market­ing nuts is still in development (Fischbach, 2010). Topics of study include propaga­tion, planting date, orchard spacing, weed management, nitrogen fertilization, and irrigation, as well as harvesting and pro­cessing technology. One primary initiative of the program is to work with the growers to identify superior performing seedlings from their thousands of plants. The best

plants will be propagated and entered into regional replicated evaluation trials. Once superior plants are identified, based on total yield potential, they will be propa­gated through tissue culture to develop opportunities for large­scale clonal com­mercial plantings, which will in turn pro­vide more uniform and consistent yields. To support future breeding efforts, wild C. americana seedlings, which are abun­dant in Wisconsin and Minnesota, are also

being identified and collected for evalua­tion.

UNIvERSITY OF GUELPHHazelnut research began in 2008 at the University of Guelph in southern Ontario, Canada. This research includes field eval­uation of available cultivars at the Sim­coe Research Station, micropropagation research of hybrid hazelnuts, rapid liner production, and efforts to develop the in­frastructure, knowledge, and partnerships necessary to build a hazelnut industry in southern Ontario. The impetus for this work is largely due to the Ferrero candy company, the makers of Ferrero Roche chocolates and Nutella, building a large processing facility in Brantford, Ontario. Researchers at Guelph, in collaboration with private individuals and the local nut growing group the Society for Ontario Nut Growers, hope to have 100 acres of clonal hazelnut trials in place by 2012 (A. Dale, pers. commun., 2010).

SUMMARYThe increasing worldwide demand for nut crops and the sustainable, low­input na­ture of hazelnuts has brought a lot of re­cent attention to their production. Ha­zelnut research is now ongoing at six universities and one not­for­profit insti­tute in North America, which is a signifi­cant increase from only one university fif­teen years ago. Two of these, OSU and Rutgers, are also undergoing substan­tial hazelnut genetic improvement work with rapi d progress being demonstra ted. With a much deeper understanding of the

Example of EFB resistant progeny compared to susceptible.

Close up view of eastern filbert blight ( EFB) lesion.

37FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2007. Hazelnut breeding. An update from Oregon. FAO­CIHEAM ­ Nucis­Newsletter, Number 14: 9–10.

Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Smith, D.C. and McCluskey, R.L., 2009. ‘Yamhill’ hazel­nut. HortScience 44: 845­847.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., D.C. Smith and R. McCluskey, 2010. ‘Jefferson’ Hazelnut. HortScience 2011 (46): 662­664.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2009. Genetic re­sources for hazelnut: State of the art and future perspectives. Acta Hort, 845: 33–38.

Molnar, T.J., Mehlenbacher, S.A., Zau­rov, D.E. and Goffreda, J.C., 2007. Sur­vey of hazelnut germplasm from Russia and Crimea for response to eastern fil­bert blight. HortScience, 42: 51–56.

Molnar, T.J., Goffreda J.C., and Funk, C.R., 2010a. Survey of Corylus Resis­tance to Anisogramma anomala from Different Geographic Locations. Hort­Science, 45: 832­836.

Molnar, T.J, Capik, J., Zhao, S. and Zhang, N., 2010b. First report of East­ern Filbert Blight on Corylus avellana ‘Gasaway’ and ‘VR20­11’ caused by Anisogramma anomala (Peck) E. Müller in New Jersey. Plant Disease, 94: 1265.

Sathuvalli, V.R. and Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2009. A hazelnut BAC library for map­based cloning of a disease resistance gene. Acta Hort, 845: 191–194.

Sathuvalli, V.R., Mehlenbacher, S.A. and Smith, D.C., 2009. New sources of resis­tance to eastern filbert blight and linked markers. Acta Hort, 845: 123–126.

Sathuvalli, V.R., Mehlenbacher, S.A and Smith, D.C., 2010. Response of hazelnut accessions to greenhouse inoculation with Anisogramma anomala. HortSci­ence, 45: 1116–1119.

Thompson, M.M., Lagerstedt, H.B. and Mehlenbacher, S.A., 1996. Hazelnuts: 125–184. In: J. Janick and J.N. Moore (eds.), Fruit breeding, Vol. 3, Nuts, Wiley, New York.

Xu, Y.X., Hanna, M.A. and Josiah, S.J., 2007. Hybrid hazelnut oil characteristics and its potential oleochemical applica­tion. Indust Crops Products 26: 69–76.

Xu, Y.X. and Hanna, M.A., 2009. synthe­sis and characterization of hazelnut oil­based biodiesel. Indust Crops Products, 29: 473–479.

Xu, Y.X. and Hanna, M.A., 2010. Evalua­tion of Nebraska hybrid hazelnuts: Nut/kernel characteristics, kernel proximate composition, and oil protein properties. Indust Crops Products, 31: 84­91.

T. J. Molnar.Plant Biology and Pathology Department. Rutgers University. 59 Dudley Road. New

Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA.Email: molnar@aesop.rutgers.edu.

pathogen and access to a diversity of EFB­resistant Corylus avellana and im­proved Corylus hybrid selections, EFB is no longer the primary limiting factor to hazelnut production in the eastern USA. While there is still more work to be done, the prospects of growing hazelnuts across a wide region of North America has nev­er looked brighter. Furthermore, much of this work would likely be applicable to other temperate non­Mediterranean re­gions around the world where hazelnuts may also someday be grown.

REFERENCES

G. Cai, C. Leadbetter, T. Molnar, and B.I. Hillman, 2011a. Genome sequencing and analysis of Anisogramma anomala, the causal agent of eastern filbert blight. Phytopathology Vol. 101, No. 6 (Supple­ment) S25 (abstract).

G. Cai, C. Leadbetter, T. Molnar, and B.I. Hillman, 2011b. Genome­wide identifi­cation and characterization of microsa­tellite markers in Anisogramma anomala. Phytopathology Vol. 101, No. 6 (Supple­ment) S25 (abstract).

Coyne, C.J., Mehlenbacher, S.A. and Smith, D.C., 1998. Sources of resistance to eastern filbert blight. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 124: 253–257.

FAOStat. 2010. http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/default.aspx#ancor. Accessed June 13, 2010.

Fischbach, J., 2010. The Upper Mid­west Hazelnut Development Initiative. The Nutshell, the Quarterly Newsletter of the Northern Nut Growers Association. 64: 12–14.

Gürcan, K., Mehlenbacher, S.A., Botta, R., and Boccacci, P., 2010. Develop­ment, characterization, segregation, and mapping of microsatellite markers for European hazelnut (Corylus avel-lana L.) from enriched genomic libraries and usefulness in genetic diversity stu­dies. Tree Genetics and Genomes. 6: 513–531.

Hammond, B., 2006. Identifying superior hybrid hazelnut plants in southeast Ne­braska. MS Thesis, Univ of Nebraska­Lincoln, USA.

Johnson, K.B. and Pinkerton, J.N., 2002. Eastern filbert blight. P. 44­46. In: B.L. Teviotdale, T.J., Michailides and J.W. Pscheidt (eds.), Compendium of Nut Crop Diseases in Temperate Zones. The American Phytopathological Society Press.

Lunde, C.F., Mehlenbacher, S.A. and Smith, D.C., 2000. Survey of hazelnut cultivars for response to eastern filbert blight inoculation. HortScience, 35: 729­731.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 1991. Hazelnuts. In: J.N. Moore and J.R. Ballington (eds.), Genetic Resources in Temperate Fruit and Nut Crops. Acta Hort 290: 789–836.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., Thompson, M.M. and Cameron, H.R., 1991. Occurrence and inheritance of resistance to east­ern filbert blight in ‘Gasaway’ hazelnut. HortScience 26: 410­411.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 1994. Genetic Im­provement of the hazelnut. Acta Hort, 351: 23–38.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2005. The hazel­nut situation in Oregon. Acta Hort 686: 665–668.

Four­year­old replicated hazelnut yield trial at the Rutgers HorticulturalResearch Farm 1, located in North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.

38 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

HAZELNUT IN ASTURIAS (NORTHERN SPAIN)

INTRODUCTIONIn Spain Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivation is concentrated in Catalonia (northeastern Spain), where 85% of the cultivated hazelnut area is located. Never­theless, this species is traditionally grown in the north of Spain: Asturias, Navar­ra and Basque Country, where climate is more adequate to the requirements of this crop. In Asturias hazelnut cultivation has a long tradition; in the XVIIth Century this species was already mentioned in diffe­rent manuscripts and it is described as an important resource for the local farmers with part of the crop exported to England. Nuts from this region were very apprecia­ted, due to their good fruit characteristics. Mid XXth century the situation changed as growers began to abandon orchards in most of the areas where hazelnut was very well cultivated. Thus they turned into marginal areas and hazelnut production decreased considerably, causing a pos­sible loss of the local genetic diversity. Today, hazelnut in Asturias can be found growing spontaneously or planted in land boundaries and on river banks (Figure 1). However, regular plantations disappeared. In spite of this situation, the tradition of hazelnut cultivation is maintained and in some areas hazelnut harvesting is still an event, covering the family consumption and the sale in local markets. Hazelnut Festivals are still alive in some areas.

In order to recover hazelnut material and preserve the genetic diversity of this spe­cies in Asturias, during a period of three years (2003­2005) a hazelnut germplasm prospection was carried out by IRTA (In­stitut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroali­mentàries) from Catalonia and SERIDA (Servicio Regional de Investigación y De­sarrollo Agroalimentario) from Asturias. The main objectives of the prospection were: 1) to describe the variation in the hazelnut material found, using morpho­logical descriptors and molecular mar­kers, 2) to investigate the genetic relation­ships between this local germplasm and reference cultivars from other regions and countries producing hazelnut, 3) to study the genetic relationships between cultiva­ted germplasm and wild hazelnuts collec­ted in Asturias and, 4) to preserve de most interesting material prospected in two ha­zelnut collections (one in Asturias and ano ther in Catalonia), where this material will be studied and maintained. The study of this material in collection will allow se­lecting the most interesting material ac­cording their agronomic and commercial fruit characteristics. This selection would be the base for future hazelnut orchards in Asturias.

vARIATION IN HAZELNUT MATERIAL USING MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTORSAt the end of August of the three years of the study, some hazelnuts from prospec­tion were pre­selected. At the end of the exploration a total of 90 materials had been collected in 48 different localities that were considered to be cultivated forms. This first selection was done con­sidering information from different farm­ers, and also observing morphologi­cal tree characteristics (vigor, habit), and fruits. Trees pre­selected were marked and a sample of 20­50 nuts / tree were collected in situ to be more accurately characterized in the laboratory, using 19 qualitative standard descriptors (involu­cres, nut and kernel characters), follow­ing the UPOV guidelines specific for this species. The test on pellicle removal after lightly roasting has also been evaluated.

Morphological characterization revealed a great phenotypic diversity in the evalu­ated fruit traits. The Shannon­Weaver di­versity index of the 19 considered des­criptors averaged 0.82, with values rang­ing from 0.07 to 1.08. The highest values of the diversity index was for the follow­ing traits: “thickness of callus at base” and “serration of identations” for the invo­

lucres traits (1.03 and 1.04, respectively), “shape” and “number of stripes on shell” in the nut traits (1.046 and 1.082, respec­tively) and “appearance of skin” for the kernel traits (1.087). The local selections were phenotypically diverse and many had characteristics appreciated by the market, as the easy pellicle removal after lightly roasting (Figure 2). A high propor­tion of these materials showed morpho­logical characters similar to well­known Spanish cultivars as ‘Casina’ (from Astu­rias) and / or ‘Negret’ (from Catalonia).

POLYMORPHISM LEvELS DETECTED BY ISSR MARKERS The expression of these morphological characters could have an environmental component, thus a genetic study using ISSR molecular markers (inter simple se­quences repeat) has been carried out to investigate the genetic structure of the lo­cal Asturian hazelnut genetic diversity and the relationships with other materials.

Fifty trees from the 90 pre­selected materi­als, and four local accessions derived from a previous exploration in Asturias (‘Casi­na’, ‘Grande’, ‘Espinaredo’ and ‘Quirós’) were included in this study. In addition seventeen cultivars from different produ­cing countries: ‘Camponica’, ‘Mortarella’, ‘Tonda di Giffoni’, ‘Tonda Romana’ and ‘Santa Maria del Gesu’, from Italy; ‘Gi­ronell’, ‘Grifoll’, ‘Morell’, ‘Negret’, ‘Paue­tet’, ‘Ribet’ and ‘Segorbe’, from northeast­ern Spain; ‘Tombul’, from Turkey and ‘But­ler’, ‘Ennis’, ‘Royal’ and ‘Villamette’, from the USA, were used as reference cultivars for this analysis. Eleven ISSR primers, which generated 66 polymorphic bands, were selected to carry out this study: GAG(CAA)5, (ACTG)4, (AG)8YC, (AGAC)4, (AGAA)4AG, (CAGA)4, (AG)8CG, (CT)8RC, (CT)8RG, (CA)8TG and SRA(GT)8. A total of 24 fragments, such as GAG(CAA)5

342, (AGAC)4535, (AGAA)4AG406 and (CAGA)4790,

Figure 1. Hazelnuts growing in Asturias, planted in land boundaries.

Figure 2: Easy pellicle removal after lightly roasting.

39FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

eastern Spain) orchards. Wood from the material having the best characteristics (38 materials) has been collected in situ in winter. This material was sent to IRTA and was grafted, applying the “hot callus­ing pipe” method. Material grafted was in nursery for one year, and then it was earth up to obtain its own rooting system. The following year, the material gathered the conditions to be planted in the collections. In 2010, the first fruits of some of the ma­terials have been gathered from the collec­tions, and the complete characterisation of the tree (production, suckering, behaviour in different climatic conditions, etc.) and the fruit (commercial characteristics) will be carried out in the following years.

The study and conservation of all this ge­netic hazelnut diversity from Asturias, could provide new cultivars or genitors to be used in future breeding programmes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis research has been supported by grants RF01­030 and RF01­036 from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia, and by RF01­036, RF01­030) INIA projects, Spain.

REFERENCES

Alvarez Requejo, S., 1965. El avellano. Manuales Técnicos, num. 32. Ministerio de Agricultura, Madrid (Spain): 190 pages.

Campa, A.; Trabanco, N.; Pérez­Vega, E.; Rovira, M. and Ferreira J.J., 2011. Ge ne tic relationships among cultivated and wild hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.) collected in northern Spain. Plant Breed., 130: 360­366.

Ferreira, J.J.; García­González, J.; Tous, J.; Rovira, M., 2010. Genetic diversity re­vealed by morphological traits and ISSR markers in hazelnut germplasm from northern Spain. Plant Breed., 129: 435­441.

Ferreira, J.J.; Trabanco, N.; Pérez­Vega, E.; Campa, A.; Rovira, M., 2010. Recu­peración de variedades tradicionales de avellano asturiano. Revista del SERIDA, Tecnología Alimentaria, 7: 2­6.

Rovira, M.; Ferreira, J.J.; Tous, J., 2008. Prospección de avellanos (Corylus avel-lana L.) en Asturias. Fruticultura Profe­sional, 174: 16­23.

Trabanco, N.; Campa, A.; Rovira, M.; Fer­reira, J.J., 2010. Relaciones genéticas entre avellanos cultivados y silvestres del norte de España. Actas de Horticultura de la SECH, 65: 261­262.

UPOV, 1979. Guidelines for the conduct of test for distinctness, homogeneity and stability (Hazelnut). TG/71/3.

M. Rovira1 and J.J. Ferreira 2 1 IRTA­Mas de Bover, Crta. Reus –El Morell,

km, 3.8, 43120 Constantí, Tarragona (Spain).2 Area de cultivos Hortofrutícolas y forestalesSERIDA, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias (Spain)

showed a significant difference between its frequency in local germplasm and its frequency in the reference cultivars. Prin­cipal coordenate analysis from molecu­lar marker data was performed and vari­ation along the two principal components accounted for 52% and 6.39% of the to­tal variation, respectively. The graph ob­tained from the two principal compo­nents grouped the accessions in two main groups corresponding to local germplasm and reference cultivars. Cluster analysis based on Jaccard distance also showed these two main groups. The results sug­gest that local germplasm in Asturias are closely related and relatively distant from European cultivars. These results could indicate local domestication. In many re­gions, cultivated forms coexist with wild forms, and it has been suggested that some local cultivars were selected from lo­cal wild populations.

GENETIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CULTIvATED GERMPLASM AND WILD HAZELNUT COLLECTED IN ASTURIASWild hazelnut forms can also be found in Asturias, along the banks of streams or forming small woods in isolated areas. The knowledge of the genetic relation­ships between the cultivated germplasm (62 materials) and wild hazelnut (40 mate­rials) was also investigated using the vari­ation of 13 microsatellite loci. In addition, the differentiation of the local materials with a set of 14 well­known reference cul­tivars representing the world’s most im­portant production areas were also ana­lyzed. Microsatellite analysis also revealed

a considerable diversity. A total of 91 dif­ferent alleles were identified with a mean of 7 per locus, and polymorphic informa­tion content values ranged from 0.43 to 0.83, with a mean of 0.69. The plot ob­tained from principal coordinated analy­sis, the unrooted neighbour­joining tree constructed, and the population struc­ture analysis showed a differentiation among the three populations included in this study: local cultivated hazelnuts, lo­cal wild hazelnuts and the set of reference cultivars (Figure 3). However, some intro­gressions in the three populations and several putative intermediate forms be­tween them were identified. The local cul­tivated germplasm contains: (1) a group of accessions clearly differentiated within the Spanish ­Italian gene pool, (2) a group with intermediate forms probably derived from hybridization and in any case pro­bably associated with new domestication events, and (3) accessions probably de­rived from exchange with other geogra­phic origin (mainly from Catalonia). The differentiation of these groups within the local material cultivated is of great interest for the preservation and use of the local genetic diversity of this species.

LOCAL GENETIC DIvERSITY CONSERvATION To preserve the prospected material, two ex situ hazelnut collections were installed in two field collections with different weather conditions (Atlantic and Mediter­ranean), one in SERIDA (Villaviciosa, As­turias; Northern Spain) orchards and an­other in IRTA (Constantí, Catalonia; North­

Figure 3. Two-dimensional plot obtained from principal coordinate analysis from 82 unique genotypes. Locally cultivated materials, wild hazelnuts and reference

cultivars are indicated using squares, stars and circles, respectively.

40 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

AN INEXPENSIvE MODE TO RECOvER UNSOLD ROOTED

HAZELNUT SUCKERS

SUMMARYAt the end of 2007, due to a really scarce hazelnut plants demand, a nurseryman took the decision of not digging out a lot of coppices prepared in July, the same year. At the ringing time, some experimen­tal theses such as IBAK, Hydroretenteur and both, were applied to these coppi ces. After one vegetative season, i.e., from July to December 2007, the rooted suck­ers were not dug out and they remained untouched in the same place of the nurse­ry. In November 2008, after 2 vegetative seasons, the rooted suckers were dug out and before selling them, some quality pa­rameters were measured. As expected, the quality was better than the quality ob­tained (as usual) from similar coppices af­ter only one vegetative season. In fact, the rooted suckers obtained from coppi ces after 2 vegetative seasons show collar diameters over 25 mm and heights over 200 cm. This kind of strong plants is highly appreciated by the local growers.

INTRODUCTIONIn the Langhe district, the hazelnut plants demand is variable depending on years and sometimes it is very poor or nil. Therefore, sometimes it may happen that the nurseryman has a lot of unsold root­ed suckers. In this case the nurseryman takes the extreme solution to dig out the rooted suckers and destroy them by fire. Another solution is to dig out the root­ed suckers, transplant them and wait another vegetative season before sel­ling the plants. There is a third oppor­tunity, presented hereby: leave the un­touched coppices with their rooted suck­ers in the same place and dig them out after 2 vegetative seasons. At the end of the 2008­vegetative season, the quality of rooted suckers obtained from the coppice left for 2 vegetative seasons in the same place in the nursery was detected. In the meanwhile, the effect of IBAK, Hydroreten­teur (Roversi, Armengolli, Mozzone, 2008) and both of them, applied during two vege­tative seasons (before June 2007), was also considered.

MATERIAL AND METHODSThe trial was made in the nursery of Mr. Mozzone, in Lequio Berria (Cuneo), on coppices obtained by cutting 20 years old hazelnut plants at the collar (Roversi, Mozzone, 1998 a, b). At the end of the first vegetative season, due to a very low de­mand of hazelnut plants, the nurseryman decided not to dig out the rooted suckers and to leave coppices untouched in the same place at the nursery. In the previous period (June 2007), the following theses

were applied to these coppices for 5 repli­cates: • test (not ringed); • IBAK at 3000 ppm; • Hydrorethenteur (Hyd) added to the mounded soil; • IBAK + Hyd

Before applying these experimental the­ses, some sucker parameters (number, height and suitable ringing rate for each coppice) were recorded. The theses here applied are similar to those of previous works done (Roversi, Armengolli, Moz­zone, 2008; Malvicini, Roversi, Marino, 2008; Roversi, Malvicini, 2009) in which the rooted suckers were dug out from the coppices after just 1 vegetative season. In this case, the rooted suckers were dug out from the coppices after 2 years. In No­vember 2008, after 2 vegetative seasons, the rooted suckers were dug out, and ra­tings of commercial marketability were made, as nurserymen usually do. Then, some quality parameters were measured and recorded for all 5 commercial catego­ries.

RESULTSA) At the beginning of the trialsAs shown in table 1, at the ringing time (June 2007), the average sucker number of coppices was above 34, with some sig­nificant differences between coppices ex­pected for the different theses applied.

The suckers height was about 65 cm and not significantly different among the cop­pices.

The percentage of suckers suitable for ringing was between 87% (Hydroreten­theur) and 92.1 % (IBAK).

B) At digging time ­ Rooting percentageAs shown in table 2, the application of Hy­droretenteur, IBAK or both, gave a very high rooting percentage, starting from 91.1% for Hyd. to 98.20% for Hyd. + IBAK.

While the percentage of extra and first category rooted suckers was null for the test, with the application of Hyd., IBAK and both, the same percentage signifi­cantly increases.

In particular, the total percentage of extra and first category of rooted suckers, gave a very high percentage (see fig. 1) of sale­able rooted suckers. Their value was 67.7 % (Hyd.), 70.2 % (IBAK) and 84.4 for both theses.

­ Diameter at the collarThe application of Hyd. And IBAK or both brings about an increase in the collar dia­meter of the rooted suckers, especially for IBAK and Hyd. + IBAK, as shown in fig. 3.

In any case, the diameter at the collar of rooted suckers was over 31 mm for the

Figure 1. A partial view of the nursery coppices, at the first vegetative season.

Figure 2. Digging of coppices at the end of the second vegetative season.

Table 1. Characteristics of the coppices at the beginning (July 2007) of the trials.

