Search Results (652)

The health of crops is a major challenge for productivity growth in agriculture, with plant diseases playing a key role in limiting crop yield. Identifying and understanding these diseases is crucial to preventing their spread. In particular, greenhouse pepper leaves are susceptible to diseases such as mildew, mites, caterpillars, aphids, and blight, which leave distinctive marks that can be used for disease classification. The study proposes a seven-class classifier for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of pepper diseases, with a primary focus on pre-processing techniques to enhance colour differentiation between green and yellow shades, thereby facilitating easier classification among the classes. A novel algorithm is introduced to improve image vibrancy, contrast, and colour properties. The diagnosis is performed using a modified VGG16Net model, which includes three additional layers for fine-tuning. After initialising on the ImageNet dataset, some layers are frozen to prevent redundant learning. The classification is additionally accelerated by introducing flattened, dense, and dropout layers. The proposed model is tested on a private dataset collected specifically for this study. Notably, this work is the first to focus on diagnosing aphid and caterpillar diseases in peppers. The model achieves an average accuracy of 92.00%, showing promising potential for seven-class deep learning-based disease diagnostics. Misclassifications in the aphid class are primarily due to the limited number of samples available. Full article

A virome survey of banana plantations and their surrounding plants was carried out at nation-wide level in Malawi using virion associated nucleic acids (VANA) high throughput sequencing (HTS) on pooled samples and appropriate alien controls. In total, 366 plants were sequenced, and 23 plant virus species were detected, three species on banana (275 plants) and 20 species in surrounding plants (91 plants). Two putative novel virus species; ginger tymo-like virus and pepper derived totivirus were detected and confirmed by RT-PCR on ginger and pepper. Nine known virus species and detected a host plant was identified for two of them. No viral exchange between banana and surrounding plants was observed. Results from the VANA protocol, applied to pooled banana samples, were compared with previous targeted PCR results obtained from individual banana samples. HTS test detected better BanMMV than IC-(RT)-PCR on individual samples (better inclusivity) but detected with much lower sensitivity BBTV and BSV species, often with less than 10 reads per sample. Detection of novel and known viruses and new host plants calls for strengthened sanitory and phytosanitory measures within and beyond banana production systems. Our research confirms that HTS sensitivity depends on sampling, pooling protocol and targeted virus species. Full article

As a globally significant economic crop, pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants display excessive plant height (etiolation) in greenhouse production under an undesirable environment, leading to lodging-prone plants with reduced stress resistance. In the present study, we provided supplementary ultraviolet-B (UV-B, 280–315 nm) light to pepper plants grown in a greenhouse to assess the influences of UV-B on pepper growth, with an emphasis on the molecular mechanisms mediated through the gibberellin (GA) signaling pathway. The results indicated that UV-B significantly decreased the plant height and the fresh weight of pepper plants. However, no significant differences were observed in the chlorophyll content of pepper plants grown under natural light and supplementary UV-B radiation. The results of the transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses indicated that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in plant hormone signal transduction and that UV radiation altered the gibberellin synthesis pathway of pepper plants. Specifically, the GA3 content of the pepper plants grown with UV-B radiation decreased by 39.1% compared with those grown without supplementary UV-B radiation; however, the opposite trend was observed in GA34, GA7, and GA51 contents. In conclusion, UV-B exposure significantly reduced plant height, a phenotypic response mechanistically linked to an alteration in GA homeostasis, which may be caused by a decrease in GA3 content. Our study elucidated the interplay between UV-B and gibberellin biosynthesis in pepper morphogenesis, offering a theoretical rationale for developing UV-B photoregulation technologies as alternatives to chemical growth inhibitors. Full article

