Use of High-Resolution Multispectral UAVs to Calculate Projected Ground Area in Corylus avellana L. Tree Orchard.

In the last decade, research on Corylus avellana has focused on improving field techniques and hazelnut quality; however, climatic change and sustainability goals call for new agronomic management strategies. Precision management technologies could help improve resource use efficiency and increase grower income, but research on remote sensing systems and especially on drone devices is still limited. Therefore, the hazelnut is still linked to production techniques far from the so-called Agriculture 4.0. Unmanned aerial vehicles platforms are becoming increasingly available to satisfy the demand for rapid real-time monitoring for orchard management at spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions, addressing the analysis of geometric traits such as canopy volume and area and vegetation indices. The objective of this study is to define a rapid procedure to calculate geometric parameters of the canopy, such as canopy area and height, by methods using NDVI and CHM values derived from UAV images. This procedure was tested on the young Corylus avellana tree to manage a hazelnut orchard in the early years of cultivation. The study area is a hazelnut orchard (6.68 ha), located in Bernalda, Italy. The survey was conducted in a six-year-old irrigated hazelnut orchard of Tonda di Giffoni and Nocchione varieties using multispectral UAV. We determined the Projected Ground Area and, on the Corylus avellana canopy trough, the vigor index NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and the CHM (Canopy Height Model), which were used to define the canopy and to calculate the tree crown area. The projection of the canopy area to the ground measured with NDVI values > 0.30 and NDVI values > 0.35 and compared with CHM measurements showed a statistically significant linear regression, R2 = 0.69 and R2 = 0.70, respectively. The ultra-high-resolution imagery collected with the UAV system helped identify and define each tree crown individually from the background (bare soil and grass cover). Future developments are the construction of reliable relationships between the vigor index NDVI and the Leaf Area Index (LAI), as well as the evaluation of their spatial-temporal evolution.

Pomegranate Wastes Are Rich in Bioactive Compounds with Potential Benefit on Human Health.

Pomegranate use is increasing worldwide, as it is considered a tasteful healthy food. It is mainly used as fruit, juice, and jam. The pomegranate peel represents about 40-50% of the total fruit weight and contains numerous and diverse bioactive substances. The aim of this research was to analyze the pomegranate peel chemical composition of Wonderful cultivated in Southern Italy and treated with an innovative physic dry concentration procedure in comparison with the peel composition of freeze-dried Wonderful cultivated in Southern Italy, freeze-dried Wonderful cultivated in South Africa, and freeze-dried pomegranate cultivated in India. The specific aim was to verify how much the growth area, cultivar type, and dry procedure influenced the chemical composition of the peels in terms of valuable bioactive compounds. Spectrophotometric and HPLC identification methods were used to detect antioxidants, antioxidant activities, and phenolic and flavonoid components. Results evidenced that in pomegranate peels of Wonderful cultivated in Calabria and dried with the innovative process, total phenolic substances, total flavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, and antioxidant activities were the highest. Great amounts of single phenolic acids and flavonoids were found in Calabrian Wonderful peels dried with the innovative process. Overall, it emerged that a great amount of bioactive and diverse compounds found in Calabrian Wonderful pomegranate peel comes from the niche pedoclimatic conditions, and the physic drying innovative methodology turned out to be an advantageous procedure to concentrate and conserve biocompounds.

Environment and environmental awareness: how university students conceive and act / Meio ambiente e consciência ambiental: como concebem e atuam discentes universitários

This exploratory study had the objective of analyzing issues concerning environmental themes among students coming from four different areas of knowledge, at a public university in the State of Minas Gerais. By the use of drawings, the students' environmental concepts were identified. Global environmental and campus problems, as well as actions towards minimizing them, were investigated by using an open questionnaire. Independent of their performing area, a high number of students presented a reductionist view of the environment. Those from the areas related to natural sciences identified a higher number of problems at local and global levels than those from the areas known as humanities and math. The obtained data suggest the need for environmental education programs, which angle for greater student awareness in the search for sustainability and foster them to think about the current social model that we live in.

Este estudo exploratório objetivou analisar questões referentes à temática ambiental entre discentes, provenientes de quatro diferentes áreas do saber, de uma universidade pública do Estado de Minas Gerais. Por meio de desenhos, identificaram-se as concepções destes estudantes sobre o meio ambiente. Os problemas ambientais globais e do campus universitário, além das ações voltadas para minimizar estes últimos, foram investigados utilizando-se um questionário aberto. Independente da área de atuação, um elevado número de estudantes apresenta uma visão reducionista do meio ambiente. Aqueles das áreas relacionadas às ciências da natureza identificaram maior número de problemas em nível local e global que os discentes das áreas ditas humanas e exatas. Os dados obtidos sugerem a necessidade de programas de educação ambiental, que visem uma maior conscientização e atuação dos estudantes na busca da sustentabilidade e que os levem a refletir sobre o atual modelo de sociedade em que vivemos.