Se  llevo a cabo  el estudio fitoquimico de  Xanthium spinosum L. en Ecuador, dadas sus propiedades medicinales tradicionales relacionadas con las afecciones de pulmon, higado, rinones y prostata. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron la presencia de metabolitos secundarios de interes medicinal como los alcaloides, esteroles, triterpenos, leucoantocianinas y saponinas, si bien la presencia de leucoantocianinas se restringe al fruto y la raiz, y la de saponinas al tallo y hojas. Tanto los alcaloides como los esteroles y triterpenos fueron detectados en todas las estructuras analizadas. No se detectaron en ninguna estructura compuestos fenolicos,  flavonoides, lactonas, antraquinonas, taninos y glicosidos cianogenicos. La ausencia de flavonoides y taninos en la po- blacion estudiada, a diferencia de poblaciones de las misma especie en Bolivia estudiada por otros autores, podria ser consecuen- cia de la influencia de factores bioticos y/o abioticos que contribuyen a la sintesis de los mencionados metabolitos secundarios. El interes medicinal de las especies de este genero, combinado con la diversidad de metabolitos secundarios que presentan, hacen que esta especie sea de interes cientifico para  futuros estudios en diferentes poblaciones en Ecuador. Esto es especialmente im- portante, dado al escaso conocimiento que tenemos sobre los Andes Tropicales. Es de vital importancia continuar con este tipo de investigaciones preliminares, contribuyendo como medida de conservacion de estos diversos ecosistemas y su riqueza cultural, reportando un beneficio  a la sociedad en general. Palabras clave: Plantas medicinales, etnomedicina, etnobotanica, Ecuador. ABSTRACT  Phytochemical study of Xanthium spinosum L. in Ecuador was done, due its medicinal properties for diseases of lung, liver, kidney and prostate. Results showed the presence of medicinal secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, steroids, triterpenes, leuco-an- thocyanins and saponins. The presence of leuco-anthocyanins were detected on fruit and roots, and the saponins on stems and leaves. Alkaloids, steroids and  triterpenes were  detected in all studied structures. Phenolic compounds, flavonoids,  lactones, an- thraquinone, tannins and cyanogenic glycosides, were not detected from any structures. There is no evidence of the presence of flavonoids  and  tannins in the studied population, in contrast to Bolivian population  of the same species studied by other  authors. Abiotic/biotic factors  might induce  the  synthesis of these secondary metabolites. The  medicinal  interest of some species in this genus, combined with the diversity of the presence of secondary metabolites, makes of scientific interest this species for futures studies in different populations from Ecuador. This is especially important due to the poor knowledge of Andean ecosystem that we have. It is of vital importance to continue with these types of preliminary investigations, contributing to conservationist actions of these ecologically  and cultural rich ecosystems, reporting  a benefit society. Keywords:  Medicinal plants,  ethnomedicine, ethnobotany, Ecuador.

Small berries are considered to produce the best red wines as berry size determines the skin to pulp ratio and may affect wine composition. However, contrasting results have been reported about this postulate. In this context, the aim of this work was to assess the influence of berry size on grape compositional attributes in ‘Tempranillo’ grapevines under different irrigation, crop load and defoliation regimes. Grapes were collected from different experiments performed during three years in a ‘Tempranillo’ vineyard (Valencia, Spain). Grape size distribution was assessed and several traits were measured for each size category: number of seeds, seed and skin weight, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, total phenolic index and anthocyanin concentration. Berry size exerted a significant effect on grape composition; smaller berries having higher sugars and anthocyanins concentrations. However, irrigation, crop load and defoliation also affected these compositional traits, producing greater berries with similar traits than those smaller, but coming from rain-fed and not defoliated treatments. Depending on the field practices applied, grape compositional attributes can be modulated for a given berry size. Therefore, wineries can use berry size classification for selecting those from a given size for making different wine styles.