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widely used chemical to produce raw materials in plastic production, which has led to its ubiquity in the natural environment and toxicity to both plants and humans. In this study, we evaluated the phytotoxic effects of BPA on the growth and physiology of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), a globally cultivated horticultural plant. Our high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) result revealed that 0.5 mg/kg of BPA treatment did not lead to the accumulation of BPA in the leaves and fruits of pepper plants. The exogenous application of 5 mg/kg of BPA prominently inhibited pepper growth, while 0.5 mg/kg of BPA had no obvious effects on pepper growth. Additionally, our transcriptomic assay revealed that BPA-regulated gene expression is associated with photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling. Physiological and qRT-PCR assays further demonstrated that BPA reduced chlorophyll content and increased ROS levels by regulating the expression of genes related to chlorophyll synthesis and ROS production. Our transcriptomic data also elucidated the potential role of plant hormones, including brassinolides (BR), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and strigolactone (SL) in mediating BPA-induced phytotoxicity. Furthermore, BPA activated the N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification to exert its toxicity. Collectively, our findings offer additional insights into the mechanisms through which BPA attenuates pepper plant growth, which might contribute new knowledge toward a better scientific assessment of BPA exposure risks in horticultural species. Full article

Substrate cultivation is a widely used method in greenhouses to address the deterioration of the soil environment caused by excessive fertilization. However, the effects and relationships of fertilization treatments on stoichiometric characteristics, rhizosphere soil microorganisms, and metabolites are still unclear. To determine the optimal amount and frequency, two fertilization intervals (every 5 days and every 10 days) and four total fertilization levels (378.5, 529.9, 605.6, and 757.0 kg·ha⁻¹) were considered, along with a control (CK). Among the treatments, T6 (every 10 days with a total fertilization amount of 605.6 kg·ha⁻¹) resulted in the best pepper plant growth, highest photosynthetic capacity, and maximum yield. Fertilization significantly changed the species composition and community structure of rhizosphere microorganisms. It also affected the composition of rhizosphere metabolites, with differential metabolites significantly enriched in alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, as well as butanoate metabolism. This study provides insights into high-quality and high-yield cultivation of peppers, as well as the rhizosphere microorganisms and metabolites that play an important role in production. Full article

The global population is rising at an alarming rate and is projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, necessitating a substantial increase in food production. However, the overuse of chemical pesticides, including antibacterial agents and synthetic fertilizers, poses a major threat to sustainable agriculture. This review examines the ecological and health impacts of antibacterial agents (e.g., streptomycin, oxytetracycline, etc.) in horticultural crops, focusing on their effects on non-target organisms such as beneficial microbes involved in plant growth promotion and resistance development. Certain agents (e.g., triclosan, sulfonamides, and fluoroquinolones) leach into water systems, degrading water quality, while others leave toxic residues in crops, leading to human health risks like dysbiosis and antibiotic resistance. To mitigate these hazards, sustainable alternatives such as integrated plant disease management (IPDM) and biotechnological solutions are essential. Advances in genetic engineering including resistance-conferring genes like EFR1/EFR2 (Arabidopsis), Bs2 (pepper), and Pto (tomato) help combat pathogens such as Ralstonia solanacearum and Xanthomonas campestris. Additionally, CRISPR-Cas9 enables precise genome editing to enhance inherent disease resistance in crops. Emerging strategies like biological control, plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs), and nanotechnology further reduce dependency on chemical antibacterial agents. This review highlights the urgent need for sustainable disease management to safeguard ecosystem and human health while ensuring food security. Full article

The search for waste management opportunities is crucial for achieving environmentally friendly waste practices and ensuring the country’s energy security. This research aimed to valorize biomass and waste generated in greenhouses and to analyze the potential for electricity production from this waste. The analyses compared the situations in Turkey and Poland, where greenhouse production of vegetables is developing and constitutes an important link in agricultural activities, despite differences in climatic conditions. The cultivation of vegetables and flowers under cover is rapidly expanding in both countries and, with changing climatic conditions, is expected to shape the future of agriculture. In addition to estimating the energy that can be obtained, the study also evaluated the economic benefits of such a solution and the volume of avoided CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels. The issue of utilizing these wastes is significant because current methods of their management do not lead to energy production, so their considerable energy potential is wasted, as highlighted in this study. Moreover, there is a lack of similar studies in the literature. The plant species chosen as materials in this study were tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, watermelon, and melon in the case of Turkey. For Poland, the analysis was conducted for tomatoes and greenhouse cucumbers. These crops represent the largest cultivated areas under cover in the respective countries. Results indicated that the average yearly amount of vegetable residue is approximately 463 thousand Mg in Turkey, and 77 thousand Mg in Poland. The estimated annual electricity potential is 430 GWh in Turkey and 80 GWh in Poland. Considering the efficiency of power generation in a typical power plant, the real amount of electricity to be obtained is 0.46 MWh per Mg of waste in Turkey and 0.52 MWh in Poland. Full article