Tesi Suckers height Suckers number Ringed %

test 65.5 a 35.1 a -Hydroretenteur 63.9 a 36.0 a 86.8 aIBAK 66.6 a 35.3 a 92.1aHyd. + IBAK 64.7 a 34.8 a 87.5a

41FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

application of the 3 experimental theses. This means that the coppices, together with their rooted suckers, remained in the same place in the nursery for 2 vegetative seasons.

At digging time (November 2008), the re­sults show that all the applied treatments, especially Hyd + IBAK, were able to im­prove the rooted suckers’ quality. In parti­cular, as expected, the rooting percentage results very high, the diameter at the collar and the height of rooted suckers was much higher than those obtained from coppi­ces only forced for 6 months, as usual. The rooted suckers’ quality obtained after 2 vegetative seasons was very appreciated by the local hazelnut growers who, genera­lly, prefer very strong plants: collar diame­ter over 25 mm and height over 200 cm.

The results of these trials would suggest a positive opportunity for the nurseryman, when market demand for hazelnut plants is very poor.

REFERENCES

Roversi A.; Mozzone G.,1998 a. Produt­tività di ceppaie di nocciolo Tonda Gentile delle Langhe. Atti Giornate Scientifiche S.O.I., Sanremo 1­3 aprile: 185­186.

Roversi A. Mozzone G.,1998 b. Tecniche di forzatura per margotte di ceppaia di noc­ciolo. Inf. Agr., 24: 71­75.

Roversi A, Malvicini G.L., Marino A., 2008. Influence of Ringing and Irrigation on Hazelnut Mounding Layer Propaga­tion. Advances in Horticultural Science, 3: 197 ­ 200.

Malvicini G.L., Roversi A., Marino A., 2008. On the quality of hazelnut plants obtained by mounding layer. 7th Interna­tional congress on hazelnut, Viterbo, 23­27 June (in press).

Roversi A., F. Armengolli Ferrer, G. Moz­zone, 2008 b, Further investigation on hazelnut mounding layer. 7th International congress on hazelnut, Viterbo, 23­27 June (in press).

Roversi A., Malvicini G.L., 2009, Ulteriori osservazioni sulla forzatura di margotte di ceppaia di nocciolo, Frutticoltura (in press).

A. Roversi and G. L. MalviciniFruit Growing Institute Catholic University S.C.

Piacenza – Italy

suckers treated with IBAK (31.7 mm) and with Hyd. + IBAK (35.7 mm), both being extra category. Many local growers usually prefer this kind of strong propagation ma­terial.

These data are much higher if compared with the similar data obtained from cop­pices forced for only 1 vegetative season, which do not overcome 16 mm (Roversi, Armengolli, Mozzone, 2008).

­ Average height of rooted suckers The average height of rooted suckers was not affected by the treatments, in the ex­tra and first category, while for the se cond category the treatments significantly in­creased this parameter in comparison with the test value (see fig. 4).

Although many growers prefer strong propagation material, they should consi­der that after plantation the rooted suck­ers usually are cut at least at 50­70 cm from the ground.

Also, considering this parameter, when the rooted suckers are dug out after 2 vegetative seasons in the same place, the value does not exceed 150 cm.

­ Average fresh mass rootThe application of the 3 different treat­ments to coppices increases the average fresh mass especially for the extra and first rooted suckers category (see fig. 5). In particular, the extra category rooted suckers obtained from the coppice trea­ted with Hyd. + IBAK overpassed 350 g. Good root mass quantity was also ob­served, again for extra and first category rooted suckers, obtained by the suckers treated with IBAK. Also, as to this last pa­rameter, data are very interesting if com­pared with the rooted suckers dug out af­ter only 1 vegetative season, which show no data below 240 g.

­ Percentage of saleable rooted suckersThe results (tab. 1), show a satisfactory percentage with values over 76% for eve­ry thesis and a maximum of 92.1% when suckers were treated with IBAK at the ringing time.

FINAL REMARKSThis trial was carried out on coppices that were not dug out after 6 months from the

Table 2. Results of hazelnut mounding layer at digging time (November 2008).

Tesi Rooted % Percentage rating

extra first second discarded unrooted saleable

Test 45.37 A .0 A .0 A 19.8 B 25.6 B 54.6 C .0 AHydroretenteur 91.11 B 43.4 B 24.3 B 24.9 B 2.5 A 4.9 B 67.7 BIBAK 96.51 BC 50.0 C 20.2 B 21.4 B 3.9 A 4.5 B 70.2 BHyd. + IBAK 98.20 C 60.8 C 23.6 B 10.1A 2.9 A 3.6 A 84.4 C

Figure 4. Average height of rooted suckers as related to commercial

category and thesis.

Figure 5. - Average fresh mass root as related to commercial

category and thesis.

Figure 3. Diameter at the collar of rooted suckers as related to

commercial category and thesis.

42 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

WALNUT NATIONAL /REGIONAL PROGRAMME IN FRANCE

NETWORK AND DEvICECtifl-Regional Stations of Creysse in the Southwest and SENURA in the Southeast of FranceThe walnut program is built according to the walnut expectations and objectives of this professional industry. The Ctifl as­sumes the role of technical coordinator and coach at the national level through its two engineers who provide technical res­ponsibility for the two stations under the Professional Authority.

In the interest of coordination and cohe­rence, respecting the choices of strategic national and regional professional walnut organizations, it is necessary to:

• Ensure complementarily programs in­volved at the two regional stations SEN­uRA and Creysse, and Ctifl. Other part­ners are associated such as INRA, SRAL, ANSES, IRTA, Girona University, and Chambers of agriculture and producer or­ganizations.

• Distribute shares with those responsible by theme and subject: the corresponding Ctifl, stations and other resource people.

The recovery of business is achieved through a Ctifl national walnut working group which gathers the entire French na­tional walnut channel. These exchan ges allow the presentation of experimental work in progress but also to focus on the French walnut track and collect the needs and business priorities.

The Ctifl undertakes its actions according with the guidelines of the Producers Asso­ciation (PDO Dynamic walnut) and the in­ter­walnut in addition to the experimental programmes involved on the two regional stations. These programmes are presen­ted in Ctifl Commission planning. Regio­nal stations rely on their governing boards and experimental commissions that is­sue requests and needs. This Council ap­proves the regional programmes based on the available resources of the Station.

THE PRIORITIES OF THE NATIONAL REGIONAL CONCERNS:Bacterial blight, the main walnut dis­ease in France, as it causes significant crop losses up to 50% nut necrosis some years. This phenomenon increases from year to year. The research focuses on the characterization of bacterial strains, the study of the risk of loss of effectiveness or non­sensitivity of copper treatment of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis, the search for new alternatives to copper as well as taking into account prevention measures in terms of conduct and mainte­nance of soil orchard.

Selection of new varieties of French wal­nut hybrids and new rootstocks from pro­grammes initiated by INRA and Ctifl. The goal is to have early bearing age, good yields, good quality nuts with the caliber to meet the market and varieties adapted to our soil and climatic conditions espe­cially vis­à­vis the natural tolerance to dis­eases.

The new rootstocks must enable the achievement of more vigor and grea­ter homogeneity than conventional root­

stocks from seedlings and be tolerant to the black line virus.

Protection against husk fly Rhagole-tis completa for unprotected orchards to avoid up to 80% damage. It is a new pest identified in France for the first time in 2007. In Europe it is listed on Annex IAI and therefore it is subject to a monitoring plan and a compulsory control, if detec­ted. The experiment focuses on several areas: evaluation of different substances in officially recognized testing, evaluation of specific attractants for this fly, to get a massive capture in a trap for controlling and limiting the damage, evaluation of different control strategies with monito­ring of unintended effects vis­à­vis by the auxi liary team.

Orchard pruning of traditional varieties, including ‘Franquette’; adult orchards needs to ensure light penetration inside the orchard. What kind of pruning is best suited for dense orchards?

Further topics are under study, inclu ding the development of crop management and environment­friendly alternatives for incorporating Integrated Fruit Production practices (protection against Anthrac­nose, codling moth) and maintenance of orchard soils.

Ctifl stakeholdersJean­Pierre PRUNET Engineer Manager of the National Technical and Technical Mana ger of Creysse station

Agnes VERHAEGHE Engineer Technical Manager of SENuRA

For the Creysse stationJean­Loup PEROYS Engineer experimentGuillaume PAGES Engineer experiment

And suport of Didier MERY, Dordogne chamber of Agriculture for the animation of the Technical Southwest Walnut Group.

For SENuRAStephanie RAMAIN Engineer experimentFlorence NOTON Engineer experimentAnd support of Ghislain BOUVET, Cham­ber of Agriculture for animation Isère Group Technical Walnut.

Technical contribution from producer or­ganizations with the mission to dissemi­nate research.

J. P. Prunet1, A. Verhaeghe2

1Ctifl / Station Expérimentale de Creysse, Perrical 46600 Creysse, France

E­mail: jp.prunet.creysse@wanadoo.fr2Ctifl / SENuRA

385A roue de St. Marcellin, 38160 Chatte, France

E­mail : averhaeghe@senura.com

Treatment with a new product to fight walnut blight.

43FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

PISTACHIO GROWING HISTORY, CULTIvARS AND

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF TURKISH NUT SECTOR

INTRODUCTION The pistachio nut belongs to the genus Pistacia of the family Anacardiacea. Pista-cia genus has 11 species. Some of the species play an important role in vegeta­tion at the Mediterranean and Asian re­gions and most of them have proved suc­cessful as rootstocks for top working the cultivated pistachio nut. Except for Pista-cia vera, the other species are not eco­nomically viable. They are called wild pis­tachio. In Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Tur­key and all The Mediterranean countries there are millions of wild pistachio trees or bushes, which belong to different Pista-cia species. Pistacia species are grown at 30­40º altitude and they are suited for mi­croclimate areas all over the world.

HISTORY Pistachio cultivation began around 7000 B.C. and pistachios were consumed by different civilizations. There are records that this plant was grown in Southeastern Turkey during the Hittites and served as a snack for kings and members of the roy­al family. It is further recorded in ancient documents that this tree was also plant­ed in the fabulous Hanging Gardens of Baby lon. In the documents of the Assy­rians and ancient Greeks, pistachios were recommended as an aphrodisiac and against the bites of poisonous animals. Because of its distinctive beautiful color, many efforts were made to use this nut as a dying agent during these periods.

As a result of its unique nutritious proper­ties and long shelf life, pistachios also be­came one of the first internationally tra ded agricultural commodities that were ex­ported to China via the Silk Road. In the

following centuries, pistachios were ex­tensively used by the soldiers of the Ro­man Empire, from where they spread to Italy and France, around the first century A.D. The usage of pistachios as a medici­nal remedy also continued during the Mid­dle Ages; Avicenna suggested their use against liver diseases.

Today, as a result of the desire for a healthy life style, consumers in different parts of the world have begun to redisco­ver the extraordinary taste of pistachios, together with their various health benefits, which are now being studied with mo dern laboratory techniques (Babadogan, 2009).

THE IMPORTANCE AND ORIGIN OF PISTACHIO CULTIvARS Large variety of nut fruits, such as hazel­nut, pistachio, walnut, chestnut and al­mond are endemic to Turkey (Aksoy et al., 2008). Almost all nut varieties are conven­tionally grown in Turkey. During the pe riod 2007­2008, Turkey accounts for 65% of the world hazelnut, 14% of the world pis­tachio, 10% of the world walnut, 4% of the world chestnut and 2% of the world almond productions (FAO, 2009).

Originating from the genus Pistacia, the species Pistacia vera is the only edible species that covers at least 10 different sub­species and has a commercial value in the nut industry as a snack food. The green seed, which is the pistachio nut, is in a crusty shell that is being cracked du­ring consumption. Apart from its snack value, pistachio kernels are very popu­lar ingredients used in meat products like salami or sausages, or in the con­fectionary industry as a part of choco­late, cakes, Turkish Delight, baklava, ice cream and other traditional Turkish sweets (Babadoğan, 2009).

The pistachio tree has two major habitats. The first habitat is the Near East gene center, covering the regions Turkey, Cau­

casia, Iran, and high elevations of Turk­menistan, and the other habitat is the Middle Asia gene center. The gene cen­ters for hybrid forms of pistachios are said to be Turkey, Iran, Syria, Afganistan and Palestine. Currently, pistachio cultivation is possible in areas lying between 30o­ 45o North­South parallels and generally in the Northern Hemisphere, where microclima­tic conditions are suitable (Tunalioglu and Taskaya, 2003).

The hybrid forms of widespread Turk­ish pistachios are Pistacia khinjuk, Pista-cia terebinthus, Pistacia atlantica, Pistacia palestina and Pistacia vera. While many varieties of pistachio nuts have been de­veloped in the world, few cultivars adap­ted well to the conditions in Turkey. These pistachio cultivars include Uzun, Kırmızı, Siirt, Halebi, and Iranian Ohadi. Among these cultivars, Uzun, Kırmızı and Hale­bi have longer nuts, while Siirt and Oha­di have round shaped nuts. Cultivars with longer nuts are preferred on account of their kernel colors, while cultivars with round nuts are preferred, due to their lar­ger size and higher split rates (Anony­mous, 1993). Most propagated pistachio cultivars in Turkey are ‘Kırmızı’ and ‘Uzun’. However, these cultivars are not very po­pular in international markets, due to their lower split rates and kernel yields (Table 1). Aside from the cultivars named above, other pistachios such as ‘Keten’ ‘Gom­legi’, ‘Beyaz Ben’, ‘Degirmi’, ‘Cakmak’, ‘Sultani’, ‘Vahidi’, ‘Mumtaz’, ‘Sefidi’ and ‘Haci Serifi’ are also grown in Turkey but in less amounts.

Turkish pistachios are thinner and smal­ler than Iranian pistachios. Siirt pistachios are similar to Iranian pistachios and their shapes are somewhat in between Gazi­antep and Iranian pistachios. Siirt pista­chios, about 15 percent of the total pro­duction, are bigger and commend higher prices on the market than the traditional Turkish pistachios. In Turkey size is direc­

Table 1. Variety characteristics of Turkish pistachio cultivars.

Property Name of Cultivar

Uzun Kırmızı Halebi Siirt Ohadi

Shape Long Long Flat-long Oval SphericalSplit Ratio (%) 70 67 78 92 94Weight of 100 Kernels (g) 110,69 120,96 126,72 134,38 143,08Lenght (mm) 22,48 23,96 23,48 23,46 20,83Width (mm) 11,66 14,31 11,86 13,08 13,17Tickness (mm) 10,77 11,84 13,53 12,55 13,09Shell color Dark Ivory Dark Ivory Dark Ivory Ivory IvoryCrust color Purple-pink Red-purple Violet-pink Red Dark RoseNut color Green-pale Pink Green-pale Pink Pale-pink Yellow YellowYield (%) 42,48 40,37 42,05 42,64 44,53Periodicity Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Source: Southeast Anatolia Exporters Union.

44 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

tly related to quality: 90 nuts or less per 100 grams is considered first quality, 90­100 nuts are second quality, 100­120 nuts are third quality, and above 120 nuts are fourth quality.

THE PISTACHIO SECTOR IN TURKEYPistachio growers continue to invest in pistachio tree plantations to satisfy the international and domestic demand. Pis­tachio cultivation on a professional basis started with the Ceylanpinar State Farm, which was established in 1948 with 11,4 hectares of land. Today, this farm has be­come an important part of pistachio re­search in Turkey and the total area dedi­cated to this purpose has reached a very high level.

Pistachio production is highly cyclical due to the fact that pistachio trees are alter­nate­bearing. Therefore, the production amount can vary a great deal. The ide­al growing conditions for pistachio trees are hot, dry summers and moderately cool, short winters. Although these cli­matic conditions are found particularly in the Southeastern part of Turkey (Figure 1), pistachios can be grown in 56 Turkish provinces, starting from the Mediterrane­an to the Aegean and even to the Central Anatolia regions. The provinces located in the Southeastern part of Turkey, namely, Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Mardin, Diyarbakir and Siirt are known to have suitable conditions for pis­tachio cultivation and hence account for

approximately 94% of Turkey’s total pista­chio production (Tekin et al., 2001). Plan­tations continue increasing, as pistachios are replacing olive trees in the rain­fed areas, since farmers can make better profits. The top three producer prov­inces are Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, and Adi­yaman and the contribution of these three provinces to Turkey’s total pista­chio production constitutes 87 percent (Tunalioglu and Taskaya, 2005). Sanliurfa province has about twice as many trees as Gaziantep, the traditional growing area.

Historically, Iran has always been the main pistachio supplier, and it continues with

this position. At the same time, the Uni­ted States of America, which was a net importer of pistachios until late 1970s, to­day is a net exporter leading to a strong competition in the world pistachio market (Emeksiz and Sengul, 2001). According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the top five pistachio producers in 2007 were Iran with 230,000 t (44 % of the world’s production), fol­lowed by the USA (108,598 tonnes, 21 percent share), Turkey (73,416 t, 14%), Syria (52,066 t, 10%) and China (38,000 t, 7%). From 1980 to 2007, the reported pis­tachio world production increased by 581 percent, from 76,029 to 517,823 t. Histori­cal facts show that Iranian production has been the key factor conducting the glo bal growth trend. However, since 1980, the USA has become the world’s second lar­gest pistachio producer (Table 2).

Turkey is on average the third leading pis­tachio producer, with productions rang­ing approximately from 10% to 20% for the period studied (Table 2). Syria holds the forth place with productions ranging from 4% to 13%, followed by China and Greece holding the fifth and sixth pla ces, with productions ranging from 6% to 24% and 1% to 3%, respectively. However, due to the alternate­bearing property of pis­tachio trees, the ranking of countries can often vary, such as the rank of Turkey, changing from the fifth place in 1980 to the second place in 2006.

According to the 1997/2002 average, the USA holds the first place in terms of yield with an average yield of 2.436,7 kg ha­1, followed by Syria and China with ave­rage yields of 1.868,6 kg ha­1 and 1.747,3 kg ha­1, respectively. Turkey stays above the world average (1.119,8 kg ha­1) with an average yield of 1.566,0 kg ha­1, which makes its rank well ahead of the world pistachio production leader Iran with an average yield of 792,2 kg ha­1. Although

Table 2. Pistachio production shares among major producing countries (%).

Year Iran USA Turkey Syria China Greece Others World

----------------------------------------- % -----------------------------------------------------

1980 30.25 16.11 9.86 10.28 23.68 3.31 6.52 1001985 54.61 6.41 18.26 6.28 9.91 2.12 2.40 1001990 59.63 19.93 5.13 4.76 8.06 1.26 1.24 1001995 60.72 17.07 9.15 3.70 6.36 1.42 1.58 1002000 29.73 29.25 19.91 10.60 5.84 2.53 2.15 1002005 44.71 24.99 11.68 8.69 6.62 1.82 1.48 1002006 40.19 18.87 19.22 12.79 6.29 1.44 1.20 1002007 44.42 20.97 14.18 10.05 7.34 1.74 1.30 100

Source: http://faostat.fao.org.

Table 3. Pistachio export shares by country (%).

Year Iran USA Syria Turkey China Greece Others World

----------------------------------------- % -----------------------------------------------------

1980 68.83 0 0 16.31 0 3.07 11.77 1001985 63.32 6.62 0 23.39 0 0.14 8.53 1001990 74.74 4.60 1.52 2.50 0.01 0.12 16.52 1001995 67.88 7.96 2.05 0.89 1.14 0.19 19.89 1002000 61.67 9.53 2.24 0.14 0.82 0.07 25.52 1002005 51.04 18.55 0.15 0.31 1.85 0.45 27.66 1002006 56.18 16.70 0.44 0.30 1.35 0.28 24.75 1002007 47.78 18.98 0.33 0.31 1.76 0.42 35.42 100

Source: http://faostat.fao.org.

Figure. 1. Major pistachio producing provinces of Turkey.

45FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

China is not a traditional pistachio pro­ducer, it succeeded in holding the fifth place in global production by particular­ly improving its yield factors in the past two decades. Production figures from EU countries (Greece and Italy), however, are at minimum levels, and new members do not engage in pistachio production in an economic sense.

Worldwide pistachios supply and demand are generally in equilibrium and the pro­ducer countries usually also are consu­mers. While Iran, Turkey, USA, and Syria are the top consumers, the highest con­sumption among the European countries is in Italy. Most pistachios grown globally (60%­70%) is consumed as saltily roasted snacks, and 30­40% is consumed in the confectionary industry as an ingredient in chocolate, cakes, ice cream and other sweets. In the USA and Europe, however, 90% of pistachios are consumed as salty nuts (Tunalioglu and Taskaya, 2003).

FOREIGN TRADE IN PISTACHIOSConsidering the global picture, Iran is the only consistent leader in pistachio exporta­tion, with export shares ranging from 48% to 75% over the period 1980­2007. How­ever, Iran’s export shares are not stable during the period and show great variation, perhaps depending on periodicity (Table 3). The USA increases its export share from null in 1980 to 19% in 2007. Turkey exports only a small proportion of its production. Primary destinations are the European Un­ion and the USA. In 2004, the average ex­port price for shelled pistachios was about 1.009 $ per tone and for processed pista­chios it was about 6.900 $ per tone, while for in shell pistachios it was about 6.600 $ per tone (Sarigedik, 2005). Through a larger perspective, however, Turkey looses its ex­port share drastically, starting from 16% in 1980 to 0,3% in 2007. Thus, important is­sues arise when the attention is drawn on the export of pistachios from Turkey. This may be due to factors such as unstable productions, lack of marketing, and poor price policies, that may result in Turkish exportation of small and little valued pista­chio amounts. Thus, the pistachio sector in Turkey could not follow up new technolo­gies and innovations, it did not work effi­ciently and thereby failed to compete in the world market (Aksoy et al., 2008). A similar scenario is observed in the case of Greece, since its market shares drop from 3,07% to 0,42% during the period studied. While Syria keeps the same small market share in general, other pistachio exporting coun­tries increase their shares from 11,77% in 1980 to 35,42% in 2007.

Countries not growing any pistachios or being not self sufficient in pistachio pro­duction meet their needs by imports. World export and import figures can vary

greatly as in some countries the peak sea­sons in production do not coincide, due to periodicity. The top grower countries such as Iran, USA, and Turkey do not im­port pistachios in general but they rather engage in exportation only, except China. Hong Kong is the world’s leader in pista­chio imports with a share of about 18% in 2007. Among the European countries, however, Germany is the top importer with approximately 13% share (Table 4). Othe r European countries have kept similar small market shares, ranging from 3,00% to 5,44% in the same period. While the USA was among the top importers of pis­tachios for a long time, it currently mana­ged to be a nut exporter by boosting its exportation, triggered by increased pro­duction.

DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION Unfortunately, data on pistachio con­sumption are not available and therefore, the need for additional research in finding answers to questions on pistachios con­sumption levels in Turkey is deemed ur­gent. Having in mind this consideration, data supplied by FAO on domestic con­sumption, calculated as the difference between the sum of total production, im­ports, and stock levels at the beginning of the year and the sum of total exports and stock levels at the end of the year are se­

veral useful parameters to shed some light on this subject.

