Identification and study of local germplasm
Local and traditional cultivars are individuated in loco, and several traits are observed and described: merceological, compositio...
HISTORY
The Center was born in 2003 by Piemonte Region, University of Torino and local Institutions on the basis of the historical and traditional bond between chestnut and the territory, betting on the potentiality of chestnut cultivation for Italy.
The Center was formally established on 10 February 2009, by Regional Law No 4. Nowadays it joins public bodies, as well as stakeholders interested in chestnut-growing sector.
The Chestnut R&D Center Piemonte supports scientific research and innovation in chestnut cultivation. The main activities of the Center are aimed at providing scientific and technical answers to chestnut growing, helping to renewing the sector, improving its competitiveness and enhance the chestnut as a fruit & wood tree, and as a characterizing component of mountain and foothill ecosystems.
Research
Innovative agricultural techniques
Research is focused on investigating the best agricultural practices for both traditional and intensive chestnut plantations. Inno...
Breeding and biotecnologies
Research activities concern the study of chestnut genetic mapping and breeding, in order to obtain new performing cultivars and ro...
Clonal rootstocks and nursery
The research activities carried out by the Chestnut R&D Center are aimed at selecting and evaluating the agronomic performance...
Phytotherapy and bud-derived products
Thanks to their chemical composition, herbal and pharmaceutical companies use chestnut buds as raw material for producing herbal p...
Forestry and wood utilisation
Appropriate management models for coppice are studied, the best soils for timber production are identified, and the more suitable ...
Low environmental impact crop protection strategies
Research activities deal with the study and monitoring of the main diseases and pests on chestnut, in order to develop low envir...
Who we are
ARBORICULTURE AND NURSERY TECHNIQUES
Gabriele L. Beccaro 1
Maria Gabriella Mellano 1
Dario Donno 1
Giovanni Gamba 1
Alessandro Tomatis 1
Annachiara Fioccardi 1
Lorenzo Rosso 1
PESTS
Alberto Alma 1
Chiara Ferracini 1
DISEASES
Paolo Gonthier 1
Guglielmo G. Lione 1
BREEDING AND BIOTECHNOLOGIES
Roberto Botta 1
Daniela Marinoni 1
PEDOLOGY AND SOIL MANAGEMENT
Eleonora Bonifacio 1
SOCIO-ECONOMICS ASPECTS
Filippo Brun 1
Simone Blanc 1
Stefano Bruzzese 1
FORESTRY AND COPPICE MANAGEMENT
Igor Boni 2
Andrea Ebone 2
Renzo Motta 1
Davide Ascoli 1
TIMBER AND WOOD TECHNOLOGIES
Roberto Zanuttini 1
Corrado Cremonini 1
Guido Locatelli 3
LANDSCAPE
Marco Devecchi 1
NURSERY (PIEMONTE REGION AND NURSERY SERVICE)
Marco Rocca 4
Eva Malacarne 4
PIEMONTE REGION – FORESTRY SECTOR
Elena Fila Mauro 4
Marco Corgnati 4
COMMUNICATION
Marco Bussone 5
SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR
Gabriele L. Beccaro 1
TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATION
M. Gabriella Mellano 1
- Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences – University of Turin
- IPLA – Institute for Wood Plants and the Environment
- Ecoforeste s.r.l.
- Regione Piemonte
- Unione Nazionale Comuni, Comunità ed Enti montani
Dissemination
The Chestnut R&D Center Piemonte supports dissemination through the organisation of training activities, both practical and theorical, for the specialisation of the stakeholders who work in chestnut sector.
Courses are held together with institutions highly specialised in agricultural training activities.
A counselling desk facilitates networking and connections between the research and development sectors making it possible to set up direct exchanges on the different aspects of the growing process between researchers, technicians and growers.
Competences and experience of researchers and technicians working at the Center are available to answer to any of your questions.
The Chestnut R&D Center has its own magazine, named CASTANEA and periodically published in English and Italian, and it organizes and takes part in congress and events at local, national and international scale. Moreover, it has been working for years at the National Marrone Fair, in Cuneo.
Some of the conferences organised:
Publications
Gamba, G., Donno, D., Mellano, M. G., & Beccaro, G. L. (2023). Graft incompatibility in chestnut: a multidisciplinary approach for early identification in Castanea spp. Acta Horticulturae, 1366, 429-434.
Gamba, G., Mellano, M. G., Donno, D., Malacarne, E., Rocca, M., Corgnati, M., … & Beccaro, G. L. (2023). Advances in the chestnut nursery industry: the new Castanea spp. conservation and certification center. Acta Horticulturae, 1366, 283-287.
Donno, D., Mellano, M. G., Carini, V., Bergamasco, E., Gamba, G., & Beccaro, G. L. (2023). Application of Traditional Cooking Methods in Chestnut Processing: Effects of Roasting and Boiling on Secondary Metabolites and Antioxidant Capacity in Castanea spp. Fruits. Agriculture, 13(3), 530.
Donno, D., Fabro, M., Mellano, M. G., Gamba, G., Fioccardi, A., & Beccaro, G. L. (2022). Integrating traditional wheat-based foods with high health value flours: Castanea spp. Agro-biodiversity in bakery products. Agriculture, 12(7), 946.