As an emerging vegetable cultivation technology, plug seedling cultivation significantly improves seedling production efficiency and reduces costs through standardization. Grading and transplanting, as the final step before the sale of plug seedlings, categorizes seedlings into different grades to ensure consistent quality. However, most current grading methods can only detect seedling emergence but cannot classify the emerged seedlings. Therefore, this study proposes an intelligent grading method for pepper plug seedlings based on RGB and point cloud images, enabling precise grading using both RGB and 3D point cloud data. The proposed method involves the following steps: First, RGB and point cloud images of the seedlings are acquired using 2D and 3D cameras. The point cloud data is then converted into a 2D representation and aligned with the RGB images. Next, a deep learning-based object detection algorithm identifies the positions of individual seedlings in the RGB images. Using these positions, the seedlings are segmented from both the RGB and 2D point cloud images. Subsequently, a deep learning-based leaf recognition algorithm processes the segmented RGB images to determine leaf count, while another deep learning-based algorithm segments the leaves in the 2D point cloud images to extract their spatial information. Their surface area is measured using 3D reconstruction method to calculate leaf area. Additionally, plant height is derived from the point cloud’s height data. Finally, a classification model is trained using these extracted features to establish a grading system. Experimental results demonstrate that this automated grading method achieves a success rate of 97%, and compared with manual methods, this method has higher production efficiency. Meanwhile, it can grade different tray seedlings by training different models and provide reliable technical support for the quality evaluation of seedlings in industrialized transplanting production. Full article

Efficient nitrogen management is key to maximizing production and minimizing the environmental impact of horticultural crops. This study analyses the effect of different doses of nitrogen on the development of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) (cultivar Parthenon), processing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) (cultivar H1015), and processing pepper (Capsicum annuum) (cultivar Ramonete Lamuyo) in open fields in Extremadura and evaluates rapid and efficient methods for diagnosing their nutritional status. Trials were carried out at the La Orden Experimental Farm (CICYTEX) with different nitrogen fertilization rates. The N doses were 0–60–120–180 kg N/ha for peppers in 2020 and 2021 and 0–200–300 kg N/ha for 2022. For broccoli, the N doses were 0–100–200–300 kg N/ha in 2020 and 0–200–300 kg N/ha for 2022. For tomatoes, the N doses were 0–100–200–300 kg N/ha in 2021 and 0–200–350 kg N/ha for 2022. The following three indicators were compared: chlorophyll content measured with optical sensors, petiole sap nitrate concentration, and the nitrogen nutrition index (NNI). The results indicate that chlorophyll measurement is not suitable for broccoli due to the characteristics of its leaves, but is useful for tomatoes and peppers, providing a quick and non-destructive diagnosis. Nitrate concentration in sap, although more laborious and destructive, was found to be effective in discriminating nutritional status in the three species. However, the NNI did not prove to be a good reference method in open field conditions. These results highlight the importance of adapting nutrient monitoring strategies to the crop and management conditions, contributing to a more efficient use of nitrogen and a reduction in the environmental impact of nitrate leaching. Full article

Drought stress is a critical abiotic constraint on agricultural productivity, particularly affecting crops like pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), which are highly susceptible to water deficits due to their physiological characteristics. The present study investigated the impact of a 40% reduction in irrigation on yield, macronutrient concentrations, and fruit quality across several pepper genotypes. The cultivars evaluated included two landraces, namely ‘JO109’ and ‘JO204’ (Capsicum annuum var. grossum), as well as the California cultivar ‘Yolo Wonder’ and the commercial F1 hybrid ‘Sammy RZ’, which served as controls. The experiment was conducted at the greenhouse facilities of the Laboratory of Vegetable Production, Agricultural University of Athens. Under reduced irrigation, most of the cultivars studied exhibited a decline in yield, which was attributed to a decrease in fruit number in ‘Yolo Wonder’ and a reduction in fruit weight in both ‘JO204’ and ‘Sammy’. In contrast, the landrace ‘JO109’ exhibited consistent yields under both growing conditions, a response likely attributed to elevated K concentration in the leaves and lower Na accumulation in the fruit, indicating enhanced tolerance to water deficit. A decline in leaf K concentration was observed in response to drought stress, while concomitantly increased concentrations of Na, Ca and Mg were recorded. Among fruit macronutrients, only Ca showed a significant decrease under reduced irrigation. Furthermore, fruit firmness (FF), titratable acidity (TA) and total soluble solids content (TSSC) exhibited higher levels under drought stress, particularly in ‘JO109’, while TA remained unaltered. These findings highlight the potential of landraces such as ‘JO109’ to be utilized in breeding programs aimed at enhancing resilience, while maintaining pepper fruit quality under limited water availability. Full article