Pistachio consumption increased in Tur­key from 49.500 t to 68.100 t over the period 2000 to 2006, reaching its peak (113.000 t) in 2004. Per capita consump­tion ranged from 770 g to 1.668 g but the consumption amount per capita was not a monotonous increase, but rather render­ing ups and downs. Based on data gath­ered from 2000 – 2006, while the average domestic pistachio consumption amounts 70.029 t, the per capita consumption ave­rages about 1.045 g (Table 5).

GOvERNMENT’S ROLE IN THE MARKET Our nation’s government policies applied during the period 1980 – 2007 include support purchases and subsidies to pro­ducers in terms of inputs, products, cre­dits, etc. The year 2000 was a milestone in the history of government involvement, as agricultural policies applied earlier started to change drastically then due to: (1) exogenous factors related to the Euro­pean Union, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, and (2) endogenous factors such as the burden of supports on the national budget, current account deficits and some peculiar issues in Turkish agri­

Table 4. Pistachio import shares by country (%).

Countries 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007

----------------------------------------- % -----------------------------------------------

Hong Kong 0 0 3.74 7.22 10.66 17.13 14.36 17.90Germany 25.42 12.91 29.24 24.25 16.37 10.24 11.45 13.46Spain 0 15.32 8.74 6.23 6.15 5.88 4.30 4.26Italy 1.18 0.58 7.27 7.94 6.25 5.20 4.42 3.75France 8.08 2.69 5.82 6.03 5.41 4.95 3.55 3.60Luxembourg NA NA NA NA 5.19 6.27 4.89 3.45Belgium NA NA NA NA 1.88 2.15 1.66 3.00Holland 2.48 0.98 1.66 2.17 0.99 4.23 4.79 5.44UK 1.01 1.85 5.41 4.09 3.43 4.59 5.10 4.89Others 61.83 65.67 38.12 42.07 43.67 39.36 45.48 40.25World 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: http://faostat.fao.org. NA: Not Available.

Table 5. Domestic and per capita consumption levels of pistachios in Turkey.

Year Consumption Population Per Capita (Metric Tons) (000) Consumption (Gram)

2000 49.500 64.259 7702001 76.600 65.135 1.1762002 59.500 66.009 9012003 54.500 66.873 8152004 113.000 67.734 1.6682005 69.000 68.582 1.0062006 68.100 69.421 981Average 70.029 6.859 1.045

46 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

culture. Other pecuniary aids such as di­rect income payments and premium pay­ments and also alternative product sup­ports have been extensively furnished by the government since the year 2000.

Three sales cooperatives united to form the union of Pistachio agricultural sales cooperatives in 1940 with its headquar­ters located in Gaziantep. This union started to purchase pistachios direct­ly from farmers during the harvest peri­od. Since it was a State­run cooperative, the purchase price was determined by the government, who set the floor price to protect farmers against price fluctua­

tions. Due to late payments from the uni­on, however, farmers were sometimes forced to sell their pistachios at the pre­vailing market price, which was usually lower than the floor/support price. In 1968 four other agricultural unions specialized in red peppers, raisins, olive oil, and le­guminous products were established and in 1989 they merged into one single uni­on, together with the union of Pistachio agricultural sales cooperatives, forming the latest union of Southeast agricultural sales cooperatives (with the Turkish ac­ronym, GUNEYDOGUBIRLIK). Although pistachio production is high and prices are low, in general, the Union buys only a

Table 6. Comparing pistachio producer prices to production costs, 1980 – 2003.

Year Producer Price Production Cost/Price (TL/kg) Cost (TL/kg) (%) (2003=100) (2003=100)

1980 3,75 4,89 130,371981 6,75 5,00 74,091982 6,11 5,05 82,741983 7,29 2,79 38,281984 6,06 5,45 89,951985 5,56 4,41 79,251986 6,03 5,16 85,691987 6,76 5,66 83,641988 5,93 5,35 90,171989 6,16 4,77 77,451990 4,95 3,88 78,311991 5,39 2,99 55,531992 5,01 1,91 38,221993 5,53 2,51 45,311994 5,84 3,62 61,961995 6,61 4,94 74,721996 6,00 5,39 89,981997 4,85 7,88 162,561998 5,88 6,94 118,071999 6,43 7,29 113,402000 7,32 6,07 82,932001 5,12 4,56 89,082002 5,23 3,93 75,062003 5,01 3,80 75,95Average 5,82 4,76 83,03

Pri

ces

and

Cos

ts (T

L)

Fig. 2. Pistachio producer prices versus costs per kg (2003=100).

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1087

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

9,00

8,00

7,00

6,00

5,00

4,00

3,00

2,00

1,00

0,00

ProducerPrice (TL/kg)

Cost (TL/kg)

very small proportion of the crop because of financial difficulties. GUNEYDOGUBIR­LIK announces its price two months after the harvest is completed and stops buy­ing products shortly after finishing the harvesting process. The Union does not receive any financial assistance from the government (Sarigedik, 2004). In 2004 it procured 1529 t of pistachios and paid 3.00 Turkish Liras per kg for pistachios with soft red skins.

Turkey has started to lessen its support to agriculture, due to its accession process to the European Union, and the restrictions fixed by the World Trade Organization. The government, who gave financial support to agricultural unions, is no longer available for funding and therefore recently many ag­ricultural unions have shut their operations and they have run out of business. Those who are still running their business have to find different sources to fund their ope­rations such as Banks, members etc. As such, GUNEYDOGUBIRLIK is still in the business with its 9 member cooperatives and more than 15.000 member farmers. Today, it procures pistachios along with other crops, such as red lentils and red peppers (Anonymous, 2009).

The pistachio producers sell their prod­ucts husked and shelled upon their har­vest. As always, producers have the flex­ibility to sell products to either GUNEY­DOGUBIRLIK at the support/floor price or to local merchants at the prevailing market price. Table 6 depicts the 24 years­history of pistachio producer prices versus pro­duction costs during the period from 1980 to 2003. In order to lift the effects of infla­tion, these price and cost figures are de­flated, using a producer price index defla­tor, taking the year 2003 as the base year. Based on data covering the years 1980 – 2003, while pistachio producer prices per kg amount to 5,82 Turkish Liras on aver­age, average costs per kg amount 4,76 Turkish Liras. Unfortunately, since there are no cost data beyond 2003, the analy­sis could not cover the most recent years. During the same period, the cost ratio as to producer price per kg ranges from approxi­mately 38% to 163% with an average ra­tio amounting to 83%. The lower the cost ratio, the more profitable it is to farmers to grow pistachios. However, as shown in Ta­ble 6 and Figure 2, a substantial amount of prices received by producers is taken up by costs, leaving very small benefit mar­gins to producers. On the other hand, in some years costs exceeded producer pri­ces, leading to financial losses in the pista­chio branch. Nevertheless, support pri ces are always higher than producer prices and therefore it usually is more profitable for farmers to do business with GUNEY­DOGUBIRLIK. However, due to quotas, restrictions, and late payments by this

47FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

portant point is the problem of unstable price policies. Different price policies each year have negative impacts on both do­mestic and international markets. While it is possible to solve existing problems per­taining to an agricultural crop like pista­chios native to Turkey by applying serious and stable policies, it feels quite frustrat­ing not to be dominant on global pistachio markets. As it was mentioned before, Ha­zelnut is the first nut for Turkish economy, but pistachio is also very important for the South East Anatolia Region. Therefore, governmental support is provided last decades. Support is especially provided for the irrigation of non­ irrigated pistachio orchards.

REFERENCES

Anonymous, (2009). “http://guneydo­gubirlik.org.tr/tarice.htm” (10. 23. 2009).

Anonymous, (1993). Antepfistigi Çesit Kataloğu. T.C. Tarim ve Koyisleri Bakanliği Tarimsal Uretim ve Gelistirme Genel Mu­durlugu Yayin Dairesi Baskanligi, Mesleki Yayinlar Serisi No: 20, Ankara.

Aksoy, A., Işık H.B., and Külekci, M. (2008). Outlook on Turkish Pistachio Sec­tor. Atatürk Ünv. Ziraat Fak. Dergisi 39(1): 137 – 144.

Ayfer, M. (1990), “Antepfistiginin Dunu Bugunu Gelecegi” Turkiye I. Antepfistigi Sempozyumu (11 – 12 September): 14 – 23, Gaziantep.

Babadoğan, G. (2009). Pistachios. IG­EME–Export Promotion Center of Turkey.

Emeksiz, F., and Sengul, S. (2001). “De­termining production and export potential of pistachio in Turkey” XI GREMPA Semi­nar on pistachios and almonds, Volume 56, Harran University: 201 – 208, Sanliur­fa­Turkey.

FAO (2009). Website: http://faostat.fao.org/site

Sarigedik, U. Turkey Tree Nuts Annual 2004. Global Agriculture Information Net­work, Gain Report No: TU4026. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. August – 2004, Ankara.

Sarigedik, U. Turkey Tree Nuts Annual 2005. Global Agriculture Information Net­work, Gain Report No: TU5032. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. August – 2005, Ankara.

Tekin, H., Arpaci S., ve Atli H. S. (2001), ‘Antepfistigi Yetistiriciligi’, Antepfistigi Arastirma Enstitusu Mudurlugu, Yayin No: 13, Gaziantep.

Tunalioglu, R., and Taskaya, B. (2003). Pistachios. Agricultural Economics Re­search Institute Outlook Report No: 2 – 5; Ankara.

Tunalioglu, R. and Taskaya, B. (2005). Ha­zelnuts and Pistachio Situation and Out­look 2005/2006. Agricultural Economics Research Institute. F­AF­D&T/138/ Octo­ber 2005.

T. Isgin1 and B. E. Ak2

1Harran University, Faculty of Agriculture, Departments of Agricultural Economics Osmanbey Campus, Sanliurfa ­ Turkey

2Harran University, Faculty of Agriculture, Dept. of Horticulture, Sanliurfa ­ Turkey

E­mail: beak@harran.edu.tr

Union, many pistachio farmers are obliged to find alternatives.

CONCLUDING REMARKS As in many other agricultural commodi­ties, the pistachio sector in Turkey has some problems to be solved, starting from production to consumption. Expos­ing these problems will undoubtably bring suggestions towards their solution. De­mand­supply equilibrium can not be met due to the negative impacts of periodic­ity (alternate bearing) on pistachio pro­duction in Turkey. Yet, the yield factor may keep improving, while the periodi­city tendency keeps decreasing, applying some agricultural practices, particularly irrigation. The opinion that pistachios are best fit for arid regions is no longer a valid propaganda.

In order to increase the competition po­wer of the Turkish pistachio sector, pro­duction costs have to be reduced and also new cultivars oriented towards in­ternational markets must be developed or adopted. On the other hand, issues on farming and marketing have to be re­solved. Agricultural practices in irrigated pistachio orchards contribute to main­tain both the demand­supply equilibrium and the stability in international markets and therefore, the Southeastern Anatolia Project is an opportunity in this respect. Neverthe less, Turkey consums its own do­mestic production, representing a closed economy.

Varietal choice, production and price sta­bility are essentially important factors in pistachio export. The first question to be found out is which varieties are most de­sired at international level: roasted nut varieties or varieties used in confection­ary industry? In other words, what are the criteria of other countries on this matter? It is important to determine correctly the best answer to these questions. Prob­lems often arise when it comes to pista­chio sto ring after harvest. For example in recent years, Iran is repeatedly having ex­port problems arisen from defects in pis­tachio storage. The Southeastern region of Turkey, where pistachios are grown widely, has an advantage in this respect, since the dry and hot climate prevailing in the region provides for safe storage con­ditions free of aflatoxin, which is suspect­ed to cause liver cancer in animals and human beings. Iranian pistachios, illegally introduced in Turkey, are perceived as Tur­kish pistachios, leading to problems when they are consumed either on the domes­tic or international market (imported from Turkey). Thus, Turkey should prevent ille­gal and unregistered entrance of Iranian pistachios on the one hand, and create an international image of high quality Tur kish pistachios on the other hand. Another im­

NOTES AND NEWS

REPORT OF THE vIIth COORDINATION BOARD

MEETING, OF FAO-CIHEAM NUT NETWORKCIHEAM-IAMZ,

ZARAGOZA, SPAIN 3-4th NOvEMBER, 2009

Participants: A. Ramos Monreal* (Dep­uty DG for International Affairs, INIA, Spain), D. Gabiña (Deputy Director, CIHE AM, Spain), A. López­Francos (Co­operative Research Administrador, CIHEAM, Spain), M. Rovira (Nut Network Coordinator, IRTA, Spain), F.J. Vargas (Li­aison Officer of Almond, IRTA, Spain), I. Batlle (Liaison Officer of Genetic Re­sources, IRTA, Spain), B. E. Ak (Liaison Officer of Pistachio, Harran University, Turkey) and S. Mutke (Liaison Officer of Stone Pine, INIA, Spain).

G. Beccaro (Torino University, Italy), sub­stitute of G. Bounous (Liaison Officer of Chestnut), can not attend the meeting due to a strike at Torino airport. A.I. Kok­sal (Ankara University, Turkey) and N. Ale xandrova (REUT, FAO), excused their attendan ce to the meeting. These 3 people send their communications for the meeting to the Nut Network Coordination.

The meeting followed the agenda pro­posed:

Monday, 2 November, 2009Arrival and accommodation of partici­pants (Hotel Goya)

Tuesday, 3 November, 20098.30. Pick up of the participants at Hotel Goya9:00­11.30: Presentations and Discussion

1.- Opening of the Meeting. ­ Brief Participants presentation. M. Rovira, Nut Network Coordinator ­ Welcome of CIHEAM representative ­ Welcome of FAO representative ­ Welcome of INIA representative

2.- Brief Information about FAO-CIHEAM-INIA Meeting, held in July, 2009

3.- Information Nut Network report. M. Rovira, Nut Network Coordinator 11:00­11:30. Coffee break11:30­13:30. Continuation of Presentations and discussion

48 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

4.- Sub network Liaison Officers’ reports of activities: past and prospects ­ Almond: F. J. Vargas (IRTA, Spain) ­ Chestnut : G. Beccaro (Università di Torino, Italy) (instead of G. Bounous) ­ Hazelnut: M. Rovira (Ankara University, Turkey) (instead of A.I. Köksal) ­ Pistachio: B.E. Ak (Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey) ­ Stone Pine: S. Mulke (INIA, Spain) ­ Genetic Resources: I. Batlle (IRTA, Spain)

13:30­14:30. Lunch14:30­17:30.Continuation of presentations and discussion

5.- Other issues (M. Rovira) ­ NUCIS Newsletter ­ FAO ESCORENA web site ­ Presence of Nut Network in International Research Projects (European Projects, COST, AECI, etc.) ­ Others

17:30. Return to the Hotel Goya20:30. Dinner

Wednesday, 4 November, 20098.30. Pick up of the participants at Hotel Goya9:00­11:00. Presentations and discussion

6.- The future of the Network. New proposals and activities (open discussion): ­ Renewal of the Liaison officer for walnut and pecan ­ Pistachio Inventory ­ International Meeting on Mediterranean Stone Pine for Agroforestry systems ­ Courses ­ Inventories: actualization and digitalization ­ Punctual actions ­ Proposal for the VIII Coordination Board

11:00­11:30. Coffee break11:30­13:00.

7.- Continuation of Discussion and Conclusions13:00. Closing of the Meeting13:15­14:15. Lunch and return to the Hotel or departure

NOTE: The approximate timetable could be modified depending on the proposals and suggestions made by the attending people at the meeting. The most impor­tant issue is to have time to discuss and share ideas about our Network.

1.- Opening the MeetingD. Gabiña, welcomed the participants to the Meeting in the CIHEAM headquarters, A. Ramos expressed his gratitude to be in the Meeting, and M. Rovira, welcomed also all people attending the meeting, es­pecially, B.E. Ak and S. Mutke, the new Lia ison officers of Pistachio and Stone Pine, respectively.

2.- Brief information about FAO-CIHEAM-INIA Meeting held on July, 2009.M. Rovira informed the participants about the aims of the meeting, and presen ted the financial situation of the network. Since 2004, Spanish INIA is not giving support to FAO for the Nut Network. Since then the activities have been developed with the remaining from other years and with CIHEAM’s support. We accorded that A. Ramos, would ask the Director of INIA to continue the financial support to the FAO for the Network and M. Rovira, would write to the IRTA’s Director to request to the INI­AS’s Director for the same support. These two actions were made without succee­ding.

3.- Nut network report.M. Rovira presents the Nut Network report from 1990 to 2009. In the different activi­ties exposed, she presents a list of the researchers that received some financial support to attend meetings of the Net­work. From the report, several issues can be pointed out:

It is necessary to look for a new Liai­son Officer for Walnut. Since E. Germain from INRA, France, retired, the responsi­ble of walnut has been changed several times. J. Chat replaced E. Germain, but only for some months due to her change in the job. Currently, the Director of INRA Bordeaux, M. Legrait, proposed M. Laf­argue for this position, but she never at­tended any meeting, neither she answer any message. Therefore, it was accorded to look for another person. We agreed that M. Rovira would prepare a letter to A. Ra­

mos, and he would send it to the Director of INRA Bordeaux, asking him for some other person to be appointed as respon­sible of this crop. If France does not have anybody suitable to cover the post, a new representative will be selected from other country.

Referring to Economics, M. Rovira informs that L. Albisu, Liaison Officer of Econo­mics is not working any more on nuts, af­ter considering that he has done a very good job on the Network, and thanks him for his effort. The participants consider that it will be important to look for ano­ther person to occupy this post. All parti­cipants suggested to provide names for a substitute. Currently this subnetwork is in­tegrated within the General Coordination.

4.- Subnetwork Liaison Officers’ re-ports of activities: past and prospectsLiaison officers present the activities of their Networks. In addition, M. Rovira pre­sents those of A.I. Koksal and G. Becca­ro (not present at the Meeting). I. Batlle, expresses his will to stop working for the Network, since he is working also in some other tree crops. He considers that as Lia­ison Officer of Genetic Resources, he has made a contribution in relation the Inven­tories of Germplasm of different crops, and in this sense the work can be consi­dered quite finished (only the Pistachio In­ventory is still pending). Also he expresses his will to resign as Editor of NUCIS. He informs to the participants, that M. Rovira will be the new NUCIS editor. M. Rovira, and all members of the Network, thank I. Batlle for all the effort he has made for the Network over the last 15 years.

5.- Other IssuesNucis Newsletter. All participants agree that this Newsletter is very important for the Network, as it gathers all people wor­king in nuts, and it is important not to stop its edition. M. Rovira proposes that all crop Liaison Officers would be involved in the newsletter, asking for some articles to

Participants of the VIIth Coordination Board Meeting of FAO­CIHEAM Nut Network, held in Zaragoza (Spain, 2009). From left to right: A. Ramos, S. Mutke, A. López­Francos,

M. Rovira, F.J. Vargas, B.E. Ak, D. Gabiña and I. Batlle.

49FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

be published, and also, in collecting infor­mation, notes, scientific works, etc. con­cerning their crop. Liaison Officers agree to look for this information, and to help in the edition of NUCIS. It was sugges­ted that Liaison Officers may take the op­portunity of international conferences and symposiums to ask for contributions. It is planned to publish the next issue, during 2011. It would be interesting to maintain colour illustrations for the on­line version.

FAO-ESCORENA Web site. M. Rovira in­forms about ESCORENA activities, and about the last Meeting that has been held in Poznan (Poland) in April, 2008. The cur­rent situation is that there is no budget for Network activities, but one of the aims of ESCORENA, is to create a web page with all the information concerning the Net­work activities. Looking at this web page, we confirm that ESCORENA uses the web page of CIHEAM, concerning the activities of the Nut Network. We decided to im­prove this page in the following aspects: obtain a direct link to the Germplasm In­ventories edited by FAO, and to the Des­criptors edited by IPGRI and Bioversity International, this work will be carried out by CIHEAM. M. Rovira will send, also, to CIHEAM the Data Base concerning the ar­ticles published in NUCIS, to be accessi­ble for all people interested.

Presence of Nut Network in Internatio­nal Research projects. M. Rovira informs about the International projects where people having responsibilities in our Net­work are involved: SAFENUT Safeguard of hazelnut and almond genetic resour­ces. European Community, in the frame of (AGRi GEN RES 068­ SAFENUT) (April 2008­ April 2010). COST ACTION (873) European Community: “Bacterial Disea­ses of Stone Fruits and Nuts” (2007­2011). AECI (Agencia Española de Coor­dinación Internacional) (2009) Spain­Tu­nisia. IRTA­ Institut de l’Olivier, Sfax Tuni­sia (2008­2009). Two Proposals for 2010: Spain­Tunisia and Spain­Morocco, were recently summited. It will be interesting to insert also links to the research and deve lopment projects in which the Net­work is involved, in the web page of CI­HEAM.

6.- The future of the NetworkRenewal of the Liaison officer for Wal-nut and Pecan. In relation to walnut a let­ter was sent to the Director of INRA­Bor­deaux, asking for some person in France, to be the responsible of this crop in the Network. If it is not possible that a French representative could do this job, we will look for another country. In relation to Pe­can, the participants agree that at the mo­ment it is not necessary to have a Liaison Officer, the Pecan culture is not important, and the activities of this crop are scarse.

Pistachio Inventory. B.E. Ak and N. Kas­ka, started the inventory some years ago. B. E. Ak, is committed to finish the inven­tory during next year (2010). He will ask information to Iranian people and UC Da­vis repository. It will also be necessary to up date the inventory, M. Rovira and B.E. Ak, will request to people involved in the inventory to update the data.

Inventories: actualization and digitali-zation. The Germplasm inventories have been edited some years ago and it is time to update them. All the data are now in an old informative system. M. Rovira and I. Batlle will collect all the informatics data that exist now, and will sent them to CI­HEAM to try to adapt this information to a current informatic system. These files will be used to add new information on the Germplasm inventories.

Courses. Members of the Network agree that the two courses about Nut Produc­tion and economics, have been very use­ful for all people who attended them, and it would be interesting to organize anothe r one. We discuss about the con­tent of this new course, species (all nuts or only some), issues of interest, etc. Fi­nally, we agree to make the course on al­mond, pistachio and stone pine and focus it on production and economics, making special attention in harvest, postharvest, nut quality and health. CIHEAM, will study the proposal of organising and hosting the course. A tentative date could be 2012­2013.

International Meeting on Mediterranean Stone Pine for Agroforestry systems. Sven Mutke, expresses his will to orga­nize an International Meeting on Stone Pine. His aim is to organize not a big Inter­national Congress, but more a work shop (40­50 people), to discuss about the situ­ation of Stone Pine. A probable date could be in September­October 2011, in Valla­dolid (Spain). Sven Mutke will have all the support he will need from the Network (Coordinator and CIHEAM).

vX GREMPA Meeting of Pistachio and Almonds. Last GREMPA Meeting was held in Athens, so it would be preferable to organise next one in a country from North Africa. L’Institut de L’olivier in Tuni­sia was proposed, to be the host, but its Director seems not to be convinced and supportive. CIHEAM will write to him say­ing the advisability to organize the Meet­ing, and offering all their support.

