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Fresh fruit and vegetables are sensitive products with a short shelf-life. Often these are packaged to maintain their quality for a longer time. Active substances can be added in packaging to provide additional benefits such as moisture absorption, antimicrobial effect or removal of foul odours. Among such active substances, some materials scavenge or remove ethylene. Ethylene is a colorless gas, often referred to as “ripening hormone,” produced by fruit and vegetables. Accumulation of ethylene in packages causes the undesireable fast ripening in fruit and vegetables.
Check out the new issue of eJHS online at https://www.pubhort.org/ejhs/ (Volume 87, issue 1, February 2022) including the following articles:
Join us for the Closing Ceremony of the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables #IYFV2021 on Thursday, 24 February 2022 from 13:00 to 14:30 CET through the virtual conferencing platform Zoom.
Pre-register for the ceremony: https://fao.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMsf-yvrjIsHdIrjwqeUtEisIMYO31f_AbM
Check out the new issue of Fruits - The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture online at https://www.pubhort.org/fruits/ (Volume 77, issue 1, January-February 2022).
The Rudolf Hermanns Foundation awards prizes of up to 12,500 euros to honor outstanding academic achievements in all disciplines of viticulture and horticulture.
The aim is to honor scientific research and academic achievements in viticulture and horticulture that have helped to advance the two disciplines.
The foundation is based at Hochschule Geisenheim University and awards the prize since 1991.
For further information and to download the application form, please go to:
Check out the new issue of eJHS online at https://www.pubhort.org/ejhs/ (Volume 86, issue 6, December 2021) including the following articles:
Chronica Horticulturae Volume 61 Number 4 (December 2021) is available for download - proceed to https://www.ishs.org/chronica-horticulturae/vol61nr4 and login with your ISHS membership account credentials.
Topics in this number include
News & Views from the Board
Thijs Van Gerrewey is a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University, Belgium, under the supervision of Professors Danny Geelen (HortiCell) and Nico Boon of the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET). Together with Urban Crop Solutions (a turnkey vertical farming system solutions provider) and Agaris (a leading European growing media supplier), they are developing microbially enhanced plant growing media to improve plant quality and health in (vertical) hydroponics.
The modern consumer has become accustomed to a year-round supply of apple fruit. This continuous availability is possible through long-term storage techniques. Growers are able to extend fruit quality by controlling the immediate atmosphere around the apple, combining a low oxygen and high carbon dioxide gas mixture with low temperatures. This form of long-term storage is referred to as controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. In some cases, the storage conditions are too severe for the fruit and result in storage disorders.
I Putu Wahyu Sanjaya is currently a second-year PhD student in the Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Study Program at IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia, working on his dissertation entitled “Molecular analysis of Phalaenopsis resistance to soft-rot pathogen (Dickeya dadantii).” He has been working on the Phalaenopsis resistance studies since 2018. He obtained his MSi (Master of Science, Indonesia) degree working on similar topics from the same study program at IPB University.
Giacomo Palai is a PhD student at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Pisa, Italy. He is supervised by Dr. Giovanni Caruso and Prof. Claudio D’Onofrio. His research focuses on the sustainable management of water resources in viticulture, with the objective to increase fruit quality. To achieve this aim, he has conducted a study on the effect of different deficit irrigation strategies and cultivar-rootstock combinations in grapes.
Fetid as its name, Orchidantha foetida Jenjitt. & K. Larsen, an unusual ginger-like species endemic to Thailand in the Zingiberales order, has a strong rotten odor. This plant secretes mucilage from its flowers. A recent study on anatomy, micromorphology, and histochemistry of Orchidantha flowers revealed papillae, small nipple-like projections, and a blistered and parallel wrinkled epidermis on the flower’s upper lip surface. In addition, this surface is sprinkled with minute droplets of substances that were secreted from the epidermal cells.
João Martins is a PhD student at the University of Coimbra and University of Aveiro, Portugal, under the supervision of Prof. Jorge Canhoto and Prof. Glória Pinto. His thesis aims to understand the mechanisms behind abiotic and biotic stress resistance of Arbutus unedo (Ericaceae, strawberry tree), a high resilient Mediterranean tree, with a great ecological importance and valuable applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
Inmaculada Martos-García got her BS degree in Agrifood Engineering and the Rural Environment at the University of Córdoba, Spain, in 2016. After graduation, she started her master’s studies in olive growing and olive oil technology at the same institution in 2019. She is currently immersed in her PhD studies under the supervision of Professor Dr. Ricardo Fernández Escobar and Dr. María Benlloch González in the Department of Agronomy of Cordoba University, Spain.
After finishing my Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Carlo Andreotti at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy), I joined the working group “Berries and Stonefruits” at the Laimburg Research Centre (Italy). My academic experience, including the internship done at the Sant’Orsola agricultural cooperative (leader of the Italian berries market) gave me a broad background of knowledge about strawberry cultivation.