This study investigates the production of stable ingredients with high bioactive compound content from agri-food wastes. For the valorization process, high-pressure thermal treatment (HPTT) at different temperatures (65, 75, and 85 °C) at 600 MPa for 5 min was applied to three by-products. These HPTTs were compared with conventional thermal treatments (TTs) carried out at the same temperatures and durations. The by-products studied were red pepper (RP) (Capsicum annuum), red wine pomace (RWP) from Tempranillo, and white wine pomace (WWP) from Cayetana, Pardina, and Montúa. Winemaking by-products presented higher fiber content compared to RP (RP 1.94%, RWP 38.14%, and WWP 34.46%). In RP, the color parameters such as lightness (L*) and redness (a*) were not significantly affected by HPTT or TT, and the total phenolic content (TPC), total carotenoid content (TCC), and antioxidant activity (ABTS) remained stable with the HPTT. The RWP and WWP were more sensitive to the HPTT, producing important color changes and reducing the bioactive compounds. Color (especially redness) showed positive correlations with TPC and ABTS, which could serve as a predictive indicator. Our study shows that HPTT can significantly improve the valorization of RP and winemaking by-products like pomace, leading to the production of a stable food ingredient characterized by high bioactive compound content. Full article

Aflatoxin contamination poses a significant food safety risk, particularly during the storage of dried chili peppers. This study evaluated the efficacy of formic acid treatment, ultraviolet (UV) treatment, and combined UV-formic acid treatment in both preventing and controlling Aspergillus flavus in dried red chili powder. Efficacy was assessed by measuring the growth diameter of A. flavus colonies on un-colonized and already colonized dried red chili powder. The optimal treatment conditions for the UV-formic acid combination were determined through single-factor experiments, orthogonal experiments, and quality assessment. Finally, the effects of the UV-formic acid combination on the cell membrane, antioxidant system, and energy metabolism of A. flavus were investigated. The results revealed that fumigation of un-colonized dried red chili powder with 5% formic acid for 24 h inhibited A. flavus growth by 93.29% and toxin synthesis by 99.41%. In contrast, treatment of already colonized chili powder with 10% formic acid inhibited A. flavus colony growth by 50%. Through a three-factor, three-level orthogonal experiment followed by quality testing, the optimal conditions were determined to be 8% formic acid concentration, a UV irradiation distance of 15 cm, and a treatment time of 75 min. This optimized combined treatment reduced the required fumigation time from 24 h to 1.25 h. This technique achieved complete suppression of aflatoxin B₁ synthesis on un-colonized dried red chili powder. On already colonized chili powder, the mycelial growth inhibition rate was 48.05 ± 6.68%, and aflatoxin B₁ synthesis was inhibited by 91.32 ± 3.15%. Quality assessment revealed that the UV-formic acid co-treatment parameters did not significantly affect key quality indicators including color, capsaicin content, total phenolic content (p > 0.05). Furthermore, UV-formic acid treatment disrupt the cell membrane structure of A. flavus, impairs its antioxidant and energy metabolism systems, and induces mitochondrial dysfunction. The study confirmed the synergistic antifungal effect of formic acid and UV, providing a potential industrialized solution for enhancing the safety and storage stability of dried chili products. Full article