Punctual actions. M. Rovira received the requested from O. Kodad (Morocco) about the possibility to have financial sup­port from the Network to establish an Al­mond Collection in ENA (École Nationale d’Agriculture), in Meekness. This request

PRESENTATION OF THE NEW STONE PINE’S LIAISON

OFFICER

S. Mutke lives since 1991 in Spain, though he was born in Germany where he had taken pre­graduate lectures (Vordiplom) in Biology at the University of Bonn. When coursing Forestry Degree (1996) and Mas­ter in Forestry (2000), he collaborated in R+D projects about Mediterranean pines, especially on Mediterranean stone pine as nut tree. His PhD Thesis at the Techni­cal University of Madrid was about Crown architecture and cone yield modelling in grafted stone pine orchards, and he has published more than 30 scientific or tech­nical papers or books, mostly about this pine. Since 2006, he holds a position at the Spanish National Institute for Agricul­tural and Food Research and Technology (INIA). In 2009, he assumed the charge of Liaison Officer for stone pine in the FAO/CIHEAM Inter­Regional Research Network on Nuts.

has been rejected by the Network mem­bers, as it was agreed that the cost of this action is not high and the ENA should be able support it.

Proposal for the vIIIth Coordination Board. All participants agree in the conve­nience to meet together each two years, in order to follow better and have the op­portunity to talk about the different ac­tivities carried on in the Network. At this sense the next Coordination Board, will be held in 2012.

CD of the Meeting. By the end of the VII Coordination Board Meeting, a CD of the presentations given by the participants was prepared and delivered by the CI­HEAM to the participants.

M. RoviraFAO­CIHEAM, Nut Network CoordinatorIRTA­Mas de Bover, 18th November, 2009

50 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

IN MEMORIAL: ERIC GERMAIN

Last December we heard the sad news of the death of Eric Germain. It is difficult to write about him without pain and sorrow, but good memories of Eric encourages me to talk about him.

NEW JOURNALS

We welcome two new journals which are being published since 2010: Corylus & Co. (Rivista del Centro Studi e Ricerche sul Nocciolo e Castagno) (Italian lan­

CONGRESSES AND MEETINGS

XIv GREMPA MEETING ON PISTACHIOS AND ALMONDS

The XIV GREMPA meeting on Pistachi­os and Almonds took place in Athens, Greece, at the Acropol Palace Hotel in the city center. The meeting was orga nized by the agricultural University of Athens and the Kalamatas Technological Edu­cation Institute, in Collaboration with the interregional FAO­CIHEAM Cooperative Research Network on Nuts, and lasted 5 days (31 March­4 April). The conveners were E. Tjamos and G. Zakynthinos.

More than seventy participants from 13 countries, such as Algeria (1), Australia (4), Belgium (1), France (3), Greece (26), Iran (9), Italy (6), Moroco (2), Portugal (2), Spain (7), Tunisia (2), Turkey (2) and USA (7) attended the XIV GREMPA Meeting.

part of the base of our work and research. Most people know E. Germain’s full dedi­cation to research, but he also was very dedicated to his family. I remember that sometimes he left work earlier than usual, apologising: “today I have to go to the su­permarket”. His wife Rosen and his three children Jean, Isabelle and Pierre, have been “my second family”, for two years. I was warmly received as one more mem­ber of their family. Back in Spain, when I returned to my work at IRTA­Mas de Bover, I did my doctoral thesis on gene­tics in hazelnut. For my thesis work, E. Germain sent me some offspring fami­lies from crosses of his Hazelnut Bree ding Program. Without these materials, this thesis would not have been possible.

The good relationship with E. Germain and his family, has always been main­tained. We have met each other in differ­ent hazelnut and walnut Meetings and vi­sits we conducted at INRA (always inclu­ding a dinner at home) or at Mas de Bover. He was always interested in how our re­searches were going on both nut species.

Together with my colleagues N. Aletà and F. Vargas, I attended his retirement par­ty. A party that he prepared accurately in Toulenne, Gironde (France). The farm where he had spent many hours doing crosses, controlling trials and seeing wal­nut trees grow.

M. Rovira FAO­CIHEAM Nut Network Coordinator

Note: If anyone wishes to write a contribution on their relationship with E. Germain, it will be a pleas­ure for us to publish it in the next NUCIS issue.

As all researchers working on nuts know, E. Germain has been a leader in hazelnut and walnut tree crops. He was the for­mer responsible of hazelnut and walnut breeding programmes in France and has made great contributions and valuable researches on these species. Two of his outstanding books are “Le Noisetier” and “Le Noyer”, both edited with Ctifl’s col­laboration. Also, the “Inventory of walnut research, germplasm and references”, ed­ited by FAO, is a reference for all people working in this species. He also was the convener of the 4th International Walnut Symposium at Bordeaux (France) and he was the former chair of the ISHS Walnut Working Group in 1999. His work as Liai­son Officer of the walnut Network of the FAO­CIHEAM Inter­regional cooperative Research Network is well known. His con­tributions to NUCIS (number 1 and 4) on walnut and hazelnut, respectively, are a sign of his interest on sharing his know­ledgement with all the people involved in nuts. Besides his activity in research and development, he was also closely linked to the producing sector, keeping a tight and steady relationship with Ctifl tech­nicians in France. He showed rigour, te­nacity and professionalism at work. He was always keen to cooperate, to explain his experiences and learn from other re­searchers worldwide. We cannot forget his human side, always trying to meet the needs and questions of those who were at his side.

As many other people, I was one of his students. I had the opportunity to work in his lab d’Arboriculture Fruitière INRA (Bor­deaux), for two years. He provided us with enthusiasm, knowledge on hazelnut and walnut tree crops which were, and still are

guage) and IJNR (International Journal of Nuts and Related Sciences) (English lan­guage). The first comes from the Viterbo University and Ce.FAS, the special agen­cy of the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture in Viterbo (Italy), and the se­cond, from the Islamic Azad University­Damghan Branch Deputy of Research and Development.

We would like to congratulate both editors for their efforts in the edition, and encou­rage them to continue with future issues. The journals are available, respectively, in: http://www.cefas.org/AreaDownload/andhttp://www.ijnrs.com.

E. Germain in the VIth International Congress on Hazelnut, in Tarragona (Spain, 2004).

51FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

More than 100 contributions were re­ceived, but for different reasons some de­legates did not attend the meeting. How­ever, their presentations were delivered by other colleagues as posters.

Out of the 138 abstracts sent and inclu­ded in an abstract book distributed to the participants, 68 communications were presented as oral presentation and 24 as posters. The oral and the poster pre­sentations were distributed into different sessions which included: “Cultivars and Rootstock Breeding”, “Orchard manage­ment”, “Physiology, Biology and Biotech­nology (including pollination, fruit set­ting)”, “Pest Diseases”, “Industry, Har­vesting, Marketing and Quality” and “Con­trol and Safety”.

The first working day was dedicated to topics which covered two sessions: the session on “Cultivars and rootstock bree­ding” and the session on “Flower pollina­tion and fruit setting”. On the second day, participants made a field trip to Aegina is­land, a site of scientific and archaeologi­cal interest, where the Pistachio Coopera­tive was visited and a discussion with pis­tachio growers and technicians was held about different problems related to pista­chio production and processing. A small orchard was also visited. Moreover, par­ticipants tasted salted and unsalted ‘Aegi­na’ pistachios offered by the Cooperative. Afterwards, participants made a small trip around the island and visited the archaeo­logical site in Aphaia temple. The Temple of Aphaia (or Aphaea) is located within a sanctuary complex dedicated to the god­dess Aphaia on the Greek Island of Aige­na, in the Saronic Gulf. It stands on a circa 160 m high peak on the eastern side of the island, approximately 13 km East by road from the main port. Then the group visi­ted a traditional “Greek tavern” restaurant and tasted its delicious dishes. The third working day (the 2nd of April) included oral presentations on “Orchard Management” and a brief coffee break around Acropo­lis and Plaka area, after the break a Pos­ter session was organized. On Thursday, 3th of April, participants had a tight visit schedule. They visited the most compa­tible pistachio area of Greece in Fthiotide prefecture. In Makri, 250 km from Athens in north and central Greece, participants were shown the modern side of pistachio cultivation in Greece. They discussed with growers and saw pistachio harvesting and processing machinery adapted to small­scale orchards and pistachio productions. Then participants tasted a very nice lunch in the Gorgopotamos area with traditional pies and roasted lamb. The almond pro­duction center of central Greece was the next stop. After lunch, a 150 km long trip was undertaken to visit an almond pro­duction area. Participants were able to

Viterbo is located nearby the Monti Cimi­ni, the core of one of the principal hazel­nut production areas of the world (figure 1). In this area, there are over 9.000 farms that produce hazelnuts covering approxi­mately 18.000 ha and giving an average year production of 40.000 tons mainly of the cultivar ‘Tonda Gentile Romana’ (about 5% of the world’s production). The highly productive specialization has contribu­ted to the creation of a very dynamic sec­tor, where several hazelnut farmer associa­tions, as well as firms specialized in as­sembling specific harvesting machines or in processing and marketing are present.

The conference was attended by over 150 people coming from 20 different countries and representing all 5 continents (figure 2). The opening session has been dedica­ted to two general communications held by the invited speakers.

In the first communication S. A. Mehlen­bacher, Chair of the ISHS Working Group on Hazelnut (Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, USA), gave an overview of the state­of­the­art and fu­ture perspective of genetic resources for hazelnut reporting the objectives and re­sults obtained in the hazelnut breeding program at Oregon State University. This institute has recently released six culti­vars, eight pollinizers, and two ornamen­tals. The invited speaker highlighted the status of hazelnut micropropagation that in USA allows routine, and focused the at­tention on the recent collection of cultivars preserved in several genebanks, as in the collections in Corvallis house where there are more than 900 accessions of Corylus, of which 500 are C. avellana. Genetic studi­es have identified several simply inherited traits in hazelnut. Most economically im­portant traits are quantitative with modera­te to high heritability. Climatic adaptation is rarely a concern in the major production areas, but expansion of hazelnut plantings into marginal areas will require the deve­lopment of adapted cultivars from diverse germplasm and identification of suitable pollinizers. More than 150 microsatellite markers have been developed and placed on the linkage map where they serve as anchor loci, and many also amplify Betula.

Furthermore, S. A. Mehlenbacher stressed out how “eastern filbert blight” caused by Anisogramma anomala is a major concern in North America. Several sources with high levels of resistance have been identi­fied and are being used in breeding, with selection facilitated by DNA markers. A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) li­brary will allow map­based cloning of im­portant genes, including “eastern filbert blight” resistance from ‘Gasaway’, an old pollinizer, and the S­locus that controls pollen­stigma incompatibility.

Figure 1. Hazelnut cultivation around the Vico lake nearby the Monti Cimini area (Viterbo­Italy).

The hazelnut monoculture characterizes wide pulls of landscape.

SUMMARY OF THE vIIth INTERNATIONAL HAZELNUT

CONGRESS

The last edition of the International Con­gress on Hazelnut, organized by the Ha­zelnut Research Centre together with the International Society for Horticultural Sci­ence (ISHS), University of Tuscia and the local Chamber of Commerce was held in Italy in June 2008. The 5­days congress, supported by many public institutions, as well as by private local companies, took place in Viterbo, a town of 60.000 inhabi­tants, 80 kilometres north of Rome.

see almond orchards and processing ma­chineries. In accordance with the scien­tific programme, on Friday the 3rd of April, 24 communications were presented in two sessions: the first was on “Physiology, Bio logy and Biotechnology” and the sec­ond session was on “Pest and Diseases”, being the last session of the 2008 Athens GREMPA Meeting.

We would like to thank the FAO, CIHEAM, TEL Kalamatas, and the Agricultural Uni­versity of Athens for their encouragement and support during the organization of the 2008 Athens GREMPA Meeting. We would also like to thank the local authorities of Aegina Island, and Fthiotide (Makri) pre­fecture. Finally we would like to express our gratitude to the Scientific Organiz­ing Committee of the meeting and to all participants for their contributions to the GREMPA family, which is becoming larger year after year, gathering more scientific knowledge and new ideas. We hope this meeting has contributed with new challen­ges for further research and stronger links between more members of the GREM­PA family generating new joint initiatives among participants and members of the nut network.

1G. Zakynthinos and 2E. Tjamos1Technological Educational Institute of

Kalamata, Department of Agricultural Products, Antikalamos, 24100 Kalamata (Greece)

2Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Plant Pathology,

Votanicos 11855 Athens (Greece)

52 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

In the second communication the world hazelnut situation and the research pro­grams agenda was sketched by C. Fide­ghelli (Horticulture Research Centre of Rome, Italy).

The official statistics of FAO actually clas­sify 32 countries as hazelnut producers whereas, about ten years ago, only 15 countries were listed as hazelnut produ­cers. In the meantime, the total produc­tion has increased from 617.000 to about 960.000 tons highlighting how Asia has in­creased it more than Europe (+ 64,7% and + 40,6% respectively).

In spite of the increasing number of pro­ducing countries, the hazelnut crop is still concentrated in two Mediterranean coun­tries: Turkey and Italy, covering together about 83% of the world production. Other important hazelnut producers are the USA (4.3%), Spain (2.6%), Iran (1.9%), and China (1.5%).

The invited speaker also reported that the main varieties adopted in these countries are still traditional and in some of these a selection of non­suckering rootstocks is requested.

Furthermore, it is needed to reduce initial low cropping of new orchards, promoting the tendency to increase the plant densi­ty that has been proved to be positive and gradually replacing the multisystem bush training system (figure 3), which is the most common system in hazelnut cultiva­tions. Finally, the invited speaker highligh­ted that the mineral fertilization has been the object of a wide research activity.

A total number of 133 scientific papers, divided in 58 oral presentations and 75 posters, was presented covering the themes of the six different scientific ses­sions: 1) Germplasm and Genetic Im­provement, 2) Biology and Physiology, 3) Orchard Management, 4) Pests and Dis­eases, 5) Post Harvest, Quality and Indus­try, 6) Marketing, Economics and Policies. All communications stressed how the pro­

ductive, technical and market context of the hazelnut sector is rapidly changing. The main and most innovative issues dis­cussed in each session are summarized in the following sections.

Germplasm and Genetic Improvement One of the most interesting communica­tions of this session emphasized on a Community programme on the conser­vation, characterisation and utilization of genetic resources in agriculture (SAFE­NUT project ­ Safeguard of almond and hazelnut genetic resources from tradi­tional uses to modern agroindustrial op­portunities). This represents an example of a resourceful strategy for re­organizing and sharing in a more efficient manner the genetic resources, upgrading the knowledge on their value and uses. One of the main objectives of the project was the centralization of available hazelnut germplasm, harmonizing the standard descriptors for a common characteriza­tion of cultivars. This included the crea­tion of a core collection and gene banks. The project involved 11 partners from 6 European Countries (Italy, Spain, Portu­gal, France, Greece and Slovenia) inclu­ding the ONGs Lega Ambiente and Far­mer’s Association.

Another innovative contribution reported about the research activities carried out by the Catalan Research Institute (IRTA­Reus). The topic focused on solving some pro­blems related to local hazelnut cultivation, since, in this area, trees of the main adop­ted cultivar ‘Negret’ tend to develop low vigor, iron chlorosis and high sucker emis­sion. Thus, a rootstock selection started in the early 1990s in Catalonia and the pro­mising ‘Negret­N·9’ clone was grafted onto four clonal rootstocks (‘Dundee’, ‘New­berg’, ‘Tonda Bianca’ and ‘IRTA­MB·69’ selection) and compared to an own­rooted ‘Negret­N·9’ clone. The most interesting results have been presented.

A paper about the activities conducted in the USDA Agricultural Research Service of Corvallis (Oregon, USA), where a gene­

bank representing world hazelnut diversity (Corylus spp.) is present, was discussed.

Other out­standing communications of this session focused on hazelnut candi­date genes for pathogen perception and on new sources of resistance to “eastern filbert blight” and its linked markers.

Almost twenty posters were related to this session, highlighting many aspects on ge­netic improvement as the current progress in hazelnut breeding programs spread in the world, the evaluation of genetic diver­sity among Corylus spp and relationships among Italian and Spanish cultivars, using ISSR and RAPD markers. Some of these contributions reported on agronomic ob­servation of new interspecific hybrids re­cently obtained in China, studies of bio­metrical methods to reinforce selection efficiency in hazelnut and a hazelnut BAC library for map­based cloning of disease resistance genes.

Biology and PhysiologyIn this session traditional vegetative pro­pagation and rooting of hazelnut were re­ported as rather problematical and, some reports, focused on the importance to ob­tain commercial production of certified plant materials using in vitro techniques. A three­step protocol for efficient micro­propagation using TDZ medium for im­proving axillary bud formation has been discussed.

Furthermore, in this session some re­searchers highlighted that the European hazelnut is a monoeciuos tree that exhi­bits sporophytic self­incompatibility. This is related to a genetic system that pre­vents the self­fertilization allowing the pis­til to throw back the pollen of genetically close individuals. Self­incompatibility is controlled by a single multi­allelic locus (S locus) and, although studies on gene regu lation of fertility, pollination and ferti­lization in hazelnut are few, new contribu­tions to the knowledge about the mecha­nism of sporophytic self­incompatibility in hazelnut were proposed.

Figure 2. Participants of the Congress at the VIIth International Hazelnut, S. Maria in Gradi, Viterbo (Italy, 2008).

Figure 3. Typical Italian hazelnut orchard trained to multisystem bush system.

53FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Ten posters were presented in the ses­sion reporting recent innovations about physiological aspects of propagation, im­proving micropropagation technics, cut­ting and grafting in the C. avellana and C. colurna germplasm and focusing on the need to obtain certified material of propa­gation and non­sucker rootstocks.

Results about evaluation of cold resis­tance hibryds of C. avellana x C. hetero-phylla were also reported.

Orchard ManagementIn session 3 the discussion emphasised that hazelnut is sensitive to water stress. Because of low water availability and ir­regular yearly rain distribution, drought conditions are becoming common in many hazelnut areas, as in Latium, which is the second area of hazelnut production in Italy. Drip irrigation based on water bal­ance is then an appropriate technique to improve production and growth, optimi­sing water use. In this area a water supply of 75% of evapotranspiration has resulted a valid irrigation level for hazelnut cultivars ‘Tonda Gentile Romana’, ‘Tonda di Giffoni’ and ‘Nocchione’.

Communications about pruning of mature hazelnut trees of Italian cultivars, the ef­fect of foliar boron application on fruit set in ‘Tombul’ hazelnut, foliar fertilizers in Ore­gon (USA) and the evolution of the hazelnut harvesting technique have been discussed.

About twenty posters were presented in the orchard management session, dis­cussing many aspects of cultural technics applied in the different world hazelnut pro­duction areas, as soil management, irri­gation requirement and systems, summer pruning, alternative sucker control, me­chanical pruning and biomass recycling and evaluation of safety and health as­pects of workers exposed for a long time to dust, noise and vibration.

Pests and DiseasesThe most relevant topics discussed in this session regarded the constitutive and in­duced resistance in hazelnut cultivars as the chemical inducers acibenzolar­S­me­thyl (BTH), β−aminobutyric acid (BABA) and potassium monophosphate (KH

2PO4) for their capacity to control hazelnut can­kers caused by Cytospora corylicola, Bot-ryosphaeria obtusa and Biscogniauxia mediterranea. These chemical inducers were used for the induction in hazelnut tis­sues of pathogenesis related (PR) proteins β−1.3 glucanase, chitinase and peroxidise, as biochemical indicators of resistance.

The latest on the control of “Gray necro­sis” of hazelnut fruit, a fungal disease caused by Fusarium lateritium, were re­ported.

Finally, new information management technologies, such as geographic infor­mation techniques (GIS) and geostatis­tics, which have been recently applied in the study of spatially related data in plant pathology have been presented underling this innovative approach in the hazelnut cultivation.

Sixteen posters were presented in this session mainly focusing on new approach­es in control of common hazelnut pests and diseases, applying both conventional and organic approaches, and also high­lighting new problems that recently occur in some hazelnut cultivation areas.

Post Harvest, Quality and IndustryResearchers discussed about some chemical markers to evaluate quality and safety of roasted hazelnut in order to de­fine the consequent aroma development and eventual toxic compounds that could be produced de novo during roasting, as e.g. carcinogenic acrylamide.

Other important aspects treated in this session were related to non­destructive approaches to measure quality of hazel­nuts during storage as NIR and MRI instru­ments and focused on phenolic charac­terization of some hazelnut cultivars from different European germplasm collections.

Twenty posters were presented in this session highlighting the chemical compo­sition and nutritional properties (phenols characterization, vitamin E, minor sugars components) and sensory seeds evalua­tion, as well as the recent in-vitro applica­tions to produce bioactive molecules and phenols extract from C. avellana tissues using bioreactor cultures.

Marketing, Economics and PoliciesSeveral papers debated the economic and commercial interest for hazelnut cul­tivation. The main aspects reported in this session were: effects of organic cultivation methods on productivity and profitability; effects of Turkey’s accession to the EU on hazelnut markets; trade effect of European aflatoxin standards on Turkish hazelnut ex­ports.

As reported by many authors, organic ha­zelnut cultivation shows remarkable diffe­rences within the area as compared to the conventional system, both from a struc­tural and territorial diffusion point of view.

A presentation is focused on how Turkish agricultural policy should be harmonized with the EU Common Agricultural Policy before the accession. The results have shown that liberalization of the hazelnut market and harmonization of the hazel­nut policies causes a decrease in hazelnut prices. In spite of the decreasing domes­

tic supply, hazelnut demand would be in­creased by these low prices both in Tur­key and the EU. In welfare terms, while hazelnut producers would lose, consum­ers and taxpayers would gain both in Tur­key and the EU. However, Turkey should conform to further issues such as residual food security rules, environmental mea­sures and higher product quality. More specifically, the EU aflatoxin standard, which is obeyed compulsorily by impor ter countries, affects mostly Turkish export due to its market share of hazelnut.

Finally, six posters were presented in this session. The synthesized results showed that today Italy and Turkey are developing a modern hazelnut production system, by applying organic farming methods. Ano­ther fact raised to the attention of the con­gressists by Americans and Europeans was the consumer’s demand for specific quality standards.

Apart from the scientific sessions, two technical tours were organized. The first tour included a visit to Stelliferi & Itavex s.p.a. company, which is an enterprise that is specialised in processing, packa­ging and marketing of Italian and foreign nuts. Then, a germplasm collection field and some orchards were visited.

The third day of the Congress was dedi­cated to mechanization aspects, thus a visit to FACMA s.r.l., an international com­pany that creates machinery for all kind of agricultural activities, and a mechanical harvest demonstration at the APRONVIT hazelnut growers association were orga­nized.

