Characterization and sustainable agrochemical application of Vessalico garlic ecotype.

Vessalico garlic (“Aglio di Vessalico”), one of the best known Italian garlic ecoytpes, is cultivated in Ligurian region, being very appreciated for its shape and aroma, and considered as agri food excellence of the region. Local farmers use every year gar lic cloves of two border French cultivars, Messidor and Messidrôme for sowing, and this fact can affect the “Protected Designation of Origin” registration process. To improve the geographical characterization of Vessalico garlic and to identify its peculia r features in terms of bioactive compounds, LC/MS followed by multivariate data analysis, was firstly applied. Results allowed to differentiate the Vessalico garlic from the French cultivars, and to identify three sub classes in the accessions of Vessalico ecotype. A n NMR based analytical approach (1, 2) was then applied to identify characteristic chemical markers to classify the product of the farms of the Vessalico geographical area as true Vessalico garlic. Results showed that the content of primary metabolites appeared to be more related to genetic characteristics, while the secondary metabolites appeared to be more related to the area and to the methods of cultivation and harvesting. Self organizing maps (S OMs) showed that only one homogeneous product of Vessalico appeared well characterized compared to the others. Among the secondary metabolites, S allylcysteine was quantified, leading to the possibility of considering it as a marker to identify Vessalico g arlic. Finally, to promote a sustainable agriculture, Vessalico garlic extracts were investigated as possible agrochemicals. All extracts showed ability to deactivate two plant virus infectivity, as a possible consequence of disassembly of the virus coat protein (CP). Molecular docking showed a strong interaction of the sulfur compounds with a high number of residues into ToBRFV CP binding site.