El cultivo de brócoli requiere altas cantidades de agua de riego para conseguir una producción óptima. Sin embargo, la creciente escasez de recursos hídricos hace necesario implementar sistemas de riego eficientes para optimizar la eficacia en el uso del agua. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la respuesta del cultivo de dos híbridos de brócoli, Avenger (AV) y Domador (DOM) a tres dosis de riego, 50% de reposición de la evaporación del tanque clase A (R50), 100% de reposición (R100) y 150% de reposición (R150). Estos ensayos se realizaron en dos épocas: de febrero a mayo y de julio a octubre de 2016. El diseño experimental fue factorial con cuatro bloques y seis tratamientos. El momento óptimo de riego se determinó utilizando una sonda FDR. Durante el primer ensayo no se observaron diferencias en la producción entre los distintos tratamientos de riego, debido a las intensas lluvias y a la menor evapotranspiración, pero si hubo diferencias de producción entre el híbrido Domador (23.6 t ha-1) y Avenger (21.5 t ha-1). En el segundo ensayo, la producción fue mayor en R150 (40.5 t ha-1) que en R100 (28.2 t ha-1) y que en R50 (31.0 t ha-1) lo que indica que en condiciones muy secas es necesario incrementar el aporte hídrico para satisfacer las necesidades del cultivo. Comparando ambos experimentos, la producción fue más alta y el área foliar menor en el segundo ensayo, lo que sugiere que el momento más adecuado para el cultivo de brócoli en los Andes ecuatorianos es la época de menores lluvias y mayor evapotranspiración.

Con el objetivo de caracterizar los suelos agrícolas de la provincia de Tungurahua, se realizaron treinta y dos muestreos en cuatro cantones cercanos al volcán Tungurahua (Baños de Agua Santa, Pelileo, Quero y Tizaleo) y en ellos se determinaron sus propiedades físicas y químicas. Todos los suelos presentaron unas propiedades físicas similares como son una textura franco-arenosa, un pH ligeramente ácido (5.45-6.15) y una baja densidad aparente (0.98-1.21 g/cm3), característicos de suelos provenientes de cenizas volcánicas. Las propiedades químicas variaron debido a las prácticas agrícolas como se observó en una menor concentración de materia orgánica (2.04 % en Pelileo), una mayor concentración de fósforo (105 ppm en Baños de Agua Santa) y una mayor capacidad de intercambio catiónico (18.89 meq/100g en Tizaleo). Los suelos con mejores características para el desarrollo de la agricultura fueron los de los cantones Baños de Agua Santa y Tizaleo. Los resultados demuestran que tanto los depósitos volcánicos como la actividad agrícola influyen de un modo claro en las propiedades de sus suelos

Grapevine yield and fruit composition largely depend on vine water status, which can be manipulated, especially in semiarid climates, by irrigation strategies and training systems. The objective of this research was to examine the influence of canopy height on vine growth, yield, and berry traits of Tempranillo vines under different degrees of water stress. Two canopy heights and three irrigation strategies, similarly applied in the two training systems, were tested in combination. Over two years (2010 and 2011), elevating the canopy resulted in a 26% increase in leaf area per vine but also in greater water stress. As a consequence, yield was reduced by an average of 12% in the elevated canopy for the three irrigation levels, due to lower cluster and berry weight; berries from the elevated canopy had greater total soluble solids and anthocyanin concentrations, lower total acidity, and lower malic and tartaric acid concentrations. There were only slight differences in yield under the different irrigation regimes. However, berry anthocyanin concentrations were higher when an early deficit irrigation strategy was applied. Midday stem water potential, rather than the leaf-area-to-yield ratio, better explained differences in vine performance and fruit composition between the treatments. This suggests that vine performance in the study area is more influenced by water availability than by the amount of sunlight intercepted.

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo determinar la influencia del tamano de baya sobre la composicion de la misma para la variedad Tempranillo sometida a diferentes practicas culturales. En un vinedo situado en Requena (Valencia) se realizaron ensayos sobre riego y carga productiva (2004 y 2005) y fecha de deshojado (2008). Se obtuvo la distribucion de peso fresco de baya por tratamiento y se dividio en cuatro categorias; para cada una de ellas se determino el peso de piel y semillas asi como el contenido en solidos solubles, acidez total, pH, indice de polifenoles totales (IPT) y concentracion de antocianos. El tamano de baya tuvo un efecto significativo en la composicion de la uva, siendo las mas pequenas las que, en general, presentaron mayores concentraciones de azucares y antocianos. Asimismo, el riego incremento la proporcion de semillas en las bayas asi como la acidez total. Una menor carga productiva aumento el contenido de solidos solubles en las bayas, el peso especifico de la piel y la concentracion de antocianos de las bayas mas grandes, lo que sugiere que ajustar la carga productiva podria permitir al viticultor obtener bayas de mayor tamano con una composicion adecuada para elaborar vinos de alta calidad. El deshojado mejoro la composicion quimica de las bayas debido a una mejor exposicion de los racimos a la radiacion solar. Por lo tanto, la calidad de la baya puede modularse mediante estas practicas con el fin de alcanzar los objetivos de la bodega.