Within this context, the 7th International Congress on Hazelnut gave the oppor­tunity to strengthen relations among re­searchers and experts of the different countries. The scientific communications, the technical tours, the round table, fo­cused on innovation and market topics, and even the informal and convivial mo­ments, gave an opportunity to discuss about the state­of­the­art and the possi­ble development of the hazelnut sector. The next International Congress on Hazel­nut will be held in Temuco (Chile) in March 2012.

V. Cristofori1 and B. Pancino2

Members of the Editorial Board of the Seventh International Congress on Hazelnut

Proceedings1Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy (DAFNE). University of Tuscia, Via San

Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.e­mail: valerio75@unitus.it

2Department of Economics & Management (DEIM). University of Tuscia, Via del Paradiso 1,

01100 Viterbo, Italy.e­mail: bpancino@unitus.it

54 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

THE 4th INTERNATIONAL CHESTNUT SYMPOSIUM

The IVth International Chestnut Symposi­um was held in Miyun, Beijing from 25­28 September, 2008. It was organized by Bei­jing University of Agriculture, Miyun Peo­ple’s Government of Beijing and Miyun Municipal Rural Affair Committee under the auspices of the International Society for Horticultural Science.

At the opening ceremony Q. Ling, Sympo­sium Convener, expressed a cordial wel­come to all participants. She was followed by G. Bounous, Chair of the ISHS Wor­king Group on Chestnuts, and D. Avan­zato, Chair of the ISHS Section Nuts and Mediterranean Climate Fruits. Q. Ling was awarded the ISHS Medal in recognition of her service to the Society as Convener of this International Symposium.

The participation was impressive. Present were 200 participants from 15 countries including China, USA, Italy, Turkey, Roma­

nia, Portugal, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc.

About 40 oral presentations and pos­ters on a wide range of topics relating to chestnut were presented. The symposium mainly consisted of the following five ses­sions: 1. Chestnut Growing, Economy, Marketing, Harvest and Fruit Processing 2. Biology, Physiology and Ecology 3. Genetics, Breeding, Biotechnology and Plant Development 4. Plant Protection 5. Orchard and Forest Management

In the first thematic area, Chestnut Grow­ing, Economy, Marketing, Harvest and Fruit Processing, the emphasis was laid on the chestnut tree as a major resource. D. Avanzato gave an overview on the In­ternational Society for Horticulture Scien­ce and on the chestnut industry in the EU and former communist European coun­tries. Mr. Wang Tie­ming, director of Bei­jing Miyun Forest Breuer, introduced the

development situation of chestnut in theo­ry and in practice in Miyun District in Bei­jing.

The thematic area Biology, Physiology and Ecology was opened by an interesting keynote lecture presented by Z. Cheng­le on the “Study of variation of mineral ele­ments content in chestnut stands”. Also, cryopreservation, propagation and micro­propagation of chestnut were reported in this session.

The session Genetics, Breeding, Biotech­nology and Plant Development started with the topic “Chromosomal location of ribosomal genes in Chinese and American chestnut”, presented by N. Islam­Faridi. F. Dane from Auburn University presented the comparative phylogeography of Cas-tanea species.

For the session Plant Protection there were 12 presentations on the disea­ses and protection of chestnuts and one poster with the dispersion of Cryphonec-

Participants of the 4th International Chestnut Symposium, Beijing (China, 2008).

D. Avanzato (left) and G. Bounous (right) handing out the ISHS Medal

to Prof. Q. Ling (center).

The election campaign for holding the 5th International Chestnut Symposium (left: P. H. Sisco, right: D. W. Fulbright).

55FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

tria parasitica in chestnuts of different progenies. Some of them reported on the chestnut diseases using aerial photo­graphy and geostatistical methods. Othe r presentations focussed on the main chest nut diseases.

In the last session, Orchard and Forest Management, the work and information on the management of coppice forests, orchard cultivation of coppice forests, ir­rigation, soil management practices and the effect of cultivation on the nutrient budget and nut quality were discussed.

The field visit of the symposium was or­ganized to the Miyun Mountain Region and chestnut orchards. All of the partici­pants saw the chestnut cultivation and growing situation in the Miyun district.

The chestnut production has been effec­tively increased and its excellent qua lity has been maintained by using modern management methods, modern techno­logy for tree control in intensive (compact) planting orchards and an efficient control of vermin and diseases, soil improvement and the corresponding technology as to orchard / tree height control.

Concerning the technology applied to in­tensive (compact) planting orchards, the idea of organic planting was adopted in order to improve the quality of the chest­nut and its environment. For the pesticide management, the “IPM” idea was adopted to reduce and control pests and diseases. For instance, black light lamps and animals were used to trap and combat pests. In or­der to control tree height, reasonable pru­ning was performed to improve light and space, and the nutrition was balanced to ensure tree health.

At the closing ceremony, the conclusions of the IVth. International Chestnut Sym­posium, composed by the Scientific Com­mittee and with the agreement of the Or­ganizing Committee, were presented by the Chairperson. These were as follows:

1. Over the years, researchers working with the chestnut tree have shown their dedication and love to this multipurpose tree and have achieved important and in­novative scientific results.

2. Our love and trust in the chestnut tree should be shown. Trust that chestnut can contribute significantly to the develop­ment of rural economy, trust that roasted chestnuts will smell in the big city squares and corners of major streets all over the world.

3. The cooperation in chestnut research should be strengthened, especially in pre­vention and control of ink disease, collec­

6th INTERNATIONAL WALNUT SYMPOSIUM HELD IN

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

The 6th International Walnut Symposium held in Melbourne in February 2009, was a great success and a significant mile­stone for the Australian Walnut Industry Association. It began with a Pre Sympo­sium Tour where walnut researchers from

all parts of the globe gathered together with walnut industry members from Aus­tralia and New Zealand to learn about wal­nut production in Australia.

The tour began in Griffith which is loca­ted in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in central New South Wales and the first stop was Walnuts Australia. This walnut project is Australia’s largest with trees covering 865 hectares, the area is flat and the red soil is well­drained for medium clay. Dele­gates enjoyed the coach tour and learned about the history of this young orchard. Planting began in 2004, the orchard lay­out is 8 x 4 m and soil preparation work in­cluded deep ripping of the tree lines with GPS steered machines and mounding of the top soil. The first commercial har­vest was due to commence a few weeks after our visit. Other orchards visited on the pre­symposium tour were located south of the Murray River in Victoria and delegates were also treated to some real Aussie bush experiences.

The Conference in Melbourne began with an official welcome and to the de­light of the overseas guests; the few short speeches were followed by an interac­tive show of Australian wildlife where de­legates were greeted by a laughing koo­kaburra, colourful parrot, cuddly koala, and a range of reptiles including a py­thon, crocodile and frill­necked lizard. Two nights later the Symposium dinner also offered an Aussie flavour with didgeri­doo welcome and songs and dancing to a bush band.

To launch the Symposium, Convenors, L. Titmus and B. Goble, introduced Victo­ria’s Minister of Agriculture, Hon. J. Helper MP, who officially opened the Symposium. They then welcomed International Society for Horticultural Science Executive Com­mittee member, D. Avanzato.

The first Keynote Address, “A global per­spective of walnut production”, was pre­sented by D. McNeil, Scientific Committee Chairman and Director of Tasmanian Insti­

Delegate group of the 6th International Walnut Symposium, Melbourne (Australia, 2009).

tion and exchange of chestnut germplasm resources, and shortened breeding cycles of chestnut cultivar.

4. Chestnuts are in shortage in the world market, but they have much untapped potential development. It is our duty to convince our governments to implement policies and to support the growers to in­crease their production in a combined ef­fort to promote the chestnut tree, its pre­cious nuts and its valuable timber.

At the end of the symposium, the Chair­person on behalf of the Organizing Com­mittee thanked all the participants for coming to the symposium from all over the world to present the results of their work and share their experience. The symposium ended with a loud and long applause by the participants to the Chi­nese organizers in appreciation of the im­mense task of hosting the IVth Internation­al Chestnut Symposium in such an excel­lent way. W. MacDonald of West Virginia University will host the 5th International Chestnut Congress in October 2012. His e­mail address is: macd@wvu.edu.

Q. LingCollege of Plant Science and Technology,

Beijing University of AgricultureAddress: No.7 in Beinong Road, Huilongguan,

Changpin District, Beijing, The People’s Republic of China ­ Post code: 102206

E­mail: qinling@bac.edu.cnqinlingbac@126.com

56 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

tute of Agricultural Research at the Uni­versity of Tasmania, Australia. This was followed by presentations on all facets of walnut production by local and over­seas scientists from Chile, China, France, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, United States and Australia.

Some of the most interesting and visu­ally captivating presentations described the diversity of the walnut genus, inclu­ding species native to forests in China and the rocky foothills in Iran. This genetic di­versity is, of course, of particular interest because many genetic characteristics are utilised in breeding programs. Delegates were also most interested to hear presen­tations highlighting the differing nut and tree characteristics valued in breeding programs and evaluation of different cul­tivars and rootstocks, particularly as many of the cultivars such as those from Roma­nia, Iran, Hungary and China, were un­known to most delegates.

Propagation technology was another to­pic of great fascination for delegates who learnt of developments in tissue culture and in root cuttings for rootstock propa­gation. Of particular interest to Australian delegates whose crops had recently been affected by sunburn during a spell of ex­treme summer weather, was the presenta­tion outlining the mitigating effect of kao­lin spray on walnut quality in California. Other sections of the Symposium inclu­ded presentations on Orchard Manage­ment, Pest Management, Walnut Physio­logy and Post Harvest. The final presen­tation on the benefits of walnut consump­tion made a positive conclusion. The nu­merous Poster presentations covered a diverse range of topics and created much informal discussion between sessions.

Before closing the Symposium, ISHS Exe­cutive Committee member, D. Avanzato, congratulated G. McGranahan on being re­elected Chair of the ISHS Working Group on Walnuts. Congratulations were also ex­tended to J. Tian, representing China, on China’s successful bid to host the 7th Inter­national Walnut Symposium in 2013.

The Symposium was a success on many levels but perhaps the most valuable outcome was the exchange of scientific knowledge between different countries. Congratulations go to the IWS 2009 Con­venors and all the organising Committee on a very successful Symposium.

J. WilkinsonEditor of Australian Nutgrower and member of

the Australian Walnut Industry Association.PO Box 1, DARGO Victoria Australia 3862

Email: nutgrower@eastvic.net

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON PISTACHIO

AND ALMOND

The 5th International Symposium on Pis­tachio and Almond under the auspices of the International Society for horticultu­ral Science (ISHS) was very successfully held in Sanliurfa, Turkey from 06 to 10 Oc­tober 2009. Participants from Turkey and all continents of the world took part. The symposium was organized by the Univer­sity of Harran, the Faculty of Agriculture ­ Department of Horticulture. It was sup­ported by University Directories, the Go­vernor of Sanliurfa and other Government Companies such as the the Mayor of San­liurfa and GAP Research and Development Administration, GAP Soil Water Resources and Agricultural Research Institute, Gazi­antep Pistachio Research Institute, Sanli­urfa Regional Directorate of Agrarian Re­form, Gaziantep Trade and Industry Cham­ber, Sanliurfa Trade and Industry Chamber, Agriculture Chamber, Regional Directorate State Hydraulic Works (D.S.I.), Sanliurfa Trade Exchance, and other supporters for this meeting from private sectors.

The opening ceremony started with a wel­come lecture by B. E. Ak, convener of the symposium and head of the Department of Horticulture, in which he extended his thanks and gratitude to the distinguished participants, particularly those from other countries. He also very cordially thanked the members of the Scientific and orga­nization Committees and his colleagues of the Faculty of Agriculture and the Ga­ziantep Pistachio Research Institute. He continued his speech thanking the Direc­toriate of ISHS, and Rector of our Uni­versity, Harran for his encouragement and support to organize this meeting and the Dean of Agriculture Faculty. Special thanks were addressed to the Chair D. Avanzato of the Nuts and Mediterranean Climate Fruit Section and the CIHEAM­IAMZ Zaragoza, FAO­CIHEAM Nut Net­work and Gaziantep Pistachio Research Institute for their support, apart from other kind of sponserships and support.

B. E. Ak gave an overview on the South­east Anatolia Region. The South East Anatolia Region, where Sanliurfa is loca­ted is one of major regions where pis­tachio is grown intensively. Before the Atatürk Dam was established, agriculture used to continue under drought condi­tions without irrigation. However, today pistachio and other agricultural crops are grown applying irrigation facilities. Wa­ter supply will contribute to obtain higher yields and improved crop quality. Although pistachio has been grown in this region for many years under drought conditions with low air humidity, today almond orchards

show an increasing development in this region because of different advanta­ges. Dr. Ak stated that such meetings are very useful for the exchange of scientific knowledge in relevant fields and genetic material among the different contributing countries and an efficient collaboration network can be initiated and also better relationships should be developed among the related countries to improve opportu­nities to grow pistachio and almond.

The second presentation was delivered by M. A. Cullu, Dean of the Agriculture Facul­ty. He was most warmly welcomed by the prominent participants and the esteemed scientists participating in this symposium. M. A. Cullu reported on the faculty facili­ties. The third presentation was made by D. Avanzato, representative of ISHS. At first he warmly welcomed all the distin­

D. Avanzato, Chair of the Nuts and Mediterranean Climate Fruit Section (ISHS).

B.E. Ak, Convener of the Symposium.

57FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Delivery of the Symposium souvenir to people and Institutions, specially related to the Symposium.

guished guests and expressed his deep appreciation and thanks to all organi­zers of this symposium. He stated that this symposium would be a good oppor­tunity for exchanging the latest research highlights, meeting other participating re­searchers and collaborators in order to get more acquainted with new advances and new technologies. He made a short introduction and gave additional informa­tion about ISHS activities and invited all participants to join the ISHS to streng­then this international society.

The fifth presentation was made by I. H. Mutlu, who is the rector of the University. He gave some information about the Uni­versity and Sanliurfa and he offered the University facilities for future collaboration with all countries on scientific and educa­tional topics.

The program was as follows: Tuesday October 06 ­ After the welcoming ceremony, two scientific sessions (mor­ning and afternoon) were conducted.

Wednesday October 07: A scientific ses­sion was scheduled in the morning while the afternoon was dedicated to a techni­cal visit in the historical place of the Har­ran ruins.

Thursday, October 08: A technical visit was programmed to the experimental al­mond and pistachio orchards and to a pri­vate production and processing farm at Ceylanpinar State Farm.

Friday October 09: Two scientific sessions were conducted before the closing cere­mony.

Saturday October 10: A technical trip was organized to the Gaziantep region, which is the most popular zone for pistachio growing. Visit to the Pistachio Research Institute.

Scientific Programme Different coun­tries were represented: Algeria, Australia,

Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Is­rael, Italy, USA, Morocco, Portugal, Ser­bia, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey. This pro­gramme received 246 presentations: 113 oral and 133 poster presentations, which gathered 132 contributions on pistachio and 114 on almond. The papers were di­vided into nine sessions, including:

1. Pollination and fruit set2. Physiology and nutrition3. Propagation and rootstocks4. Cultivars and breeding5. Biotechnology6. Orchard management7. Plant protection8. Harvesting and processing9. Economics and marketing

Among the topics developed by the dif­ferent speakers, germplasm characterisa­tion and assessment, development of new varieties, pollinators and new rootstocks

through hybridisation aim to improve the expansion of these crops, their produc­tivity and their environmental adaptation. The effect of conservation and proces­sing techniques on quality products has also been emphasized. Moreover, more interest was performed on the post­har­vest stage effect to ensure healthy and good quality products, especially on afla­toxin contamination. At local and interna­tional level, pistachios and almonds mar­ket surveys in different countries are con­ducted to increase market share through the improvement of product quantity and quality, the development of new post­har­vest treatment systems, processing and packaging and the adoption of effective marketing strategies.

Technical ProgrammeTechnical tours scheduled gave informa­tion about the fruit tree orchards in the University of Harran. Similarly, the visit to the experimental orchards of pistachio and almond in the Ceylanpinar area gave an overview of the research programs un­derway and some results obtained. In the experimental orchard visits, different stu­dies were conducted on the effect of root­stocks on growth and productivity of pis­tachio, the scion/rootstock compatibility, the assessment of main Turkish varieties in comparison with foreign varieties and the effect of irrigation on production. All the steps of pistachio (cv. ‘Siirt’) mechani­cal dehulling were observed in a private post­harvest processing manufacture. The last day of the Symposium, an ex­cursion was made to Gaziantep, the main pistachio growing area. The visit of seve­ral pistachio orchards showed the orchard

Participants of the Symposium.

58 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

CASTANEA 2009, FIRST EUROPEAN CONGRESS ON

CHESTNUT

Under the auspices of the FAO/CIHEAM Nut network, the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and the Ita­lian Society of Horticultural Science (SOI), Castanea 2009 was organized, the 1st Eu­ropean Congress on Chestnut, held in Cu­neo (Italy) in October 2009, together with the 5th Italian Congress of Chestnut.

The cooperation among FAO/CIHEAM Nut network, ISHS and SOI allowed to involve a large number of experts coming from many countries.

More than 300 scientists, researchers, in­dustry managers, stakeholders, farmer s, policy makers, students and technici­ans involved with science and business of chestnut, attended Castanea 2009. Countries represented, other than Italy, included: Albania, Australia, Brazil, Bul­garia, People’s Rep. of China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hun­

gary, Japan, Lebanon, Portugal, Roma­nia, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slove­nia, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States of America for a total of 25 European and extra European Coun­tries, representing 4 Continents.

The congress coincided with the XIth Na­tional Chestnut Fair, the largest Italian commercial fair and exhibition on chest­nut. The activity of the FAO/CIHEAM Nut network was presented by the Coordina­tor M. Rovira, who emphasized the role of the network to promote the activities re­lated to nut production.

The opening ceremony started with the cordial welcome speech of A. Valmaggia, Mayor of the town of Cuneo, followed by the address of E. Barberis, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tori no. D. Avanzato, Chair of the ISHS Secti on Nuts and Mediterranean Climate Fruits, gave an update on ISHS activities and membership and P. Inglese, President of the Italian Society for Horticultural Scien­ce, emphasized the role of R&D for the progress of horticulture. Authorities repre­senting the agricultural sector of Piemon­te Region, Cuneo Province, Local Bank Foundations, Local Chamber of Agricul­ture and Commerce, welcomed the audi­ence.

In his opening remarks G. Bounous, FAO/CIHEAM Liaison Leader of the Subnet­work on Chestnut and Chairperson of the ISHS Working Group on Chestnuts, sta ted that the chestnut has not only a glorious past but also a promising future. The nuts, which are in shortage in the world mar­ket, are sold as a large array of commodi­ties; timber and coppice are used in many

Chestnut harvesting.

management adopted, the advanced age of some plantations, the scions/root­stocks incompatibility specific in a few rootstocks and some sanitary problems such as aphids and septoria on Pistacia vera leaves. Finally, the trip ended with a visit of the Pistachio Research Institute of Gaziantep. The current research activities in the laboratories of physiology, soil ana­lysis and plant protection were presen ted. During the tour in the experimental or­chards of this institution, the participants visited the nurseries producing grafted pistachio and almond seedlings, the as­sessment plots of male and female varie­ties and progenies issued from hybridiza­tion. An overview was presented on se­veral varieties and pollinators features ob­tained by hybridization.

At the beginning of the symposium a spe­cial ceremony was held to award an ISHS medal to B. E. Ak by D. Avanzato, ISHS representative. Also N. Kaska received ISHS’s medal for his dedication to pista­chio and almond growing.

At the end of the Friday afternoon ses­sion, the closing ceremony was held. First B. E. Ak thanked the participants and ex­plained the tour to be done on Saturday to Gaziantep. Then he invited D. Avanzato to speak as to determine the next meeting. Three proposals were received for hosting the 6th Symposium: from Italy, Spain and Morocco. The researches from the cor­responding countries gave a review on their countries and facilities to organize the next meeting. After voting, Spain was elected as the host for the next symposi­um.

B. E. AkUniversity of Harra. Faculty of Agriculture

Department of Horticulture63200 Sanliurfa, Turkey

E­mail: beak@harran.edu.tr; beak_63@hotmail.com;

baakbekir62@gmail.com

Visit to pistachio orchards during the Symposium.

59FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

ways and the species is a good contribu­tor for carbon sequestration in the atmos­phere and, in addition, the renewable ener­gy and biomass produced by the chestnuts can reduce our dependence from fossil fu­els. Furthermore, in mountainous and mar­ginal areas the chestnut ecosystem plays a fundamental role in soil protection and in the perspective of social welfare.

A total of 210 papers (1 plenary, 8 invit­ed, 85 oral and 116 posters) were presen­ted during the European and Italian con­gresses. The 7 sessions concerned: his­tory, landscape and ecology; biology and genetic resources; chestnut culture; pests and diseases; economics and marketing; harvest, post­harvest, quality and pro­cessing; biomass and energy.

The session on history, landscape and ecology was opened by the plenary lec­ture entitled “The European civilization of the chestnut woods” given by J. R. Pitte (France) who said that in the Mediterra­nean ecosystems “in the Middle Ages and Renaissance and on acid soils, the chest­nut tree produced more calories per acre than cereals”. The session, moderated by V. Galán (Spain) and M. Conedera (Swit­zerland) was rich in contributions: among others the talks regarded the natural and landscape values of the chestnut ecosys­tems (M. Devecchi­Italy), a review of the perspectives of the chestnut between the second and third millennium (M. Adua­Ita­ly) and chestnut wood in cultural heritage (Agresti et al.­Italy).

In the late morning, D. Avanzato present­ed the ISHS volume of the series Scripta Horticulturae: “Following Chestnut Foot­prints” (editors D. Avanzato and G. Bou­nous). The text, written by authors with a high knowledge and experience on chest­nut research, deals with culture, folk­lore, history, gastronomy, cultivation and mana gement of the species in 27 coun­

Participants of the Symposium Castanea 2009, Cuneo (Italy).

tries and on 4 continents.

In the afternoon S. L. Pereira (Spain) was the chairman of the second session fo­cused on biology and genetic resources and opened with the lecture titled: “An integrated approach to assess the gene­tic and adaptive variation of Castanea sa-tiva Mill.” Other papers were focused on breeding, genetic diversity, and molecular characterization of chestnut genotypes. The third session on chestnut culture was moderated by T. Caruso and opened by A. Martins (Portugal) with an invited lecture on different orchard management tech­niques and their effects on productivity and sustainability. The session was also related to the actions to restore chest­nut plantations, considerations about the effects of cultural practices in chestnut stands, grafting and micrografting tech­niques.