Lailia Zubaidah is a Master’s student in the Laboratory of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. She is working on a thesis entitled “Genome editing in Dendrobium lineale Rolfe an Indonesian orchid using CRISPR/Cas9.” This study focuses on a plant DNA transformation method to transfer T-DNA into the plant genome, and characterize transformant plants. Orchid is one of the most popular ornamental plants in the world. It is appreciated for its beautiful flowers and the adaptability of the plants in containers. Dendrobium is endemic in Indonesia.
Xianwei Meng is a PhD student at Hebei Agricultural University, under the supervision of Prof. Mengjun Liu and Prof. Jin Zhao. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of phase change and flowering regulation in Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.). Compared to most fruit tree species, Chinese jujube, one of the most economically important members of the diverse Rhamnaceae family, has unique characteristics that include a short juvenile phase and extremely fast flower bud differentiation.
Check out the new issue of Fruits - The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture online at https://www.pubhort.org/fruits/ (Volume 76, issue 6, November-December 2021)
A series of ISHS Talks on Vertical Farming organized by Prof. Dr. Francesco Orsini, Prof. Dr. Leo F.M. Marcelis and Prof. Dr. Murat Kacira
:: IHC2022 Abstract submission deadline extended to 20 December 2021 ::
Due to numerous requests and to allow as many people as possible to participate in the IHC2022, the local organizing committee in France has decided to extend the deadline for both the abstract submission as well as for the promotional offer of the super early bird discounted registration to December 20, 2021.
Save the date: VII International Symposium on Lychee, Longan and Other Sapindaceae Fruits
Guangzhou (China): June 27 - July 1, 2023
https://www.ishs.org/symposium/719
Check out the new issue of eJHS online at https://www.pubhort.org/ejhs/ (Volume 86, issue 5, October 2021) including the following articles:
Dear members of the ISHS Working Group Hydroponics & Aquaponics,
Please see below a call for posters at IHC2022 around the subject of "Innovations in teaching methods"
Regards, Graeme
Graeme Smith, CAg, MAIA
Chair – ISHS Working Group – Hydroponics & Aquaponics
Vice Chair – ISHS Division – Protected Cultivation & Soilless Culture
Cell: +61 (0)427 339 009
graeme@graemesmithconsulting.com
It is with great regret to share with you the passing away of Professor Aboelfetoh M. Abdalla (1956-2021) in Egypt this October 2021.
Professor Abdalla was one of the Moringa Pioneers who participated in the First International Symposium on Moringa in Manila, Philippines, November 2015, and the Second International Symposium on Moringa in Pretoria, South Africa, November 2019.
Professor Abdalla established "The Egyptian Scientific Association of Moringa".
Save the date:
XIII International Symposium on Integrating Canopy, Rootstock and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems
Napier, New Zealand, 26-30 January 2025
I am a teacher-researcher at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. My Ph.D. in Agroecology has allowed me to gain expertise in urban agriculture, waste management and vermiculture technologies. In the context of the reduction of arable land and urbanization, sustainable techniques must be developed to guarantee food quality. My current research involves soil-less crops and organic fertilizer production. My research examined the possibility of increasing crop productivity through micro-gardening, and the substitution of chemical fertilizer with vermicompost.
Changhyeon Kim is a PhD student supervised by Dr. Marc W. van Iersel in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA. His research focuses on development of a mechanistic model of lettuce dry matter accumulation to optimize lighting cost in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). He completed his BSc and MSc with a focus on fertigation for indoor crop production in the Department of Horticultural Science, Chungnam National University, Republic of Korea, in 2013 and 2015.
Sijia Chen is a PhD student at Horticulture and Product Physiology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, supervised by Dr. Ep Heuvelink, Professor Leo Marcelis as well as Professor Remko Offringa (Leiden University). Her research focuses on the effect of the light spectrum on fruit set in sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Fruit set is a crucial plant developmental process, determining yield in many crops. Pepper, as one of the most important and commonly consumed vegetables, is a crop with poor fruit set as typically about two-third of all flowers abort.
Dr. Youssef Brouziyne has an agronomic engineering degree from the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Medicine Institute in Morocco, and a Master of science degree in integrated crop management from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy. He completed his PhD in the Department of Water and Environment at the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Fez, Morocco. He gained international experience in sustainability management and research and development while serving world-class agri-business corporations in north-western Africa, southern Europe, and in the UK.
Chronica Horticulturae Volume 61 Number 3 (September 2021) is available for download - proceed to https://www.ishs.org/chronica-horticulturae/vol61nr3 and login with your ISHS membership account credentials.
Topics in this number include
News & Views from the Board
Check out the new issue of Fruits - The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture online at https://www.pubhort.org/fruits/ (Volume 76, issue 5, September-October 2021).
The new publication Fruit and Vegetables: Opportunities and challenges for small-scale sustainable farming, developed by FAO and CIRAD, provides comprehensive technical guidance and policy insights, with a particular focus on small-scale farmers, towards developing the fruit and vegetable sector to achieve the SDGs.
Save the date: XIII International Rubus and Ribes Symposium
Portland, Oregon (USA), 15-21 July 2023
Check out the new issue of eJHS online at https://www.pubhort.org/ejhs/ (Volume 86, issue 4, August 2021) including the following articles:
Check out the new issue of Fruits - The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture online at https://www.pubhort.org/fruits/ (Volume 76, issue 4, July-August 2021).