En un cultivo de brocoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. Italica) de los Andes ecuatorianos (2850 m.s.n.m., 01° 24' S, 78° 35' O), se evaluaron algunas variables de crecimiento, produccion en cosecha, control de malezas y contenido de humedad y nitrogeno, como respuesta a la aplicacion de diferentes tipos de mulch organico. Se utilizo un diseno experimental de bloques al azar con cinco tratamientos y tres repeticiones. Los tratamientos fueron: M0: sin mulch; MM: mulch de maiz (Zea mays L.); MV: mulch de vicia (Vicia sativa L.); MA: mulch de avena (Avena sativa L.) y MC: mulch de cana de azucar (Saccharum officinarum L.). El crecimiento vegetativo y la produccion en cosecha fueron superiores (p < 0.05) en el tratamiento con mulch de vicia (31.8 t/ ha) seguido por el mulch de avena (18.6 t/ha). El mulch de maiz (11.4 t/ha) obtuvo una produccion similar al control sin mulch (13.9 t/ha), pero el tratamiento con mulch de cana de azucar tuvo una menor produccion (7.9 t/ha) que el control sin mulch, posiblemente debido a algun tipo de alelopatia. En cuanto al control de malezas, todos los tratamientos tuvieron un menor peso fresco de malezas (p < 0.05) que el control sin mulch (6.9 kg), no obstante, el mulch de avena (3.4 kg) fue menos efectivo que el mulch de vicia (2.4 kg) y cana de azucar (1.9 kg). El porcentaje de humedad y la concentracion de nitrogeno fueron similares en todos los tratamientos. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que la mejor opcion para el cultivo de brocoli es el mulch de vicia ya que consiguio un aumento en la produccion y un control eficiente de malezas.

Background and Aims: Early defoliation (ED) can reduce vine yield and improve fruit composition in vigorous vineyards. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of this technique for the Vitis vinifera (L.) cultivar Tempranillo under the temperate warm and semi-arid climatic conditions of south-eastern Spain.Methods and Results: Four treatments were applied over three seasons to drip-irrigated vines, planted with rows orientated north-south and shoots vertically positioned. Non-defoliated vines (control) were compared with vines defoliated either just before anthesis (phenological stage H, treatment ED) or at fruitset [phenological stage J, treatment late defoliation (LD)]. In the fourth treatment, only the leaves facing east were removed at phenological stage H (treatment east ED). In the fourth experimental season, all treatments were managed similarly. Defoliation did not reduce fruitset but reduced berry mass, particularly in the ED and the LD treatments. Defoliation, however, had a cumulative negative effect on vine bud fertility. Even in the fourth experimental season, the yield of the ED treatment was 18% lower than that of the control. Both the ED and particularly the LD treatments increased berry total soluble solids (TSS) and phenolic concentration. The effect of leaf removal on berry TSS and phenolic concentration was not significant in the east ED treatment.Conclusions: Defoliation at fruitset was the most effective treatment for increasing berry phenolics and TSS while maintaining must acidity. Growers should take into account, however, the important yield penalty because of defoliation, particularly in the mid-term.Significance of the Study: Early defoliation of Tempranillo grapes growing in semi-arid and temperate climates needs to be applied with caution and probably limited to specific seasons while consecutive defoliations should be avoided.

International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research Available online at www.globalresearchonline.net © Copyright protected. Unauthorised republication, reproduction, distribution, dissemination and copying of this document in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. 35 Marco Castillo, Eduardo Quinatoa, David Risco, Itziar Arnelas* Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Sector El Tambo-La Universidad, vía Quero, Cevallos, Tungurahua, Ecuador. *Corresponding author’s E-mail: itziarnelas2@gmail.com

Early defoliation has been found to be an effective tool to reduce cluster compactness and improve fruit composition in different areas of northern Italy. Our objective was to test this technique under warmer conditions in 'Tempranillo' vines in two locations of Spain. In Requena (East-Spain), non-defoliated vines were compared with three defoliation treatments performed at different phenological phases (flowering or fruit set) and intensities. Sixteen vines per treatment were randomly selected in the vineyard. In the Badajoz (West-Spain) site, where vines are more vigorous, control vines were compared with defoliation carried out at fruit set. Treatments were carried out in 108 plants per replicate and four replicates per treatment. In the first season, as an average for all defoliation treatments, yield was reduced 22% by leaf pulling in East-Spain but not in West-Spain where yield was similar in all treatments. In East-Spain the yield reduction was due to lower berry fresh weight, while fruit set was not affected by defoliation. The effects of leaf pulling on grape acidity were different in the two locations, with defoliation decreasing must pH in West-Spain but with an increasing trend in East-Spain. Berry phenolic concentration increased with leaf removal in East-Spain but not in West-Spain where however cluster health was improved by defoliation. In East-Spain, the experiment was repeated during a second season, and in that year there was a heavier reduction in yield (-41%) due to lower bud fertility and fruit set produced by leaf pulling, suggesting important carry-over effects of the treatments. Overall, results indicate that even in warm terroirs early defoliation can improve berry composition but in different fashion depending on specific site characteristics. Growers should take into account that an important yield penalty due to defoliation might occur.

