Agriculture & Food Chemistry

Biography

Muscolo A has completed her MSc in Biological Sciences and PhD in Food Science at the Policlinic Federico II University of Naples, Italy. In 1988 she started her professional career as Researcher at Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, where she is still working as Full Professor in Soil Chemistry and Ecology. Since 1990 she is Reviewer for international scientific journals and since 2008 she is evaluator of projects for European community, international funding research agencies and Italian and Foreign Research Ministries. She is Examiner of international PhD dissertation. She has over 180 papers in international journals with IF. Citations: 1597 H index: 21. She has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of many international journals. She is Associate Editor for JFR.

Abstract

In this study, we used efficient S-enriched organic fertilizers produced with crude orange or olive wastes linked with bentonite to improve the productivity and quality of red onion. This vegetable is popular in cuisines worldwide and is valued for its potential medicinal properties. Red onion is an important source of several phytonutrients as flavonoids, thiosulphinates and other sulphur compounds recognized as important elements of the Mediterranean diet. The experiment was conducted in a controlled environment, glasshouse for three months in plastic pots to measure the growth parameters and phytochemicals of differently treated red onion. Our results evidenced that amended plant grew better than control. The antioxidant activity detected as DPPH, ORAC and ABTS was the highest in presence of S-enriched organic fertilizers. Polyphenols increased in all treated plants. In regards with the investigation of onion volatile compounds the volatile fraction was clearly dominated by sulphur compounds that are strictly related to the concentration of the aroma precursors S-alkenyl cysteine sulfoxides (ACSOs). The greater amount of thiosulphinates in treated onion compared to untreated onion evidenced that S-bentonite pelletized with recalcitrant agricultural wastes can represent a new formulation of organic fertilizer able to improve the beneficial properties of onion extract. Our results also showed that red onion had the best growth and quality in presence of S-bentonite bound with crude orange. Conclusively, the use of sulphur bentonite bound with recalcitrant agricultural wastes produce high quality onion plants that can be used for pharmaceutical purposes.