This research addresses the critical need for an efficient and precise identification of Capsicum spp. fruit varieties within the post-harvest contexts to enhance quality control and ensure consumer satisfaction. Employing the YOLOv8m convolutional neural network, the study identified eight distinct pepper varieties: Pimento, Bode, Cambuci, Chilli, Fidalga, Habanero, Jalapeno, and Scotch Bonnet. A dataset comprising 1476 annotated images was utilized and significantly expanded through data augmentation techniques, including rotation, flipping, and contrast adjustments. Comparative analysis reveals that training with the augmented dataset yielded significant improvements across key performance indicators, particularly in box precision, recall, and mean average precision (mAP50 and mAP95), underscoring the effectiveness of data augmentation. These findings underscore the considerable potential of CNNs to advance the AgriFood sector through increased automation and efficiency. While acknowledging the constraints of a controlled image dataset, subsequent research should prioritize expanding the dataset and conducting real-world testing to confirm the model’s robustness across various environmental factors. This study contributes to the field by illustrating the application of deep learning methodologies to enhance agricultural productivity and inform decision-making. Full article

Quantitative greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets for Mediterranean pepper cultivation are still missing, limiting evidence-based nitrogen management. Furthermore, mitigation value of fertigation respect to granular fertilization in vegetable systems remains uncertain. This study therefore compared the GHG footprint and productivity of ‘papaccella’ pepper under two nitrogen fertilization methods: granular fertilization versus low-frequency fertigation with urea, each supplying about 63 kg N ha⁻¹. Eight automated static chambers coupled to a cavity ring-down spectrometer monitored soil CO₂ and N₂O fluxes throughout the season. Cumulative emissions did not differ between treatments (CO₂: 811 ± 6 g m⁻² vs. 881 ± 4 g m⁻²; N₂O: 0.038 ± 0.008 g m⁻² vs. 0.041 ± 0.015 g m⁻², fertigation vs. granular), and marketable yield remained at ~11 t ha⁻¹, leaving product-scaled global warming potential (GWP) unchanged. Although representing less than 2% of measured fluxes, “hot moments,” burst emissions exceeding four standard deviations (SD) from the mean, accounted for up to 4% of seasonal CO₂ and 19% of N₂O. Fertigation doubled the frequency of these events but reduced their peak magnitude, whereas granular application produced fewer but more extreme bursts (>11 SD). Results showed that fertigation did not mitigate GHGs emission nor improve productivity for Mediterranean pepper, mainly due to the low application frequency and the use of a urea fertilizer. Moreover, we can highlight that in horticultural systems, omitting ‘hot moments’ leads to systematic underestimation of emissions. Full article

Beneficial interactions between plants and bacteria are crucial in agricultural practices, as bacteria can improve soil fertility, promote plant growth, and protect plants from pathogens. This study aimed to molecularly identify and characterize soil bacterial isolates and evaluate their effect on the growth of maize (Zea mays L.), tomato (Solanum lycopersici L.), cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), and pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under greenhouse conditions. Plant growth parameters, including plant height, root length, and fresh (FW) and dry (DW) weights, were measured. Additionally, pigment extraction and element content analysis using leaves were performed. Among the isolates, the most effective strain in the greenhouse experiment was Bacillus safensis SCF6, which significantly enhanced plant height and fresh weight across all tested plants, with the greatest influence observed in maize plant height (439.42 ± 6.42 mm), fresh weight (14.07 ± 0.87 g plant⁻¹ FW), and dry weight (1.43 ± 0.17 g plant⁻¹ DW) compared to the control (364.67 ± 10.33 mm, 9.20 ± 1.16 g plant⁻¹ FW, and 0.92 ± 0.15 g plant⁻¹ DW, respectively). Other strains also demonstrated notable results, with Microbacterium testaceum SCF4, Bacillus mojavensis SCF8, and Pseudomonas putida SCF9 showing the highest plant growth-promoting effects on pepper, tomato, and cucumber, respectively. Pseudomonas putida SCF9 demonstrated strong antifungal activity against Monilinia laxa, with a percentage of mycelial growth inhibition (PGI) of 72.62 ± 2.06%, while Bacillus subtilis SCF1 exhibited effects against Botrytis cinerea (PGI = 69.57 ± 4.35%) and Cercospora sp. (PGI = 63.11 ± 1.12%). The development and application of beneficial bacterial inoculants or their formulated products can contribute to environmentally friendly farming practices and global food security. Full article