The fourth session, chaired by S. Diaman­dis (Greece) and A. Vannini (Italy), focused on pests and diseases issues, was very rich in presentations (18 talks) and cove­red a lot of topics, in particular the biolo­gy and control of the gall wasp (Dryocos-mus kuriphilus), a new insect recently in­troduced in Europe. The keynote speaker was A. Alma (Italy) with the lecture: “The Italian experience in fighting Dryocosmus kuriphilus. Reproducing, spreading and setting of Torymus sinensis” provided a complete overview on the subject. Other papers concerned canker blight and ink disease control. The fifth session was fo­cused on economics and marketing is­sues and two keynote speakers high­lighted the situation of the culture in Italy (C. Prirazzoli) and in China (Q. Ling), by far the leading producer of chestnuts in the world. The session was moderated by A. Soylu (Turkey) and L. Radocz (Hungary).

Harvest, post­harvest, quality and pro ­c e s sin g issues were discussed in the

sixth session (chairperson P. Piccarolo­Italy ) and the keynote speaker, D. Ful­bright (USA), presented the lecture: “Effi­cacy of postharvest treatments for reduc­tion of molds and decay in fresh Michigan chestnuts”. The last session (chairman S. Baldini­Italy) was dedicated to biomass and energy production: a very interest­ing approach in perspective of global cli­matic changes and fossil fuels shortage. The invited speech of Lauteri et al. (Italy) studi ed the chestnut as a model tree spe­cies to develop long term strategies for the conservation of its genetic resources in face of global climatic change; G. Lan­cho emphasized the potentiality of carbon sequestration of chestnut systems of the Iberian Peninsula.

In the evening of the first congress day, at the Faculty of Agriculture was inau­gurated Expo­Castanea, an exhibit or­ganized by G. Beccaro in cooperation with E. Bellini. The Expo presented “the chestnut world” and all what it includes: semi processed and processed traditio­nal and innovative produce for an increa­sing market demand (dried chestnuts and chestnut flour, honey, flakes, mar-rons glacés and in syrup, creams, beer or liquors, etc.). Samples of the best chest­nut cultivars were also presented. At the Expo twelve private companies working in production, nut and timber proces­sing, furniture, tannin, pellets, and ma­chinery for chestnut processing, presen­ted their activities and interacted with the participants. The Expo was also opened to the visitors of the Chestnut Fair and to the students of the local primary and high schools: a good way to disseminate information and knowledge around the chestnut world.

The technical visits provided a range of different experiences. The participants chose from the two possibilities of­fered: a visit to the technical structures

60 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

of storage, packaging and chestnut pro­cessing industries or a field tour. During the “industry tour” participants visited Agrimontana Ltd., a leader company for the production of marrons glacés, and Ballario Ltd., involved in fresh chestnut sorting, storage and packaging. In the field tour the participants assisted to a demonstration of mechanical harvesting (Monchiero and Chianchia companies) and pruning through the technique of tree climbing. Old plantations and mo­dern chestnut orchards were also visi­ted. In the old plantations of Susa valley the participants were welcomed by the notes of the songs of a mountain choir in a typical ethnic costume. During both visits the owners of the farms or food industries offered the participants typi­cal cakes and roasted chestnuts.

Participants and accompanying persons were entertained at the welcome dinner offered by the Mountain Community and during several lunches, where they had the opportunity to taste the local wine & food specialities and enjoy the concert of the Cuneo symphonic orchestra.

Furthermore, Castanea 2009 was orga­nized paying attention to the environmen­tal cost of such kind of events. In order to make the congress more “environmen­tally friendly”, the organizing committee decided to apply the international proce­dure (protocol EMAS­ISO 14001) for the quantification of the CO

2 emitted. To ba­lance the amount of the CO2 produced by Castanea 2009 the Organizing Committee decided to devolve part of the registration fees to the Otonga Foundation in Ecuador, in order to compensate for the produced CO2 emissions.

At the business meeting the participants voted that the 2nd European Chestnut Congress will be held from 9 to 12 Octo­ber 2013 in an itinerant way: Hungary (De­brecen), Romania and Slovak Republic.

The congress was a great opportunity for the participants to share a lot of informa­tion, experiences and knowledge. Feed­back from the participants indicated that they enjoyed the technically informative, warm and friendly feeling of the event.

The photo gallery of the event is avai lable on the official web site of the congress (http://www.arboree.unito.it/casta nea 2009).

G. BounousChairman ISHS Working Group on Chestnuts

Liaison Leader, Subnetwork on Chestnut, FAO/CIHEAM Nut network

Head, Dipartimento di Colture ArboreeUniversità degli Studi di Torino

Grugliasco (TO), ItalyEmail: giancarlo.bounous@unito.it

FINAL MEETING OF THE SAFENUT AGRI GEN RES

ACTION 068

Minutes of the hazelnut meeting (Viterbo, 20 September 2010)

The final meeting of the SAFENUT Action (“Safeguard of Hazelnut and Almond ge­netic resources: from traditional uses to novel agro industrial opportunities”) was held on 20­22 September 2010 in Viterbo and Avezzano, focusing respectively on hazelnut and almond issues. The choice to split the meetings in two parts was purposely taken in order to give the due prominence and visibility to each species in traditional areas of cultivations.

The first part of the meeting, held at the Agriculture Faculty of the University of Tuscia (Viterbo), was organized by ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Techno­logies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), coordinator of SAFENUT, the Academy of Georgofili and the Facul­ty of Agriculture at the University of Tus­cia, under the aegis of the Italian Society of Horticulture (SOI). The program, hereby attached, included a series of presenta­tions describing the hazelnut state of the art at local, national and European level.

The slopes of the Cimini mountains, a few kilometres South of Viterbo, are the most important hazelnut production areas, co­vering over 33,000 hectares of economi­cally marginal land. The high specializa­tion has given rise to a very dynamic in­dustry sector where, side by side to the 9000 plantation holdings, first and second level cooperatives are active in fruit pro­cessing, as well as companies specialized in the construction of harvesting and pro­

cessing machinery. As a consequence, in 2009 the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) “Tonda Romana” was awarded.

Therefore, many of the local actors took this meeting as an opportunity to pre­sent the hazelnut situation in the Viterbo’s area and its implications on environmen­tal, productive and industrial aspects. In particular, following the welcome gree­tings of E. Porceddu, who introduced the aim of the meeting, the head of the Agri­culture Faculty, M. Mancini, expressed his pleasure to host such an important event for the Viterbo’s economy. The Regional Councilor for Agricultural Policies, F. Bat­tistoni, provided an overview of the main activities to be implemented, according to the financial support available at regional level. He also stressed his commitment to foster research activities and similar Eu­ropean actions on hazelnut issues. Then A. Manzo ­ Head of the Department of agro­food development and quality at the Ministry of Food, Forestry and Agricultu­ral Policies – emphasized the importance of such kind of events, particularly when linked to the territorial reality, bringing his experience as the coordinator of the Na­tional working group with the most impor­tant stakeholders of the hazelnut agro­food chain. In this respect, A. Manzo also illustrated the forthcoming financial op­portunities that will be made available by the Agriculture Ministry. The head of the ENEA Technical Unit for Sustainable De­velopment and Agro­industrial Innovation, M. Iannetta, highlighted the importance of projects such as SAFENUT and manifes­ted his fulfillment on the results achieved so far. Finally, S. Gasbarra, the Editorial Director of the scientific journal Corylus and Co. on hazelnut and chestnut spe­cies, offered the possibility to publish the acts of the congress in the next journal’s issue.

The first part of the meeting was chaired by F. Loreti, President of the “Accademia dei Georgofili”, who introduced the follow­ing speakers: • G. Dono (Universty of Viterbo) presented an economic overview of hazelnuts in the area of Viterbo.• E. Contardo (Producers’ Association), focusing on the hazelnut industry.• E. Rugini (University of Viterbo) pinpoin­ted the hazelnut production issues.• L. Varvaro (University of Viterbo), talking about the plant protection aspects.• R. Biasi (University of Viterbo) described the evolution of the hazelnut landscape. • L. Bacchetta (ENEA) introduced the SAFENUT Action, main objectives and general results.• O. Diana (AGRI GEN RES) presented the EC policy on agricultural genetic resour­ces and future opportunities.

Publication released in the frame of the SAFENUT project.

61FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

In the afternoon the meeting was chaired by E. Porceddu who introduced the pre­sentations of the SAFENUT partners which focused on the final results of the project as well as on the importance of the hazelnut crop in the different European Countries:• R. Botta (University of Turin­ Italy) showed the molecular hazelnut’s results.• D. Avanzato (Italian Agricultural Re­search Council (CRA), Italy) presented the latest achievement on the recovery of traditional knowledge and its importance also for future generations as proved by the results of the SAFENUT question­naires. • M. Rovira (Institut de Recerca i Tecno­logia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Spain) fo­cused on the centralization and recovery of the hazelnut germplasm.• J. P. Sarraquigne (Association Natio­nale des Producteurs de Noisette (ANPN), Lamouthe ­ France) provided information on the hazelnut production in France, em­phasising the role of the SAFENUT net­working. • A. Solar (Univerza v Ljubljani, Biotehni­ska Fakulteta, Slovenia) discussed the re­sults on phenolic compounds on Europe­an hazelnut cultivars. • P. Drogoudi and I. Metzidakis (National Agricultural Research Foundation ­ Insti­tute of Olive Trees and Subtropical Plants (NAGREF ­ ISPOT), Greece) produced the

data on mineral content of the European germplasm.• A. P. Silva (Universidade de Trás­os­Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal) fo­cused on the morphological characteriza­tion of hazelnut cultivars in Portugal.

At the end of the presentation the discus­sion drew attention to the significance of the preservation of genetic resources in agriculture, the importance of the core collection as a tool for a more efficient use of the germplasm, mainly for a crop like hazelnut, a perennial species, with high maintenance costs. In this frame a spe­cial attention was also given to the young generations, directly involved in the SAFE­NUT action. The importance of the infor­mation provided on the EC future financial opportunities on agro­biodiversity was also stressed. As a conclusion, the syner­gic, multi­disciplinary approach proved to be the most efficient and fruitful strategy to enhance such a species, and its high global index, at local, national and Euro­pean level.

L. Bacchetta, B. Di GiovanniENEA, UTAGRI

Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e lo Sviluppo

Economico Sostenibile Cassaccia, Via Anguillanese 301000125 Rome, Italy

Participants in the final Meeting of the SAFENUT Agri Gen Res Action 068, in Viterbo (Italy, 2010).

INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON MEDITERRANEAN STONE PINE FOR AGROFORESTRY-AGRO-

PINE 2011

Last 17th­19th November, the Internation­al Meeting on Mediterranean Stone Pine for Agroforestry - AGROPINE 2011 was held in Valladolid, Spain, organised by the Stone pine subnetwork of the FAO­CIHEAM Research Network on Nuts. The meeting brought together about forty ex­perts, researchers, public and private fo­rest managers and land owners, as well as representatives of pine nut processing enterprises from Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey and Lebanon, with some contribu­tion from France and Chile, in order to re­view the current state of the art in Medi­terranean pine nut production in forests and orchards, and to discuss the chal­lenges of the future.

The pine nut, the edible kernel of the Medi­terranean stone pine, Pinus pinea, is one of the world’s most expensive nuts. Al­though well­known and planted since An­tiquity, pine nuts are still gathered mainly from natu ral forests in the Mediterranean countries, and the crop has only recently taken the first steps from wild harvested to domestication as an attractive alternative

62 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Participants to the Meeting, Agropine 2011, Valladolid (Spain).

on rain­fed farmland in Mediterranean cli­mates. The Iberian Peninsula accounts for about 75% of stone pine area in the world, Portugal being the main pine nut produ cer, followed by Spain, Turkey, Lebanon and Ita ly.

During the last century, the Mediterranean stone pine has experienced a range ex­pansion, especially in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Basin, as well as a large increase in planted area in its na­tive countries, both by forest restoration and farmland afforestation. The species performs well on poor soils and needs re­duced cultural practices. It is affected by few pests or diseases and it resists cli­mate adversities such as drought and ex­treme or late frosts. It is light­demanding and hence has potential as crop in agro­forestry systems in Mediterranean climate zones around the world, in tree lines such as shelterbelts adjacent to farmland or pastures or in proper low density orchard plantations.

The AGROPINE Meeting 2011 presented the current knowledge and on­going re­searches about ecological and silvicul­tural aspects of stone pine forests in the Mediterranean basin and the manage­ment applied for cone production as one of the multiple forest functions, fully com­patible with soil and watershed protec­tion, wildlife conservation, and landscape values. The main technological innova­tion in the last years has been the genera­

lized use of tree shakers adapted to stone pines for the mechanical cone harvesting, which makes the manual cone yield by tree climbers, a very dangerous job, obsolete.

Another innovation to increment the world production of Mediterranean pine nuts are plantations of grafted stone pines, as specific orchards or as agroforestry sys­tems that combine with grazing or farm­ing. Plantations on farmland could yield in the future more pine nuts than the natural forests, contributing to rural development and employment for local communities. This “next step” in the way to domesticate this tree allows the specific use of selec­ted genotypes for higher cone yields, ob­tained from decades of evaluation in graf­ted multi­site trials.

The greatest interest during the meeting aroused in the round table about two ma­jor problems of the pine nut sector. The first challenge will be a more effective control of the cone pests, especially two native cone­boring larvae, the pine cone weevil Pissodes validirostris and the pine cone moth Dioryctria mendacella, as well as the Western Conifer Seed Bug Lepto-glossus occidentalis, recently introduced from Northern America to Europe. The damages caused by these insects reduce considerably the cone yield in amount and quality, and an effective biological and in­tegrated control of the pests would im­prove considerably the economic benefit from stone pine.

The other major problem of the pine nut as food item is the confusion reigning over the identification of the product among traders, consumers, and even public au­thorities responsible for the control of the food industry chain. Pine nuts are among the most expensive nuts of the world, with retail prices about 60­80 US $ per kg, but at the same time, due to the limited world production, they are a very minor food product in trade volume. There are more than twenty different pine species with edible seeds around the world, though only the kernels of a few major species are traded at international markets, espe­cially Mediterranean, Chinese and Paki­stani pine nuts, whereas American pinion pine nuts are rarely exported. Neverthe­less, pine nuts from different species, or continents, are often not clearly labeled, or they are even mingled, confounding the consumers, in spite of very disparate tastes and dietary values. No other pine seed has a similar taste to the genuine Mediterranean pine nuts from Pinus pinea, nor is any other as rich in protein ­ 35%, a value similar to raw soybeans. Also the processing quality can differ greatly among species, countries and providers, and so do prices in origin.

Thus pine nuts from different species are, and must be recognised as being, distinct products and should be differenced in the market, as an issue of consumers’ rights and even of food safety. This is especial­ly true for Chinese pine nuts, whose com­

63FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

TO BE HELD:

Almond and Pistachio

Sixth ISHS Symposium on Almonds and Pistachios-GREMPA MeetingDate: May 27-31, 2013Place: Murcia (Spain)Convener: Federico Dicenta, CEBAS-CSICE-mail: almond.pistachio.2013@cebas.csic.es96309Tel: 968 396 309

Hazelnut

Eight ISHS Congress on HazelnutDate: March 19-22, 2012Place: Temuco (Chile)Convener: Pablo Grau, Miguel ElenaE-mail: pgrau@inia.cl; fellena@inia.clTel.: +56-45-215706http://hazelnuts2011.cl

Chestnut

Fifth ISHS Chestnut SymposiumDate: September 4-8, 2012Place: Shepherdstown, WV (United States of America)Convener: William MacDonaldAddress: 1090 Ag. Science Building, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6108, United States of America.E-mail: macd@wvu.eduTel.: (1)304 293 8818, Fax: (1)304 293 2960http://chestnutsymposium.wvu.edu/

Walnut

Seventh ISHS Walnut SymposiumDate: July 20-23, 2013Place: Taiyuan, Shanxi Province (China)Convener: Prof. Jianbao TianAddress: Pomology Institute of Shanxi, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanxi, Taigu 030815 ChinaE-mail: tianjb-001@163.comTel.: (86) 0354-6215006

Stone Pine

Meeting of Stone PineDate: 2015Place: Portugal

mercial lots have been found sometimes mixed and mingled with seeds from othe r pine species, some of them even non­edible because of irritating terpenoids and other compounds. The ingestion of Chinese pine nuts (especially from P. ar-mandii) is in the origin of the Pine Mouth Syndrome, an unpleasant bitter, metal­lic taste disturbance that can appear 1­3 days after consumption and lasts for days or even for weeks, sometimes combined with food aversion and other symptoms. Beside these consumer’s health aspects, the lack of traceability and correct pro­duct labelling, identifying the botanical species and the country of origin, is a clear incompliance with current legal require­ments for food labelling and traceability in Europe (Regulation EC 178/2002), based on principles such as transparency, risk analysis and prevention, the protection of consumer interests and the free circulation of safe and high­quality products within the internal market and with third coun­tries. The stone pine supply chain must fulfil these regulations.

The follow­up of the 2011 meeting will be in form of the Stone pine subnetwork within the FAO­CIHEAM cooperative re­search network on nuts, an inter­region­al network participated by CIHEAM and the Regional FAO Offices FAO­REUR (Eu­rope) and FAO­RNE (North Africa and the Middle East). This Network forms part of the European System of Cooperative Re­search Networks in Agriculture ESCORE­NA. The next plenary meeting about stone pine is foreseen in 2015 in Portugal.

The abstract proceedings and all com­munications presented at the AGROPINE 2011 meeting are uploaded at the mee ting web page www.iamz.ciheam.org/agro­pine2011.

Acknoweledgements The 2011 meeting was supported by the Spanish National Institute for Agri culture and Food Research and Technology INIA (ACCIÓN COMPLE­MENTARIA AC2011­00031­00­00), the Mediterranean Agronomic Insti­tute of Zaragoza IAMZ­CIHEAM, the FAO­CIHEAM nut Network, the Fo­restry and Forest Industry Services and Promotion Centre of Castilla y León CESEFOR, the Junta de Cas­tilla y León, the Sustainable Fo rest Management Research Institute U. Valladolid­INIA, the Catalonian Ins ti­tute for Research and Technology in Food and Agriculture (IRTA), the Fo­rest Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), Piñonsol (Soc. Coop.), FAO, AECID and FEDER.

64 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

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Gonçalves, B.; Borges, O.; Soares Costa, H.; Bennett, R.; Santos, M. Silva, A.P., 2010. Metabolite compo-sition of chestnut (Castanea sativa Miller) upon cooking: Proximate analy-sis, fibre, organic acids and phenolics. Food Chemistry, 122:154-160.

Martins, A.; Marques, G.; Borges, O.; Portela, E.; Lousada, J.; Raimundo,

F.; Madeira, M., 2011. Management of chestnut plantations for a multifun-ctional land use under Mediterranean conditions: effects on productivity and sustainability. Agroforestry Systems, 175–189.

Mellano, M.G.; Beccaro, G.; Bounous, G., 2009. La collezione del Centro Re-gionale di Castanicoltura presso il Vi-vaio Gambarello di Chiusa Pesio. In: Teodora Trevisan, Gianfranco latino. La castanicoltura da frutto in Piemonte, vol. 1: 18-19. Torino, Regione Piemonte.

Mellano, M.G.; Beccaro, G.; Bounous, G.; Trasino, C.; Barrel A., 2009. Mor-pho-biological and sensorial quality evaluation of chestnut cultivars in Aos-ta Valley (Italy). Acta Horticulturae, 815: 125-132. ISSN: 0567-7572.

Mellano, M., 2010. Cuneo ed il Pie-monte al centro della castanicoltu-ra europea. Rivista Di Frutticoltura E Di Ortofloricoltura, 10: 70-72. ISSN: 0392-954X.

Miranda-Fontaíña, M.E.; Fernández-López, J.; Vettraino, A.M. Vannini, A., 2007. Resistance of Castanea Clones to Phytopthora Cinnamomi: Testing and Genetic Control. Silvae Genetica, 56 (1): 11-21.

Sartor, C.; Mellano, M.; Quacchia, A.; Alma, A.; Botta, R., 2007. Cinipide gal-ligeno del castagno: prospettive di imp-iego di strategie da affiancare alla lotta biologica. Italus Hortus, 14 (2), supple-mento: 130-130, ISSN: 1127-3496.

Osterc, G.; Štefančič, M.; Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2007. The effect of seve-rance date on rooting ability of chest-nut cuttings and associated changes in phenolic content during adventi-tious root formation. Phyton (Horn), 46 (2): 285-294.

Osterc, G.; Štefančič, M.; Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2007. Potential involve-ment of flavonoids in the rooting re-sponse of chestnut hybrid (Castanea crenata x Castanea sativa) clones. Aust. j. exp. agric., (47): 96-102.

Osterc, G.; Štefančič,M.; Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2008. Phenolic content in cuttings of two clones of hybrid chest-nut (Castanea crenata x Castanea sativa) in the first days after cutting severance. Acta Agric. Scand., B Soil Plant. Sci., (58) 2: 162-168.

Osterc, G.; Štefančič, M.; Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2009. Stecklingsver-mehrung der Esskastanie (Castanea sp.) : Realität oder Utopie. Allg. Forst- Jagdztg., (180) 5/6: 89-93.

Pinto, T.M.S.; Anjos, M. R.; Martins, N. V.; Gomes-Laranjo, J.; Ferreira-Cardoso, J.; Peixoto, F., 2011. Struc-tural Analysis of Castanea sativa Mill. Leaves from Different Regions in the

Tree Top. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 117–124.

Portela, E.; Pires, C.; Louzada, J., 2010. Magnesium Deficiencies in Chestnut Groves: The influence of soil manganese. J Plant Nutr. 452–460.

Portela, E.; Ferreira-Cardoso, J.; Lou-zada, J., 2011. Boron application on a chestnut orchard: effect on yield and quality of nuts. J Plant Nutr, 1245–1253.

Silva, A.P.; Santos-Ribeiro, R.; Borg-es, O.; Magalhães, B.; Silva, M.E.; Gonçalves, B., 2011. Effects of Roast-ing and Boiling on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Eleven Por-tuguese Chestnut Cultivars (Casta­nea sativa Mill.). CyTA - Journal of Food, 9 (3): 214-219. http://dx.doi.org/19476337.2010.518249.

Warmund, M.R.; Enderton, D.J.; Van Sambeek, J.W., 2010. Bur and nut production on three chestnut cultivars. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 64 (2):110-119.

HAZELNUT

Boccacci, P.; Rovira, M.; Botta, R., 2008. Genetic diversity of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) germplasm in northeastern Spain. HortScience, 43: 667-672.

Bruck, D. J.; Walton, V.M., 2007. Sus-ceptibility of the Filbertworm (Cydia­latiferreana, Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and Filbert Weevil (Curculio occiden­talis, Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Entomopathogenic Nematodes. J In-vert Path, 96: 93-96.

Campa, A.; Trabanco, N.; Pérez-Ve-ga, E.; Rovira, M.; Ferreira, J.J., 2011. Genetic relationship between cultivat-ed and wild hazelnuts (Corylus avel­lana L.) collected in northern Spain. Plant Breeding, 130: 360-366.

Cavallo, E.; Roversi, A., 2010. Prime prove di una nuova potatrice su nocci-olo, IX Giornate Scientifiche SOI, Firen-ze, Italus Hortus vol. 17 (2 suppl.): 163.