Gamba, G., Cisse, V., Donno, D., Razafindrakoto, Z. R., & Beccaro, G. L. (2021). Quali-quantitative study on phenol compounds as early predictive markers of graft incompatibility: A case study on chestnut (Castanea spp.). Horticulturae, 8(1), 32.
Donno, D., Turrini, F., Boggia, R., Guido, M., Gamba, G., Mellano, M. G., … & Beccaro, G. L. (2020). Sustainable extraction and use of natural bioactive compounds from the waste management process of Castanea spp. bud-derivatives: The Finnover project. Sustainability, 12(24), 10640.
Gullino, P., Mellano, M. G., Beccaro, G. L., Devecchi, M., & Larcher, F. (2020). Strategies for the management of traditional chestnut landscapes in Pesio Valley, Italy: a participatory approach. Land, 9(12), 536.
Beccaro, G. L., Donno, D., Lione, G. G., De Biaggi, M., Gamba, G., Rapalino, S., Riondato, I., Gonthier, P. & Mellano, M. G. (2020). Castanea spp. agrobiodiversity conservation: genotype influence on chemical and sensorial traits of cultivars grown on the same clonal rootstock. Foods, 9, 1062.
Turrini, F., Donno, D., Boggia, R., Beccaro, G. L., Zunin, P., Leardi, R., & Pittaluga, A. M. (2019). An innovative green extraction and re-use strategy to valorize food supplement by-products: Castanea sativa bud preparations as case study. Food Research International, 115, 276-282.
Prgomet, I., Torello Marinoni, D., Donno, D., Prgomet, Ž., Mujić, I., Beccaro, G. L., & Bounous, G. (2014). Genetic Diversity of European Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in Istria and Primorsko-Goranska County (Croatia). Acta Horticulturae, 1043, 87 – 90.
Mellano, M. G., Torello-Marinoni, D., Boccacci, P., Donno, D., Cerutti, A. K., & Beccaro, G. L. (2018). Ex situ conservation and characterization of the genetic diversity of Castanea spp. Acta Horticulturae, 1220, (pp. 1-6).
Mellano, M. G., Gullino, P., Larcher, F., & Beccaro, G. L. (2018). A multidisciplinary and multiscale interpretative model to plan and manage traditional chestnut landscape in Italy. Acta Horticulturae, 1220, (pp. 121-124).
Mellano, M. G., Beccaro, G. L., Donno, D., Torello, Boccacci, P., Canterino, S., Cerutti, A. K., & Bounous, G. (2012). Castanea spp. biodiversity conservation: collection and characterization of the genetic diversity of an endangered species. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 59(8), 1727-1741.
Gullino P., Larcher F., Tosco C. (2012). Le permanenze storiche come elementi qualificanti dei paesaggi agrari: il caso di Frassinello Monferrato e Olivola. In CINÀ G., (a cura di), Paesaggi dell’alessandrino. Piani e pratiche di sviluppo locale. Celid editore, Torino, pp. 110-125.
Gullino P. (2011). Le componenti agroforestali e le trasformazioni paesaggistiche nell’albese dell’Ottocento. In MONTALDO S., (a cura di), Le Langhe di Camillo Cavour. Dai feudi all’Italia unita, Skira, Milano, pp. 127-133.
Gullino P. (2010). Il paesaggio agrario del Piemonte Meridionale. Integrità e storia in una prospettiva UNESCO. Tesi di Dottorato in “Storia e Valorizzazione del patrimonio architettonico, urbanistico e ambientale” del Politecnico di Torino.
Gullino P., Larcher F., Devecchi M. (2010). The importance of the Chestnut Cultivation and its evolution in the Piedmont Landscape. ACTA HORTICULTURAE Vol: 866, ISHS 2010, pp 37-42. ISSN: 0567-7572.
Donno, D., Beccaro, G. L., Mellano, M. G., Bonvegna, L., & Bounous, G. (2014). Castanea spp. buds as a phytochemical source for herbal preparations: botanical fingerprint for nutraceutical identification and functional food standardisation. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 94(14), 2863-2873.
Donno, D., Beccaro, G. L., Masnari, F., Mellano, G. M., Cerutti, A. K., & Bounous, G. (2014). Castanea spp. as Phytochemical Source for Herbal Preparations. Acta Horticulturae, 1043, 75-82.
De Biaggi, M., Rapalino, S., Donno, D., Mellano, M. G., & Beccaro, G. L. (2018). Genotype influence on chemical composition and sensory traits of chestnut in 18 cultivars grown on the same rootstock and at the same agronomic conditions. Acta Horticulturae, 1220, (pp. 215-220).
Beccaro, G. L., Torello-Marinoni, D., Binelli, G., Donno, D., Boccacci, P., Botta, R., Cerutti, A. K., & Conedera, M. (2012). Insights in the chestnut genetic diversity in Canton Ticino (Southern Switzerland). Silvae Genetica, 61(6), 292 – 300.
Beccaro, G. L., Alma, A., Gonthier, P., Mellano, M. G., Ferracini, C., Giordano, L., Lione, G., Donno, D., Boni, I., & Ebone, A. (2018). Chestnut R&D Centre, Piemonte (Italy): 10 years of activity. Acta Horticulturae, 1220, (pp. 133-140).