A field experiment was carried out over three seasons on Vitis vinifera cv. Tempranillo in order to compare pre-veraison and post-veraison water restrictions on vine performance and fruit composition. Rain-fed vines were compared with a treatment named MAX that was constantly irrigated at 75 % of the estimated crop evapotranspiration (ETc). In addition, an early (pre-veraison) water deficit strategy (ED) was applied by withholding irrigation until plant water stress experienced by vines surpassed a threshold value of midday stem water potential of −1.0 MPa. After that, 75 % of ETc was applied. A late season deficit (LD) treatment was irrigated as per the MAX up to veraison, and thereafter, water application was reduced to approximately 37 % of ETc. All irrigation regimes increased vine yield up to 58 % with respect to the rain-fed treatment, and no differences in yield among the irrigated treatments occurred. However, there were differences in berry composition among the different irrigation strategies. The ED strategy was more effective than the LD one in reducing berry growth leading to more concentrated berries in terms of sugars and anthocyanins. The LD water shortage impaired berry sugar accumulation due to the detrimental effect of water stress on leaf photosynthesis.

Irrigation of grapevines to meet the full seasonal water needs (ETc) usually negatively affects wine composition. In addition, our previous results showed that under Mediterranean climate replacing approximately 50% of full ETc ensures a substantial yield increase, compared with rain-fed conditions, with no detrimental effects on grape composition. The question then is whether it would be better to concentrate the water applications during the pre-veraison or during the postveraison period. A field experiment was carried out in a 'Tempranillo' vineyard during 2007 and 2008 where different irrigation strategies were applied at two crop levels (Normal and High). Rain-fed (NI) vines were compared with vines that were constantly irrigated at 75% of ETc (Control). Irrigation to the Control commenced when midday stem water potential (Psi(stem)) values reached -0.7 MPa. In addition, a spring water shortage strategy (ED) was applied by withholding irrigation until. stem Psi(stem) surpassed -1.0 MPa. After that, 75% of ETc was applied. Finally, a LD treatment was irrigated as per the Control up to veraison, and thereafter water application was reduced to approximately 2550% of ETc, trying to avoid. stem surpass -1.4 MPa. Results indicated that all irrigation regimes increased vine yield up to 50% with respect to the NI and no differences in yield among the irrigated treatments occurred. However, there were large differences in berry composition among the different irrigation strategies. The ED was more effective than LD in reducing berry growth leading to more concentrated berries in terms of anthocyanins. The LD impaired berry sugar accumulation due to the detrimental effect of water stress on leaf photosynthetic rate. Thus, in our conditions of scarce water resources, applying moderate water deficits before veraison and irrigating without considerable restriction afterwards, appears as the most convenient irrigation strategy. Crop level did not affect grape composition.

Consumer demands for high quality fruit is leading to a greater awareness of the need to apply management techniques that enhances the quality of fruits by the fruit growing industry. Bitter pit is a disorder that greatly reduces the quality of fruits, and is related to calcium deficiency in the fruit. Generally, calcium sprays throughout the fruit growing season are recommended to prevent the development of bitter pit, but results are inconsistent. Thus, from 2004 to 2006 experiments have been conducted to study the absorption of Ca by the fruit, analyzing the effect of Ca sprays on the skin and flesh of fruits. The results obtained show that Ca treatments at high rates only affect the concentration of the element in the fruit skin, and that several sprays are needed to promote a prolonged increase in the concentration of this element on the skin, not affecting that in the fruit flesh. The concentrations of other elements (Mg and K) were not affected in any case. The absorption of Ca by the apple tree following the sprays was confirmed by foliar analysis, where increases in the concentration of the element were found.

ABSTRACT During 2004 and 2006, experiments were conducted that measured the absorption of calcium (Ca) by the fruit and assessed the effects of Ca sprays on the skin and flesh of apples. Frequent (1 spray/month for 2 or 4 months) Ca treatments increased the concentration of Ca in the skin, but not in the flesh of fruit, and several sprays were needed to promote a prolonged increase in the concentration of Ca in the skin. Calcium sprays did not influence the concentrations of magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K). Foliar analyses confirmed the absorption of topical Ca by the apple tree following the Ca sprays as the concentration of Ca in leaves increased.