QUALITY AND YIELD OF RIBES AND RUBUS CULTIVARS GROWN IN SOUTHERN ITALY HILLY LOCATIONS

The berry fruit species, belonging to the genera Ribes and Rubus, are important for diversification of production in the mountainous and mar ginal areas of the Southern Apennines. The fruit, both for food and no n-food (pharmaceutical, cosmetic industries) use, is a source of reven ue for people living in these marginal areas. These species could be i ntensively exploited. To improve quality, plantation could be carried out according to the principles of modern genetic, agronomic and techn ical information. To observe the behaviour of the cultivars tested and to evaluate their bioagronomical performance and the quality of the f ruits, trials were made in Melfi and Villa D'Agri (province of Potenza ). Concerning the quality of the fruit, among other traits, the polyph enol, vitamin C and anthocyanin contents have been analysed. These com pounds have interesting properties such as antiinflammatory, antioxida tive, healing, aromatic, vitaminic, capillary vessel protecting. This justifies a broad use of berry fruits not only for food purposes but a lso as a source for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The result s obtained show a good adaptability of the cultivars tested in the dif ferent grounds: their productivity and the qualitative traits of the f ruits are expected to improve the cultivation. (C) 1998 John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.