Chestnut Woods on Madonie Mountains (Sicily, Italy): Reasons for Abandonment and Possibilities of Recovery

Gherardi, Lodovico; Mantia, Tommaso La; Veca, Donato Salvatore La Mela

doi:10.17660/actahortic.1999.494.12

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Nowadays, the tree species most used for this purpose are Douglas fir and Calabrian chestnut. Regarding these tree species, chestnut wood shows excellent technological features (17,18), but the cultivated areas have decreased notably in the last years (19). The use of wood from black pine and cedar would provide an economical significance for the reforestation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wooden vats applied in cheese production were made from seven tree species (Table 5). Chestnut (Castanea sativa Miller) wood was collected from Petralia Sottana, Italy, one of the areas where this species was largely cultivated in the past (19). Chestnut wood from the Calabria region was used as a control, since it represents the most common wood species for wooden dairy equipment used in western Sicily (3).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Formation and Characterization of Early Bacterial Biofilms on Different Wood Typologies Applied in Dairy Production

Cruciata

Gaglio

Scatassa

et al. 2018

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The main hypothesis of this work was that Sicilian forestry resources are suitable for the production of equipment to be used in cheese making and indigenous milk lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are able to develop stable biofilms providing starter and nonstarter cultures necessary for curd fermentation and cheese ripening, respectively. Hence, the present work was carried out with deproteinized whey to evaluate LAB biofilm formation on different woods derived from tree species grown in Sicily. Microbiological and scanning electron microscopy analyses showed minimal differences in microbial levels and compositions for the neoformed biofilms. The specific investigation of spp.,, , coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS), and sulfite-reducing anaerobes did not generate any colony for all vats before and after bacterial adhesion. LAB populations dominated all vat surfaces. The highest levels (7.63 log CFU/cm) were registered for thermophilic cocci. Different colonies were characterized physiologically, biochemically, and genetically (at strain and species levels). Six species within the genera ,, , and were identified. The species most frequently present were and LAB found on the surfaces of the wooden vats in this study showed interesting characteristics important for dairy manufacture. To thoroughly investigate the safety of the wooden vat, a test of artificial contamination on new Calabrian chestnut (control wood) vats was carried out. The results showed that LAB represent efficient barriers to the adhesion of the main dairy pathogens, probably due to their acidity and bacteriocin generation. This study highlights the importance of using wooden vats for traditional cheese production and provides evidence for the valorization of the Sicilian forest wood resources via the production of dairy equipment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and Characterization of Early Bacterial Biofilms on Different Wood Typologies Applied in Dairy Production

Cruciata

Gaglio

Scatassa

et al. 2018

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Castanea sativa (chestnut)

2019

CABI Compendium

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Forestry, pasture, agriculture and fauna correlated to recent changes in Sicily

Massa¹,

Mantia²

2007

Forest@

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Forestry, pasture, agriculture and fauna correlated to recent changes in Sicily. Sicily, due to its position, dimension and variability may be considered representative of the environmental conditions and transform ations occurred in the Mediterranean area. In some cases, transformation process was destructive for some habitats, as wetlands; their reclamation caused extinction of some bird species once breeding in Sicily. The transformation, often, changed the proportion among habitats, with a reduction of wood and an increase of cerealicolous-zootechnical areas. The transformation began during the Greek and Roman period but created some open habitats, as prairie or cerealicolous-zootechnical, very rich in biodiversity. Actually in Sicily, the highest number of threatened species are linked to this habitat and are at high risk, due to process of intensi fication of agriculture, occurring since the II World War. In many areas of Europe species at risk are also presently tied to agrarian systems. Some species living in woodland became extinct because of wood cutting occurred in the past century. Today, due to the protection of woods, their fauna has stable populations or is increasing, because of the re-naturalization process of allochthonous woods. Species present in wetlands are currently increasing thanks to the protection of such habitats. This paper will allow to establish priorities for protection and action that may contribute to the increase of animal biodiversity in Sicily.

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Chestnut Woods on Madonie Mountains (Sicily, Italy): Reasons for Abandonment and Possibilities of Recovery

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Formation and Characterization of Early Bacterial Biofilms on Different Wood Typologies Applied in Dairy Production

Formation and Characterization of Early Bacterial Biofilms on Different Wood Typologies Applied in Dairy Production

Castanea sativa (chestnut)

Forestry, pasture, agriculture and fauna correlated to recent changes in Sicily

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