The International Horticultural Congress (IHC) is the most important scientific event organised under the aegis of the ISHS. An IHC takes place every four years and the next one, the 31st International Horticultural Congress, IHC2022 "Horticulture for a World in Transition" will be held in the city of Angers, France 14-20 August 2022.
Chronica Horticulturae Volume 61 Number 2 (June 2021) is available for download - proceed to https://www.ishs.org/chronica-horticulturae/vol61nr2 and login with your ISHS membership account credentials.
Topics in this number include
News & Views from the Board
Check out the new issue of eJHS online at https://www.pubhort.org/ejhs/ (Volume 86, issue 3, June 2021) including the following articles:
What does Science say about fruits and vegetables and health?
This presentation will reassess some of the well-described health effect of FAV polyphenols, ranging from glycemic control, lipid metabolism, weight gain and cognitive decline through the lens of the microbiota and the gut. We will hopefully demonstrate the foremost importance of FAV diet on human physiology and livelihood.
Biotechnology inputs for the agri-forestry sector
Moderator Prof. Dr. Jorge Canhoto
https://www.ishs.org/hortdialogues
Biotechnology encompasses a set of techniques, from plant tissue culture to genetic transformation and gene editing, with wide applications in the agriculture and forestry sector in what is usually called as green biotechnology.
Mathilde Eck is a PhD student at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Belgium, under the supervision of Prof. Haïssam Jijakli. Her thesis focuses on the study of microorganisms in aquaponics and their roles in nutrient cycles and plant growth promotion. Indeed, a better knowledge of the microbial processes in aquaponics could help foster the development of more sustainable and viable systems. Hence, she has decided to hinge her PhD around two main themes, each composed of two specific questions.
Joshua Havill is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota, USA. He previously completed his BSc in Horticultural Science in 2014, and his MSc in Plant Pathology in 2017, which were both also obtained from the University of Minnesota. Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) cultivation has rapidly expanded across North America, returning to historical production areas that were focal points of production.
Pauline Seeburger is a BSc student at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. Her research examines the role of regulatory elements of biosynthesis genes for the production of secondary metabolites in hop plants. The hop plant is rich in secondary metabolites of which the bitter acids are essential for the characteristic taste of beer. Bitter acids are produced in the glands of the female hop flower (cone) through the bitter acid biosynthesis pathway. The biosynthesis relies on three key enzymes: valerophenone synthase, prenyltransferase 1, and prenyltransferase 2.
Bonga Ngcobo is a senior PhD student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in the Discipline of Horticultural Science. He holds a BSc Agric and Masters (cum laude) from the same University. Currently he is in the final stages of his doctoral studies under the supervision of Professor Isa Bertling and Dr. Alistair Clulow. Bonga’s research focuses on using innovative and environmentally friendly treatments, such as LEDs, moringa, and heat treatment, to enhance growth, yield and nutritional quality of solanaceous (nightshade) crops.
Ruth Kleine-Kalmer is a PhD candidate in the field of agricultural marketing under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Enneking. In her cooperative PhD at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and the University of Göttingen, she focuses on future challenges of food innovations taking into consideration global megatrends. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Diemo Daum, her research focused on consumer acceptance of a newly developed apple that was enriched with selenium via biofortification.
Christian Frerichs is a PhD student at the Osnabrück University of Applied Science, Germany, supervised by Prof. Diemo Daum as well as Prof. Gabrielle Broll from the Osnabrück University. His research focuses on strategies to reduce the risk of nitrogen losses by ammonia volatilization and nitrate leaching in vegetable production. To assess this, he has conducted a series of fertilizer and field management trials with basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) in the greenhouse, as well as field-grown spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.).
Nadine Sommer is a PhD Student at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. Her research focuses on the identification of mercury (Hg) tolerant plant species that are able to remediate soil by accumulating this heavy metal in their plant biomass. In Ghana, many soils are heavily contaminated with mercury, which is widely used in the amalgamation process of mining gold. Phytoremediation depends on the ion-accumulation capacity of plants. Hyperaccumulator plants can absorb high metal concentrations without visible or physiological symptoms.
Variegation in Camellia japonica flowers, so called “Fuiri” in Japanese, is identified as a white pattern in a red background. The margin of the pigmented area is unclear. This condition could be caused by a plant virus because the symptom can be transmitted to other individuals through grafting. But, until now, a causal virus had not been associated with the “Fuiri” symptoms. Our objective was to determine if this variegation was caused by a plant virus. We performed a bioassay and an isolation of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA).
Bing Liu is a postdoc in Ornamental Horticulture at the Department of Horticulture in Zhejiang University, China. She graduated with a Ph.D. in philosophy from the same university. During her studies as a graduate student, she worked for two years with Dr. Rajeev Arora at Iowa State University, on the photoprotective strategies employed by evergreen rhododendrons. Currently, her research explores the molecular mechanisms of cold acclimation in overwintering azaleas via RNA-seq.
Check out the new issue of Fruits - The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture online at https://www.pubhort.org/fruits/ (Volume 76, issue 3, May-June 2021).
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