Winter injury limits raspberry ( Rubus idaeus L.) production in northern climates. This study evaluated the associations between winter injury, temperature, spur blight severity, and bud proline and soluble sugars contents in ‘Glen Ample’ raspberry grown in eight commercial plantations in Estonia over three winters: 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24. Bud injury ranged from 18 to 98% among plantations and years, while neither minimum temperature nor the maximum number of consecutive hours below −25 °C accounted for this variation. A significant positive correlation was found between spur blight ( Xenodidymella applanata ) severity and winter injury ( r = 0.833). Proline and soluble carbohydrate levels in March were not consistent indicators of bud winter survival. These findings demonstrate that winter injury of raspberry buds is determined by interacting abiotic and biotic stress factors rather than by minimum temperature alone and growers should consider cane health alongside winter temperature in winter-injury risk assessments.
Postharvest dip application of essential oil (EO) components represents an emerging strategy for modulating the physicochemical quality of table grapes, yet whether thymol (T), eugenol (O), and 1,8-cineole (S), applied singly or in combination at 0.125% (v/v), can simultaneously maintain berry quality attributes and suppress Botrytis cinerea-related deterioration in Vitis vinifera cultivars adapted to distinct terroir conditions remains unresolved. The present study examined the effects of a 15-min dip treatment with these EO components, applied individually and in all binary and ternary combinations, alongside B. cinerea inoculation (F; 1 & times; 105 conidia/mL), on quality parameters, total soluble solids (TSS, degrees Brix), pH, titratable acidity (TA), berry firmness, and color coordinates (L*, a*, b*), of cvs. 'Karaerik' and 'Narince' stored at +4 degrees C with 90 +/- 5% relative humidity for 20 days. EO treatments effectively preserved physicochemical integrity across both cultivars, with TSS peaking at 25.5% under O + S + F and T + O + S + F in 'Narince' and at 20.5% under T + O + S in 'Karaerik', and TA reaching 8.38 and 16.55% respectively under the same ternary combination, and, consistent with this sustained quality retention, combined applications outperformed single-component treatments in limiting B. cinerea-driven deterioration. Storage-induced responses were equally substantial: L values declined progressively while a, b, and firmness increased across both varieties, and the application & times; storage time interaction was statistically significant for TSS, pH, and TA, pointing to a time-dependent modulation of treatment efficacy. The two cultivars exhibited distinct physicochemical response profiles, with 'Karaerik' displaying higher constitutive acidity more substantially preserved by ternary combinations and 'Narince' showing greater TSS responsiveness to fungal-challenge treatments. Postharvest dip application of EO components significantly modulated postharvest quality maintenance and gray mold suppression, and overall berry quality could, at least partially, be controlled by selecting a cultivar-specific optimal formulation, with ternary combinations representing the most promising natural alternative to synthetic fungicides for postharvest grape disease management.
This study aims to assess the adaptation potential of nine currant cultivars (six black, one red, and two white) with different pedigrees by evaluating their growth characteristics (vegetative and generative potential), productivity, and biochemical fruit profile (sugars, organic acids, phenolic compounds). The study was conducted in 2018, an exceptionally warm growing season in Serbia. Despite these conditions, considerable cultivar-specific variation was observed in productivity, fruit quality, and bioactive composition. ‘Čačanska Crna’ exhibited superior vegetative growth, while ‘Ben Lomond’ demonstrated the highest yield and total acidity (4.14 kg/plant and 53.51 mg/g). High levels of sugars were found in ‘Titania’ (107.77 mg/g), and phenolic content was recorded in ‘Tiben’ and ‘Ben Sarek’ (223.9 and 242.9 mg/100 g). The white and red currant cultivars had low levels of both primary and secondary metabolites but a favorable sugar/acid ratio, high hydroxycinnamic acid and flavonoid contents, yield efficiency, and clusters bearing numerous attractive berries. The results demonstrate the importance of selecting cultivars with favourable combinations of productivity and fruit-quality traits for their intended use.
This study examined whether freeze-dried cranberry powder (FCP) fortification is associated with antioxidant-related indices, inflammatory cytokines, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 expression in atherogenic diet (AD)-fed db/db mice. Mice received a control diet (CD), AD, AD with 5% FCP, or AD with 10% FCP for 8 weeks. Among antioxidant-related indices, AD increased hepatic glutathione reductase activity compared with CD, whereas hepatic microsomal thiobarbituric acid reactive substances levels were not increased; FCP fortification did not show consistent changes in these indices. Among serum inflammatory cytokines, AD increased tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6); FCP did not significantly reduce TNF-α, whereas 10% FCP was associated with lower IL-6. For NF-κB p65 expression, FCP-related changes were more evident in the liver than in the kidney, without marked renal histopathological lesions. These findings suggest that 10% FCP fortification was associated with hepatic inflammatory marker changes rather than renal NF-κB p65 or histopathological changes.
Plantlets produced through micropropagation commonly experience physiological stress when transferred from in vitro to ex vitro environments, resulting in reduced growth and survival. This study investigated the potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), including Bacillus sp., Bacillus mycoides , Pseudomonas sp., and Pseudomonas chlororaphis to support the acclimatization of Aronia melanocarpa cv. Viking and Nero. Morphological traits and antioxidant and oxidative stress markers were evaluated during the acclimatization. PGPR treatments affected antioxidant enzyme activities and oxidative stress markers, with responses varying according to the measured trait, bacterial treatment, cultivar, and sampling time. Treatment responses varied among bacterial strains, with B. mycoides and P. chlororaphis showing favorable numerical responses for several measured parameters. For shoot length, significant main effects of sampling time and a significant cultivar x sampling time interaction were detected, whereas the main effects of cultivar and PGPR treatment and the cultivar x PGPR interaction were not significant. The overall model for leaf count was not significant; therefore, apparent cultivar or treatment related differences for this trait were interpreted descriptively. Cultivar-dependent responses were observed for selected biochemical and oxidative-stress parameters with significant cultivar-related interactions. Survival analysis further indicated differences among PGPR treatments in the long-term acclimatization performance of the two cultivars. Survival analysis indicated significant differences among PGPR treatments for Nero (p < 0.001) but not for Viking (p = 0.176). Overall, the results indicate that PGPR can influence physiological and antioxidant responses during the acclimatization of micropropagated aronia, although the magnitude and significance of these effects depend on the measured trait and bacterial treatment.