Chambers, U.; Bruck, D.; Olsen, J.; Walton, V.M., 2010. Behavior of Over-wintering Filbertworm (Cydialatifer­reana) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Lar-vae and Their Control with Steiner­nemacarpocapsae. Economic Ento-mology, 103 (2): 416-422.

Chen, H., Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Smith, D.C., 2007. Hazelnut accessions provide new sources of resistance to eastern fil-bert blight. HortScience, 42: 466-469.

Cristofori, V.; Rouphael, Y.; Mendo-za-de Gyves, E.; Bignami, C., 2007. A simple model for estimating leaf

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area of hazelnut from linear measure-ments. Scientia Horticulturae, 113 (2): 221-225.

Cristofori, V.; Ferramondo, S.; Ber-tazza, G.; Bignami, C., 2008. Nut and kernel traits and chemical composition of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cul-tivars. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 88 (6): 1091-1098.

Cristofori, V.; Rouphael, Y.; Rugini, E., 2010. Collection time, cutting age, IBA and putrescine effects on root formation in Corylus avellana L., cuttings. Scien-tia Horticulturae, 124 (2): 189-194.

Ercişli, S.; Öztürk, İ.; Kara, M.; Kalkan, F.; Şeker, H.; Duyar, Ö.; Ertürk, Y., 2011. Several physical and mechani-cal properties of major hazelnut geno-types from Turkey. International Agro-physics, 25:115-121.

Erdogan V.; Koksal, A.I.; Aygun. A., 2010. Assessment of Genetic Re-lationships among Turkish hazel-nut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars by RAPD markers. Romanian Biological Letters, 15(5): 5591-5601.

Ertürk, Y.; Çakmakçı, R.; Duyar, Ö.; Turan, M., 2011. The effects of plant growth promotion rhizobacteria (PGPR) on vegetative growth and leaf nutrient contents of hazelnut seed-lings (Turkish hazelnut cv, Tombul and Sivri). International Journal of Soil Sci-ence, 6(3):188-198.

García-Méndez, E.; Fernández, O., Méndez, S., de Sebastíán Palomares, J.J.; Rovira, M.; Aletà, N., 2010. Ca-racterización morfológica y pomológi-ca de germoplasma local de nogal y avellano de Cantabria. Actas de Horti-cultura de la SECH, 55: 259-260.

Gökirmak, T.; Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Bassil, N.V., 2009. Characterization of European hazelnut (Corylus avellana) cultivars using SSR markers. Gene-tic Resources and Crop Evolution, 56: 147-172. DOI 10.1007/s10722-008-9352-8).

Gun, A.; Erdogan, V.; Akcay, M.E.; Fidancı, A.; Tosun, I., 2010. Pistillate flower abscission in Turkish walnut cultivars and its reduction by AVG. 2nd

International Symposium on Sustai-nable Development (ISSD’10). Pro-ceedings, Science and Technology Vol, 3: 29-34. Sarajevo.

Gürcan, K. Mehlenbacher, S. A., 2008. Development and use of microsatel-lite markers in hazelnut. Ann. Rep. Nut Growers Soc. OR, WA & BC 93: 65-67.

Gurcan, K.; Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Er-dogan, V., 2010. Genetic diversity in hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cul-tivars from Black Sea countries as-sessed using SSR markers. Plant Breeding, 129(4): 422-434.

Ferreira, J.J.; Garcia-Gonzalez, C.; Tous, J.; Rovira, M., 2010. Genetic diversity revealed by morphological traits and ISSR markers in hazelnut germplasm from northern Spain. Plant Breeding, 129: 435-441.

Ferreira, J.J.; Trabanco, N.; Pérez.-Vega, E.; Campa, A.; Rovira, M., 2010. Recuperación de variedades tradicionales de avellano asturiano. Tecnología Agroalimentaria (SERI-DA), 7: 2-6.

Gürcan, K. Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2010. Development of microsatellite marker loci for European hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) from ISSR fragments. Mo-lecular Breeding, 26: 551–559. DOI 10.1007/s11032-010-9464-7.

Gürcan, K. Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2010. Transferability of microsatellite mark-ers in the Betulaceae. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 135: 159-173.

Gürcan, K.; Mehlenbacher, S.A., Er dogan, V. 2010. Genetic diver-si ty in hazelnut cultivars from Black Sea countries assessed us-ing SSR markers. Plant Breeding, 129: 422-434. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0523.2009.01753.x.

Gürcan, K.; Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Bot-ta, R. Boccacci, P., 2010. Develop-ment, characterization, segregation, and mapping of microsatellite markers for European hazelnut (Corylus avel­lana L.) from enriched genomic libra-ries and usefulness in genetic diversi-ty studies. Tree Genetics and Genom-es, 6: 513-531. DOI: 10.1007/s11295-010-0269-y.

Jakopič, J.; Mikulič Petkovšek, M.; Slatnar, A.; Solar, A.; Štampar, F.; Veberič, R., 2010. HPLC-MS identi-fication of phenols in hazelnut (Cory­lus avellana L.) kernels. Food chem., 124 (3): 1100-1106.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2007. Hazelnut breeding program – 2007 update Ann. Rep. Nut Growers Soc. OR, WA & BC 92: 75-82.

Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Azarenko, A.N.; Smith, D. C.; McCluskey R. L., 2007. ‘Santiam’ hazelnut. HortScience 42: 715-717.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2008. Hazel-nut breeding program – 2008 update. Ann. Rep. Nut Growers Soc. OR, WA & BC 93: 57-62.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2009. Release of ‘Jefferson’ hazelnut (OSU 703.007) and pollinizers ‘Eta’ and ‘Theta’. Ann. Rep. Nut Growers Soc. OR, WA & BC 94: 57-63.

Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Smith D. C., 2009. ‘Red Dragon’ ornamental hazel-nut. HortScience 44: 843-844.

Olsen, J., 2011. Improvements in Ha-zelnuts in the United States. HortSci-ence, 46 (3): 343-344.

Olsen, J.L.; Pscheidt, J.W., 2011. “2011 Hazelnut Pest Management Guide for the Willamette Valley”, EM 8328: 6 pages.

Roversi, A.; Malvicini, G.L.; Marino, A., 2008. Influence of Ringing and Ir-rigation on Hazelnut Mounding Layer Propagation. Advances in Horticultural Science, 3: 197-200. Roversi, A.; Ughini, V.; Malvicini, G.L.; Sonnati, C., 2008. Nocciolo conven-zionale, più qualità e resa rispetto al bio, Informatore Agrario (25): 40-43..

Roversi, A.; Malvicini, G.L., 2008. Fur-ther observation on hazelnut yielding and fruit quality under organic and con-ventional Management. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on In-tegrated Fruit Production: 423-429.

Roversi, A.; Pansecchi, A.; Malvicini, G.L., 2009. Indagini preliminari sulla potatura meccanica del nocciolo nel Monferrato. L’Informatore Agrario, 34: 56-58.

Roversi, A.; Malvicini, G.L., 2010. Di-agnostica fogliare in corileti in regime biologico e convenzionale, Corylus, 2: 17-22.

Roversi, A., 2011. Osservazioni sui terreni a corileto delle Langhe, Atti del Workshop: La Percezione del Suolo: 211-214.

Rovira, M.; Ferreira, J.J.; Tous, J., 2008. Prospección de avellanos (Corylus avellana L.) en Asturias. Fru-ticultura, 174: 16-23.

Sathuvalli, V.; Mehlenbacher, S. A., 2008. DNA markers linked to novel sources of resistance to eastern filbert blight. Ann. Rep. Nut Growers Soc. OR, WA & BC 93: 63-64.

Sathuvalli, V; Mehlenbacher, S. 2009., A hazelnut BAC library for map-based cloning of a disease resistance gene. Acta Hort., 845: 191-194.

Sathuvalli, V.; Mehlenbacher, S.A.; Smith, D.C., 2010. Response of ha-zelnut accessions to greenhouse in-oculation with Anisogrammaanomala. HortScience 45: 1116-1119.

Sathuvalli, V.R.; Chen, H.L.; Mehlen-bacher, S.A.; Smith, D.C., 2010. DNA markers linked to eastern filbert blight resistance in ‘Ratoli’ hazelnut. Tree Genetics and Genomes, 7: 337-345. DOI: 10.1007/s11295-010-0335-5.

Sathuvalli, V.R.; Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2011. Characterization of American hazelnut (Corylus americana) acces-sions and Corylus americana x Cory­

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lus avellana hybrids using microsatel-lite markers. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. August 2011. DOI 10.1007/s10722-011-9743-0.

Schmitzer, V.; Slatnar, A.; Veberič, R.; Štampar, F.; Solar, A., 2011. Roasting affects phenolic composition and anti-oxidative activity of hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.). J. food sci., (76) 1: S14-S19.

Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2009. Perfor-mance of hazelnut cultivars from Or-egon in Northeastern Slovenia. Hort-Technology (Alex. Va.), (19) 3: 653-659.

Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2011. Charac-terisation of selected hazelnut culti-vars: phenology, growing and yield-ing capacity, market quality and nu-traceutical value. J. Sci. Food Agric., (91) 7: 1205-1212.

Solar, M.; Solar, A., 2008. Merjenje vlage lešnikov s pomočjo kapacitivnos-ti = Determination of the moisture con-tent in hazelnut fruits with capacitance measurement. In: HUDINA, M. (Ed.). Proceeding of 2nd Slovene Fruit Grow-ing Congress with International Par-ticipance, Krško, 31 January - 2 Feb-ruary . Ljubljana: Strokovno sadjarsko društvo Slovenije, 2008: 351-357.

Trabanco, N; Campa, A.; Rovira, M.; Ferreira, J.J., 2010. Relaciones genéticas entre avellanos cultivados y silvestres del norte de España. Ac-tas de Horticultura de la SECH, 55: 261-262.

Ughini, V.; Sonnati, C.; Malvicini, G.L.; Roversi, A.; Facciotto, G.; Bergante, S., 2009. Ecosostenibilità della po-tatura meccanica del nocciolo e con-venienza al recupero delle biomasse prodotte. Quaderni della Regione Pie-monte, Agricoltura & Ricerca “Ricerca applicata in corilicoltura”: 26-44.

Ughini, V.; Malvicini, G.L.; Roversi, A.; Sonnati, C.; Facciotto, G.; Bergante, S., 2009. Potatura meccanica del noc-ciolo e convenienza al recupero delle biomasse. Quaderni della Regione Piemonte, (64): 32-35.

Walton, V.M.; Chambers, U.; Dreves, A.; Bruck, D.J.; Olsen, J.L., 2007. Identification of Invasive and Reemerging Pests on Hazelnuts. Ex-tension publication EM 8946-E.

Walton, V. M.; Chambers, U.; Olsen J. 2009. Hazelnut Pest and Beneficial Insects: An Identification Guide, EM 8979-E.

NUTS

Arcan, İ.; Yemencioğlu, A., 2009. An-tioxidant activity and phenolic content of fresh and dry nuts with or without

the seed coat. Journal of Food Com-position and Analysis, 22 (3): 184-188.

Başaran, P.; Başaran-Akgül, N.; Oksüz, L., 2008. Elimination of Aspergillus par­asiticus from nut surface with low pres-sure cold plasma (LPCP) treatment. Food Microbiology, 25 (4): 626-632.

Silva, A.P.; Gonçalves, B., 2008. Efei-tos benéficos dos frutos secos na saúde. Revista da APH Nº 93 - Abril/Maio/Junho.

Sorkheh, K.; Malysheva-Otto, L.V.; Wirthensohn, M.G.; Tarkesh-Esfahani, S.; Martínez-Gómez, P., 2008. Link-age disequilibrium, genetic associa-tion mapping and gene localization in crop plants. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 31: 805-814.

PISTACHIO

Alturfan, A. A.; Alturfan, E. E.; Uslu, E., 2009. Pistachio consumption has beneficial effects in diabetic rat model. Fırat Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Der-gisi, 23(3):131-135.

Bayram, M., 2011. Comparison of un-split inshell and shelled kernel of the pistachio nuts. Journal of Food En-gineering, Volume 107, Issues 3-4: 374-378.

Güneş, N. T.; Okay, Y.; Köksal, A. İ.; Köroğlu, M., 2010. The effect of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on yield, some fruit characteristics, hormone concentrations, and alternate bearing in pistachio. Turk. J. Agric. For., 34: 33-43.

Kahyaoğlu, T., 2008. Optimization of the pistachio nut roasting process us-ing response surface methodology and gene expression programming. LWT - Food Science and Technolo-gy,41 (1): 26-33.

Polat, R.; Gezer, İ.; Güner, M.; Dur-sun, E.; Erdoğan, D.; Bilim, H. C., 2007. Mechanical harvesting of pista-chio nuts. Journal of Food Engineer-ing, 79 (4): 1131-1135.

Set, E.; Erkmen, O., 2010. The afla-toxin contamination of ground red pepper and pistachio nuts sold in Tur-key. Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 48, Issues p: 2532-2537.

Gamlı, Ö. F.; Hayoğlu, I., 2007. The effect of the different packaging and storage conditions on the quality of pistachio nut paste Journal of Food Engineering, 78 (2): 443-448.

Topcu, G.; Ay, M.; Bilici, A.; Sari-kurkcu, C.; Ozturk, M.; Ulubelen, A., 2007. A new flavone from antioxidant extracts of Pistacia terebinthus. Food Chem. 103, 816–822.

STONE PINE

Gölge, E.; Ova, G., 2008. The ef-fects of food irradiation on quality of pine nut kernels. Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 77 (3): 365-369.

Özgüven, F., Vursavuş, K., 2005. So-me physical, mechanical and aero-dynamic properties of pine (Pinus pi­nea) nuts . Journal of Food Engineer-ing,68 (2): 191-196.

WALNUT

Aletà, N.; Rovira, M., 2008. Compor-tamiento agronómico y productivo de las principales variedades comer-ciales de nogal para fruto. Fruticultu-ra,172: 20-26.

Črepinšek, Z.; Solar, M.; Štampar, F.; Solar, A., 2009. Shifts in walnut (Jug­lans regia L.) phenology due to in-creasing temperatures in Slovenia. The journal of horticultural science & biotechnology, (84) 1: 59-64.

Jakopič, J.; Colarič, M.; Veberič, R.; Hudina, M.; Solar, A.; Štampar, F., 2007. How much do cultivar and preparation time influence on pheno-lics content in walnut liqueur? Food chem., (104): 100-105.

Jakopič, J.; Solar, A.; Colarič, M.; Hu-dina, M.; Veberič, R.; Štampar, F., 2008. The influence of ethanol con-centration on content of total and in-dividual phenolics in walnut alcoholic drink. Acta aliment. (Bp.), (37) 2: 233-239.

Jakopič, J.; Veberič, R.; Štampar, F., 2009. Extraction of phenolic com-pounds from green walnut fruits in different solvents = Ekstrakcija fe-nolnih snovi iz zelenih plodov oreha z različnimi topili. Acta agric. Slov., (93) 1: 11-15.

Kelc, D.; Štampar, F.; Solar, A., 2010. Architectural traits of fruiting shoots in Juglans regia (Juglandaceae) relat-ed to fruiting habit and environmental conditions. Aust. J. Bot., (58) 2: 141-148.

Kelc, D.; Štampar, F.; Solar, A., 2007. Fruiting behaviour of walnut trees in-fluences the relationship between morphometric traits of the parent wood and nut weight. The journal of horticultural science & biotechnology, 82 3: 439-445.

Mešl, M.; Miklavc, J.; Matko, B.; Lešnik, M.; Vajs, S.; Solar, A., 2011. Spremljanje sezonske dinamike ore-hove muhe (Rhagoletis completa Cresson) v SV Sloveniji = Seasonal dynamics of walnut husk fly (Rhago­letis completa Cresson) monitored with yellow sticky plates in NE part of

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Slovenia. In: MAČEK, J.,TRDAN, S. (Eds.). Lectures and Papers Present-ed at the 10th Slovenian Conference on Plant Protection. Podčetrtek, March 1-2, 2011. Ljubljana: Društvo za varst-vo rastlin Slovenije: = Plant Protection Society of Slovenia: 45-52.

Miklavc, J.; Mešl, M.; Matko, B.; So-lar, A., 2008. Izkušnje z zatiranjem ore-hove muhe (Rhagoletis completa Cres-son) v SV Sloveniji v letu 2007 = Expe-riences with control of walnut husk fly (Rhagoletis completa Cresson) in NE part of Slovenia. In: HUDINA, M. (Ed.). Proceeding of 2nd Slovene Fruit Grow-ing Congress with International Partici-pance, Krško, 31 January - 2 February 2008. Ljubljana: Strokovno sadjarsko društvo Slovenije: 327-335.

Moragrega, C.; Montesinos, E., Aletà, N., Matias, J., Rovira, M., 2011. Apical negrosis and premature drop of Per-sian (English) walnut fruit caused by Xanthomonas arboricla pv. juglandis. Plant Disease, 95 (12): 1565-1570.

Solar, A.; Štampar, F.; Kelc, D., 2008. Strategije rodnosti različnih sort oreha (Juglans regia L.) = Bearing strategies in different walnut (Juglans regia L.) cultivars. In: HUDINA, M. (Ed.). Pro-ceeding of 2nd Slovene Fruit Growing Congress with International Partici-pance, Krško, 31 January - 2 February 2008. Ljubljana: Strokovno sadjarsko društvo Slovenije: 327-335.

Solar, A.; Jakopič, J.; Veberič, R.; Štampar, F., 2008. Prohexadione-Ca affects vegetative growth of the rejuvenated shoots in walnut trees. HortScience, (43) 2: 558-561.

Vidrih, R.; Zlatić, E.; Pušnik, T.; So-lar, A.; Hribar, J., 2008. Nastanek ok-sidacijskih produktov pri skladiščenju mletih orehov = Synthesis of oxidation products during storing of ground wal-nuts. In: HUDINA, M. (Ed.). Proceed-ings of the 2nd Slovene Fruit Growing Congress with International Partici-pants, Krško, 31 January - 2 February 2008. Ljubljana: Strokovno sadjarsko društvo Slovenije: 359-365.

PROCEEDINGS

Ak, B.E.; Wirthensohn, M.; Gradziel, T., 2011. Proceedings of the Fifth In-ternational Symposium on Pistachio and Almonds. Sanliurfa, Turkey, Octo-ber 13-17, 2009. Vol, 1 and 2. ISHS-Acta Horticulturae, 912.

Bounous, G.; Beccaro, G.; Canterino, S.; Cerutti, A.; Donno, D.; Mellano, M.G., 2010. Castanea 2009 - Food, Timber, Biomass & Energy in Eu-rope. Atti del 5° Convegno Nazionale sul Castagno. Torino: Dipartimento di Colture Arboree, Università di Torino: 1-348.

Lin, Q.; Hong-Wen, H., 2009. Procee-dings of the IV International Chestnut Meeting. Beijing, China, September 25,28, 2008. ISHS. Acta Horticulturae, 844.

McNeil, D.L., 2010. Proceedings of the VIth International walnut Symposium. Melbourne, Australia, February 25-27, 2009. ISHS. Acta Horticulturae, 861.

Varvaro, L.; Franco, S., 2009. Pro-ceedings of the Seventh International Congress on Hazelnut. Viterbo, Italy, june 23-27, 2008. Vol, 1 and 2. ISHS. Acta Horticulturae, 845.

Zakynthinos, G., 2010. XIV GREMPA Meeting on Pistachios and Almonds. Athens, Greece, 30 March-4 April, 2008. Options Méditerranéennes. SERIES A: Mediterranean Seminars, núm. 94.

BOOKS

Silva, A.P. - Coordenadora científica. Vários autores., 2008. Castanha – Um fruto Saudável (in Portuguese). ISBN: 978-972-669-850-0, Vila Real, Portu-gal, 178pp.

BorgeS, O.; carvalho, J.L.; Silva, A.P.; costa, R.M.L.; costa, H.A., 2007. Avali-ação e Caracterização de Variedades de Castanheiro na Área da DRAP Norte. Colecção: Uma Agricultura com Norte (in Portuguese. DRAPN, 51 pp.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Arús, P.; Gradziel, T.; Oliveira, M.M.; Tao, R. 2009., Almond. In: “Plant Ge-netics and Genomics: Crops and Mod-els” Vol. 6. Folta, K.M., Gardiner, S.E., (Eds.) (Series Editor Rich Jorgensen). Springer. Vol. 6, Chapt. 9: 187-219.

Mehlenbacher, S.A., 2008. Betulacea e - Corylus avellana-hazelnut. p. 161-172. In: Janick, J. and R.E. Paull (eds.). The encyclopedia of fruit and nuts. CAB International, Cambridge Univer-sity Press, Cambridge, UK.

Oliveira, M.M.; Miguel C.M.; Costa M., 2008. Almond. In: “Transgenics and Molecular Tailoring in Plants”, vol.4 - Transgenic Temperate Fruits and Nuts (C. R. Kole, and T. C. Hall, Eds.). Blackwell Publishing : 259-283.

THESES

Aktaş, M., 2007. Isı pompası destek-li fındık kurutma fırınının tasarımı, imalatı ve deneysel incelenmesi [De-signing, manufacturing and experi-mental examining of hazelnut dry-ing kiln assisted heat pump] (in Tur-kish). Gazi Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri

Enstitüsü·Makine Eğitimi Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Aramini, M., 2011. Germplasm pres-ervation and quality exploitation in the European Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) genetic resources. ENEA. Univer-sity of Pisa, (Italy). PHD thesis.

Arslan, Y., 2007. Fındık kabuğunun etil alkol üretiminde kullanılabilirliği [The utilization of hazelnut shell for ethanol production] (in Turkish). Gazi Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Kimya Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Barros, P., 2011. Almond CBF transcrip-tion factors act in the environmental control of cold acclimation and dorman-cy break. PhD thesis in Biology, ITQB-UNL, Oeiras, Portugal. PhD Thesis.

Bayazit, S., 2007. Türkiye’nin farklı ekolojilerindeki yabani badem gen-otiplerinde fenolojik, morfolojik ve pomolojik özellikler ile moleküler yapıların tanımlanması [Phenologi-cal, morphological, pomological and molecular characteristics of the wild almond genotypes collected from dif-ferent ecotypes of Turkey] (in Turk-ish). Çukurova Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. Ph.D. Thesis.

Çalıkoğlu, E., 2008. Fındıkların uçucu yağ içeren yenilebilir protein filmlerle kaplanmasının depolama sırasındaki oksidatif stabilite ve duyusal kalite üz-erine etkisi [Effect of coating of hazel-nut with edible protein films containing essential oils on the oxidative stabili-ty and sensory quality during storage] (in Turkish). Ankara Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Gıda Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Caner, Y. K., 2009. Orta ve Doğu Ka-radeniz bölgesi fındık bahçelerinde-ki Parthenolecanium rufulum (Ckll) (Hom: Coccidae)’dan izole edilen Le­canicillium spp.’ye bazı insektisitler-in etkilerinin araştırılması [Investi-gation of the effects of some insec-ticides on Verticillium lecanii isolat-ed from Parthenolecanium rufulum (Ckll ) (Hom: Coccidae) found in ha-zelnut orchards of Middle and East Black Sea Region] (in Turkish). On-dokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Ziraat Bölümü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı.Ph. D. Thesis.

Dede, Ö. H., 2009. Fındık zürufu ve arıtma çamuru karışımından süs bit-kisi yetiştirme ortamı geliştirilmesi [Production of container media for or-namental plants from hazelnut husk and biosolid mixture] (in Turkish). Sakarya Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Çevre Mühendisliği Ana-bilim Dalı. Ph. D.Thesis.

Ercoşkun, T. D., 2009. Bazı işlenmiş fındık ürünlerinin raf ömrü üzerine

69FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

araştırmalar [Research on shelf life of processed hazelnut products] (in Tur-kish). Ankara Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Fernández Martí, A., 2010. La auto-compatibilidad en el almendro (Pru­nus amygdalus Batsch): estructura genética del alelo Sf y modificaciones de su expresión (in Spanish). Uni-versitat de Lleida, (Spain). Escola d’Enginyers Agrònoms. Thesis.

Furones, P., 2010. Origen, distinción, uniformidad y estabilidad de los prin-cipales cultivares gallegos tradicion-ales de castaño (Castanea sativa Mill-er) mediante marcadores genéticos y ca racteres fenotípicos (in Spanish). EUTI Pontevedra. Thesis.

Gürcan, K., 2009. Simple sequence re-peat marker development and use in European hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.). Ph.D. dissertation, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA.

Özer, H., 2009. Fındıklara uygula-nan fiziksel ve ısıl süreçlerin aflatok-sinler üzerine etkisi [Effect of physi-cal and thermal processes on afla-toxins in hazelnut] (in Turkish).Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Kimya Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Santos, A. M., 2010. Almond shoot or-ganogenesis - An integrated strategy to identify key genes in adventitious regeneration. PhD thesis in Biology, ITQB-UNL, Oeiras (Portugal).

Sadıkoğlu, S., 2011. Yükselti Farkı Ve Hasat Dönemlerinin Ordu İli Ti-cari Fındık Çeşitlerindeki Aflatoksin Seviyesi Ve Yağ Asidi Kompozisy-onu Üzerine Etkilerinin Araştırılması [Investigation Of Effect Of Harvest-ed Period And Elevation On Or-du-Giresun Commercial Hazelnut Type Aflatoxine Level And Fatty Acids Composition] (in Turkish).Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi·Fen Bil-imleri Enstitüsü·Kimya Bölümü·Kimya Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Sathuvalli, V., 2011. Eastern filbert blight in hazelnut (Corylus avella­na): Identification of new resistance sources and high resolution genetic and physical mapping of a resistance gene. PhD dissertation, Oregon State University, Corvallis ( Oregon), USA.

Sathuvalli, V., 2007. DNA markers linked to novel sources of resistance to eastern filbert blight in European hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.). M.S. thesis, Oregon State University, Cor-vallis (Oregon), USA.

Tosini, C., 2009. Morphological char-acterisation of Tonda Gentile Romana clones. A study on intra-specific vari-ability. University of Tuscia, Faculty

Agraria Science, Biotecnology Viterbo (Italy). Thesis.

Yıldırım, A. N., 2007. Isparta yöresi bademlerinin (Prunus amygdalus L.) seleksiyonu [The selection of almond (Prunus amygdalus L.) in Isparta prov-ince] (in Turkish). Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Yılmaz, S., 2007. Geç yapraklanan ve yan dallarda yüksek oranda mey-ve veren yeni ceviz tiplerinin (J. re­gia L.) seleksiyon ıslahı [Selection of late leafing and laterally fruitful wal-nut types (J. regia L.) by selection from native population] (in Turkish). Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi·Fen Bil-imleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Ana-bilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

Yılmaz, M., 2009. Bazı fındık çeşit ve genotiplerinin pomolojik, morfolojik ve moleküler karakterizasyonu [Pomo-logical, morphological and molecu-lar characterisation of some hazelnut varieties and genotypes] (in Tur kish). Çukurova Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimle-ri Enstitüsü Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. Ph. D. Thesis.

MASTER THESIS

Akarçay, H., 2007.Türkiye ceviz gen kaynaklarının tanıtımı [Descrip-tion of walnut genetic resources of Turkey] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı M.Sc. Thesis.

Akçin, Y., 2010. Fındıkta verim ve verime etki eden bazı özellikler arasındaki ilişkiler [Yield and relation-ships among some characteristics ef-fect on yield in hazelnut] (in Turkish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri En-stitüsü Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Akcan, S., 2007. Kaman cevizler-inde apomiksis olasılığının moleküler yöntemlerle araştırılması [Determi-nation of apomixis possibilty in Ka-man walnut genotypes] (in Turkish). Çukurova Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Biyoteknoloji Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Akdemir, E. T., 2010. Bazı fındık çe şi t le -rinde optimum hasat tarihle ri nin belirlen-mesi [Determinati on of optimum har-vest date in so me hazelnut cultivars] (in Turkish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bil-imleri Enstitüsü·Ziraat Bölümü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Akkuş, G., 2009. Farklı dozlarda-ki GA3 ve IBA hormonlarının bazı standard Antepfıstığı (Pistacia vera L.) tohumlarının çimlenme oranı ve üzerine etkisi [Effect of some

standard Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) seeds of different doses of GA3 and IBA hormones on the germina-tion ratio and speed] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Balık, H. I., 2007. Ordu’nun Ünye il-çesinde palaz fındık çeşidi klon se-leksiyonu [Clonal selection of palaz hazelnut cultivar in unye district of ordu province] (in Turkish). On-dokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Bak, T., 2010. Fındıkta (Corylus avel­lana L.) farklı dal sayılarının kalite fak-törleri üzerine etkileri [Effects of dif-ferent branch numbers on fruit quality criteria of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.)] (in Turkish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Ana-bilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Barut, G. B., 2007. Kahramanmaraş koşullarında bademlerde zararlı ba-dem iç kurdu, Eurytoma amygda­li enderlein (Hymenoptera: Eury to-midae)’nin bazı biyolojik özellikler-inin belirlenmesi üzerine çalışmalar [Determination of some biological parameters of Eurytoma amygda­li enderlein (Hymenoptera: Euryto-mi dae) in almond growing areas in Kahramanmaraş] (in Turkish). Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniver-sitesi ·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bitki Ko-ruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Birol, Y., 2010. Fındık zuruf kom-postunun sıkıştırılmış killi tınlı bir toprağın fiziksel özellikleri üzerine et-kisi [Effect of hazelnut husk compost on physical properties of a compact-ed caly-loam soil] (in Turkish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Toprak Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Bozkurt, E., 2010.Çakıldak fındık çeşi-dinde rakım, yıl ve bahçelere göre verimin değişimi üzerine araştırmalar [Research on variation of yield in dif-ferent altitudes, years and orchards in ’Çakildak’ hazelnut cultivar] (in Turk-ish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Cenk, M., 2010.Trabzon ili Akçaabat yöresinde yetiştirilen bazı fındık (Corylus avellana L.) çeşitlerinin yağ ve esansiyel yağ asitleri oranlarının belirlenmesi [The determination of the oil and essential fatty acids ra-tios of some hazelnut kinds (Corylus avellana L.) grown in Akcaabat re-gion of Trabzon province] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Kimya Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Çalış, L., 2010. Ordu’nun Perşembe ilçesinde yetiştirilen tombul fındık çeşidinde farklı rakım ve yöney-

70 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

lerin verim ve kalite üzerine et-kileri [Effects on yield and qual-ity of different altitudes and vectors in tombul hazelnut cultivar grown in Perşembe district of Ordu] (in Turk-ish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Çelik, M., 2009. Trabzon ili Akçaabat yöresinde yetiştirilen bazı fındık (Cory­lus avellana L.) çeşitlerindeki vitamin E düzeylerinin HPLC ile belirlenme-si [Determining vitamin E levels with HPLC method in some kind of hazel-nut species which are grown in the Ak-caabat region of Trabzon] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Kimya Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Demir, B., 2007. Ceviz (Juglans re­gia L.), kızılağaç (Alnus glutinosa L.), havacıva otu (Alkanna tincto­ria L.), muhabbet çiçeği (Reseda lu­teola L.) ve kök boya (Rubia tinctoria L.) ekstraktlarının doğal saç boyama özelliklerinin incelenmesi ve boya reçetelerinin hazırlanması[Preparing of dyeing prescription and investi-gation of natural hair dyeing proper-ties of walnut (Juglans regia l.), log-wood (Alnus glutinosa L.), alkanet (Al­kanna tinctoria L.) madder red (Ru­bai tinctorum L.) and wouw (Rese­da luteola L.) extracts] (in Turkish). Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi·Fen Bil-imleri Enstitüsü·Kimya Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Demir, Z., 2007. Siirt yöresinde doğal olarak yetişen cevizlerin (Juglans re­gia L.) seleksiyonu [Selection of wal-nuts (Juglans regia L.) grown natu-rally in the district of Siirt] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Ebrahimporazar, A., 2010. Ceviz (Juglans regia L.) Fidanı Üretiminde Epikotil Aşısının Aşı Başarısı ve Fidan Gelişimi Üzerine Etkisi. Effect of epi-cotyl grafting on graft success and nursery growth in walnut (Juglans re­gia L.) (in Turkish). Ankara Üniversi-tesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Bahçe Bit-kileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc Thesis.

Font Forcada, C., 2008. Estudio de la variabilidad y de la heredabilidad de la composición de la almendra como criterio de mejora para la calidad (in Spanish). Instituto Agronómico Medi-terráneo de Zaragoza (Spain).

Geyik, R., 2010. Antepfıstığı zararlıla-rı na karşı kullanılan bazı pesti-sitlerin laboratuvar koşullarında An-tho coris minki dohrn. (Hemipte­ra:Anthocoridae)’ye etkilerinin belir-lenmesi [The determination of effects of some pesticides, used against pistachio pests on Anthocoris minki dohrn. (Hemiptera:Anthocoridae) un-der laboratory conditions] (in Turkish).

Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Gonçalves, N. M., 2011. Functional analysis of two Prunus dulcis CBFs by overexpression in A. thaliana and analysis of seasonal expression in field plants. Master Thesis in Cell Bi-ology and Biotechnology - FCUL, Lis-bon (work conducted at ITQB, Oeiras) Portugal. MsSci. Thesis.

Göksu, A., 2011. Adıyaman merkez ilçe bademlerinin (P. amygdalus l.) se-leksiyonu [The selection of almonds (Prunus amygdalus l.) grown in center town Adıyaman province] (in Turkish). Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi·Fen Bil-imleri Enstitüsü·Ziraat Bölü mü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Gül, E. Ç., 2007 Sağlam kabuk-lu fındıkta Aspergillus flavus geli-şimi [Aspergillus flavus growth strong crustaceous in hazelnut] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi · Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Gıda Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

İşler, M., 2010. Türkiye fındık yetişti-riciliğinin genel durumu ve maliye-tin hesaplanması [General situa-tion of hazelnut production in Tur-key and calculation of cost] (in Turk-ish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Kahraman, H., 2007. Van gölü havzasında yetiştirilen cevizlerde (Juglans regia L.) vitamin C düzeyler-inin belirlenmesi [Determination of vi-tamin C levels of walnuts (Juglans re­gia L.) grown in van and province] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Kimya Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Karadağ, H., 2007. Amasya ili merkez ilçe cevizlerinin (Juglans regia L.) seleksiyon yolu ile ıslahı [A study of walnut types (Juglans regia L.) in Amasya province] (in Turkish). Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi·Fen Bil-imleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Ana-bilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Kırca, L., 2010. Fındıkta (Corylus avellana L.) ocak dikim yaşı ile verim ve kalite arasındaki ilişkiler [The re-lations between hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) ocak planting age and productiveness and quality] (in Turk-ish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Koçal, H., 2008. Alyanak ve Roksa-na kayısı çeşitlerinin badem, şeftali çöğür ve myrobolan 29C klon anaçları ile uyuşmalarının belir lenmesi [De-termination of compotibility condi-tions of Alyanak and Roksana apricot cultivars grafted on almond, peach seedling rootstocks and myrob-

olan 29C clonal rootstock] (in Turk-ish). Selçuk Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Kurbetli,I., 2008.Isparta ilinde badem-lerde görülen fungal hastalıkların be-lirlenmesi [Determination of fungal diseases on almond in Isparta prov-ince] (in Turkish). Ankara Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Mert, E., 2007. Ceviz yapraklarından mevsimsel olarak elde edilen özütle rin tohum çimlenmesine et-kileri [The effects of walnut leaf ex-tracts depend on seasonal chan ges on seed germination] (in Turkish). Dumlupınar Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Biyoloji Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Mıcık, M., 2010. Fındık yaprak biti [My­zocallis coryli (Goetze) Ho mop te ra: Aphi didae]’ne karşı bazı biopreparatların etkinliğinin araş tır ı lması [Effects of some biopes ti ci des on hazelnut filbert aphid [Myzocallis coryli (Goetze) Ho moptera: Aphididae] (in Turkish). Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Ensti tüsü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Öcal, H., 2008. Samsun ili fındık bahçelerinde bulunan yabancı ot-lardaki Eriophyoid akar türlerinin saptanması [Identification of Erio-phyoid mites on weeds in hazel-nut orchards in Samsun provin ce, Turkey] (in Turkish). Ondokuz Ma-yıs Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimle ri Ensti-tüsü·Mühendislik Bilimleri Bölümü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Öztürk, M. Ö., 2007.Van Gölü havzası ceviz (Juglans regia L.) yetiştiricilik alanlarındaki viral hastalıkların serolo-jik ve moleküler yöntemlerle belirlen-mesi [Investigation of viral diseases of walnut (Juglans regia L.) grown in Van Lake basin by means of serological and molecular methods] (in Turkish). Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Parlakçı, H., 2008. Yabancı köken-li değişik badem çeşitlerinin bazı po-molojik ve kimyasal özellikleri ile bit-ki besin maddesi kapsamlarının be-lirlenmesi [Determination of some pomological and chemical traits with nutrient elements contents for some foreign originated differ-ent almond cultivars] (in Turkish). Harran Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Ziraat Bölümü·Bahçe Bit-kileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Turan, A., 2007. Giresun ili Bulancak ilçesi tombul fındık klon seleksiyonu [Tombul hazelnut clonal selection in Bulancak of Giresun] (in Turkish). On-dokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü.·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

71FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

Şahin, M., 2010. Borlu gübrelemenin fındık bitkisinin verim ve yaprakların bazı bitki besin maddesi içerikleri üz-erine etkisi [Effect of boron fertili-zation on yield and some leaf nutri-ent contents of hazelnuts] (in Tur-kish). Ordu Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Toprak Bilimi ve Bitki Besleme Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Sevgin, N., 2010. Badem (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A Weeb)’in in vitro mikroçoğaltılması ve mikrosürgün-lerin köklenmesini etkileyen bazı fak-törlerin araştırılması [Micropropaga-tion of almonds (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A Weeb) and analysis of some factors affecting rooting of micro-shoots] (in Turkish). Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bitkileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Uncu, B. E., 2008. Farklı lamine ambalajların öğütülmüş fındıklarda ok-sidasyon ve toplam tokoferol düzeyi üzerine etkileri [Effects of different laminated films on oxidation and total tocopherol level in ground hazelnuts] (in Turkish). Ankara Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Gıda Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Turanlı, M., 2009. tAntepfıstığı karagöz kurdu (Hylesinus vestitus M.R.)’nun za-rar durumu, bazı biyolojik özellikleri ve doğal düşmanlarının belirlenmesi üzer-ine çalışmalar [Some researches to de-termine biological traits and da mages of pistachio bark beetle (Hy lesinus ves­titus M.R.) and natural enemies] (in Turkish). Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Yalçın, H., 2009. Fındık sektörünün Türkiye ekonomisi ve ihracatındaki yeri, önemi ve sektörün sorunları [Ha-zelnut sector’s position and impor-tance in Turkey’s economy and export and the sector’s problems] (in Tur-kish). Atatürk Üniversitesi·Sosyal Bil-imler Enstitüsü·İktisat Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Yıldırım, A., 2007. Öğütülmüş fındık kabuğunun polipropilen matrisli kom-

pozitlerde kullanılabilirliği [The utulis-ability of ground hazelnut shell in poly-propylene composites] (in Turkish). Marmara Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü. M.Sc. Thesis.

Yılmaz, A., 2010. GF-677 (şeftali x ba-dem) ağaçlarının ve çöğürlerin mor-folojik özelliklerinin belirlenmesi [De-termination of morphological charac-teristics of GF677 (peach x almond) trees and their seedlings] (in Turkish). Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Ünivers-itesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Bahçe Bit-kileri Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Yüzer, D., 2008. Kahramanmaraş’ta ba dem cadı süpürgesi (Candidatus phy toplasma phoenicium) fitoplaz ma hastalığının moleküler teşhisi [Mo-le cular detection of almond witch-es’-broom (Candidatus phytoplas­ma phoenicium) in Kahra manmaraş] (in Turkish). Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Ens-titüsü·Bitki Koruma Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

Zaloğlu, S. N., 2008. Antepfıstığında mikrosatellit primerlerin geliştirilmesi ve diğer Pistacia türlerinde kullanılma durumlarının belirlenmesi [Deve-lopment of microsatellite markers in pistachio and their transferability to other Pistacia species] (in Turkish). Çukurova Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü·Biyoteknoloji Anabilim Dalı. M.Sc. Thesis.

UNIVERSITY FINAL REPORTS

Atay, Ü., 2007. Antepfıstığında kul la-nılan sınıflandırma sistemleri nin ince-lenmesi ve alternatif bir sınıflandırma sisteminin tasarımı [The investiga-tion of classification systems used for pistahio and construction of an alter-netive classification system] (in Tur-kish). Harran Üniversitesi·Fen Bilim-leri Enstitüsü·Tarım Makineleri Ana-bilim Dalı.

Bartoloni, S., 2008. Valutazione e monitoraggio della qualita’ di “Noccio-latti” durante la conservazione (in Ita-

lian). Universita degli Studi della Tus-cia, Viterbo. Facoltà di Agraria. Corso di laurea in Tecnologie Aliomentari, Iº Livello.

Celli, T., 2011. Impiego di portinnesti non pollonifere per il nocciolo: osser-vacione sul comportamento vegeto-produttivo e qualitative dell acv. ‘Ne-gret’ (in Italian). Universita’ degli studi della Tuscia (DAFNE), Viterbo. Cor-so di laurea in Scienze e Technologie Agrarie, I livello.

García Conzález, C., 2007. Caracter-ización asistida por marcadores tipo ISSR de la diversidad genética asturi-ana de avellano (Corylus avellana L.) (in Spanish). Universidad de Oviedo-SERIDA. Tesis de Licenciatura.

Güngör, M., 2007. Kahramanmaraş yöresinde yayılış gösteren ce-viz (Juglansregia L.) bitkisinin yapraklarından bazı naftakinonların (Juglon ve 1,2 naftakinon) kromato-grafik izolasyonları ve tekstil boyar maddesi [Chromatographic isolations of some naphtaquinone groups (Ju-glon and 1,2 naphtaquinone) which spread show walnut (Juglans regia L.) in Kahramanmaraş region and inves-tigation of using textile dye material] (in Turkish). Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi·Fen Bilimleri En-stitüsü. Kimya Anabilim Dalı.

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72 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 15 December 2011

IRTA Mas de BoverMediterranean Fruit TreesCtra. Reus­El Morell, km 3,8 E­43120 Constantí, Tarragona, Spain Tel.: +34­977 32 84 24Fax: +34­977 34 40 55E­mail: merce.rovia@irta.catwww.irta.cat

Network Coordinator: M. RoviraScientific Editor: M. RoviraEditorial Committee: N. Aletà, I. Batlle, D. Bono and F.J. VargasEditorial staff: M. LannoyeTypeset by: Carácter Gráfico, S.L.E­mail: cg@caractergrafico.comISSN 1020­0797

THE FAO-CIHEAM INTER-REGIONAL COOPERATIVE RESEARCH NETWORK ON NUTS

Network Coordination Centre Network Coordinator

Nut tree crops IRTA ­ Mas de Bover. Mediterranean Fruit Trees M. Rovira Genetic Resources Crta. Reus – El Morell, km 3.8, E­43120 Constantí (Spain) Economics Tel: 34­ 977 328424 (Ext. 1615) Fax: 34­ 977 344055 E­mail: merce.rovira@irta.cat

Subnetworks Liaison Centre Liaison Officer

Almond IRTA ­ Mas de Bover. Mediterranean Fruit Trees J. Vargas Crta. Reus – El Morell, km 3.8, E­43120 Constantí (Spain) Tel: 34­ 977 328424 Fax: 34­ 977 344055 E­mail: francisco.vargas@irta.es

Hazelnut Ankara University. Faculty of Agriculture. A. I. Köksal Department of Horticulture. 06110 ­ Ankara (Turkey). Tel: 90­ 312 3170550. Fax: 90­ 312 3179119 E­mail: ikoksal@agri.ankara.edu.tr

Walnut and Pecan Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique INRA. M. Lafargue Unité de Recherches sur les Espèces Fruitières et la Vigne. B.P. 81 ­33883 Villenave d’Ornon (France) Tel: 33­ 556 843277 Fax: 33­ 556 843274 E­mail: mlafargue@bordeaux.inra.fr

Pistachio University of Harran, Faculty of Agriculture. B.E. Ak Department of Horticulture. 63200 – Sanliurfa, Turkey Tel. 90­ 414 247 26 97 Fax: 90­ 414 247 44 80 E­mail: beak@harran.edu.tr; baakbekir62@gmail.com

Chestnut Università degli Studi di Torino. G. Bounous Dipartamento di Colture Arboree. Cattedra di Arboricultura Via Leonardo Da Vinci, 44. 10095 Grugliasco (TO) ­ Italy. Tel. 39­ 011 6708653. Fax: 39­ 011 6708658. E­mail:bounous@agraria.unito.it

Stone Pine Centro de investigacion forestal CIFOR­INIA S. Mutke Crta. la coruña km 7,5 ­ 28040 Madrid (Spain) Tel. +34 91 347 6862 Fax +34 91 347 6767 E­mail: mutke@inia.es

FAO Regional Office for Europe REU: F. Guerrieri Benczur utca, 34. H­1068 Budapest (Hungary). Tel: 36 1 461 2033 Fax: 36 1 351 7029. E­mail: fernanda.guerrieri@fao.org

CIHEAM Instituto Agronómico Mediterráneo de Zaragoza IAMZ. D. Gabiña Apartado 202, 50080 Zaragoza. (Spain) A. López­Francos Tel: 34­ 976 71 60 00 Fax: 34­ 976 71 60 01 E­mail: gabina@iamz.ciheam.org E­mail: lopez­francos@iam.ciheam.org