Francesco Di Gioia

Assistant Professor of Vegetable Crop Science

Francesco Di Gioia

Research Summary

Plant nutrition, plant physiological and biochemical response to environmental and abiotic stress conditions, sustainable vegetable production, agrobiodiversity, agronomic biofortification, food and nutrition security.

Huck Affiliations

Links

Publication Tags

Soil Vegetables Microgreens Health Nitrous Oxide Tomatoes Nitrates Edible Plants Disinfestation Cooking Brassica Rapa Diet Marketing Antioxidants Biofortification Temperature Color Lighting Quality Of Life Growing Media Leaves Soils Brassicaceae Fertilizers Shoots

Most Recent Publications

Plant Tocopherols and Phytosterols and their Bioactive Properties

Pradip Poudel, Spiridon Petropoulos, Francesco Di Gioia,

Editorial: Upcycling organic waste for the sustainable management of soilborne pests and pathogens in agri-food systems

Jesus Fernandez-Bayo, Yigal Achmon, María Del Mar Guerrero, Francesco Di Gioia, 2022, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Spatial and Temporal Changes of Soil Microbial Communities in Field Tomato Production as Affected by Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation

Isaac R. Vincent, Bodh R. Paudel, Haichao Guo, Erin N. Rosskopf, Francesco Di Gioia, Jason C. Hong, David H. McNear, Nan Xu, Lucas Anrecio, James Colee, Xin Zhao, 2022, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Editorial: Effect of Genotype and Pre- and Post-harvest Factors on Volatile Organic Compounds, Nutritional and Sensorial Quality of Fruits and Vegetables

Bernardo Pace, Maria Cefola, Francesco Di Gioia, Rosaria Cozzolino, 2022, Frontiers in Nutrition

Quantifying the effects of anaerobic soil disinfestation and other biological soil management strategies on nitrous oxide emissions from raised bed plasticulture tomato production

Zhuona Li, Francesco Di Gioia, Bodh Paudel, Xin Zhao, Jason Hong, Cristina Pisani, Erin Rosskopf, Patrick Wilson, 2022, Journal of Environmental Quality on p. 162-180

Editorial: Micronutrients: The Borderline Between Their Beneficial Role and Toxicity in Plants

Antonios Chrysargyris, Monica Höfte, Nikos Tzortzakis, Spyridon A. Petropoulos, Francesco Di Gioia, 2022, Frontiers in Plant Science

Rootstock Selection and Rootstock-Scion Interaction for PA Fresh-Market Tomato Production in High Tunnel

Timothy Elkner, Andrew Blunk, Francesco Di Gioia, 2022, on p. 186-187

LoRaWAN based Internet of Things (IoT) System for Precision Irrigation in Plasticulture Fresh-market Tomato

Haozhe Zhang, Long He, Paul Heinemann, Francesco Di Gioia, F Di Gioia, D Choi, Paul Heinemann, daeun Choi, Antonio Elia, Antonio Elia, P Heinemann, 2022, Smart Agricultural Technology on p. 100053

Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) for Organic High Tunnels

Francesco Di Gioia, 2022, on p. 126-127

Basil Yield, Quality, and Resource use Efficiency using Alternative Soilless Systems

Andrew Blunk, Myungjin Lee, Trevor Johnson, Raymond Balaguer, Francesco Di Gioia, 2022, on p. 69

Most-Cited Papers

Micro-scale vegetable production and the rise of microgreens

Marios C. Kyriacou, Youssef Rouphael, Francesco Di Gioia, Angelos Kyratzis, Francesco Serio, Massimiliano Renna, Stefania De Pascale, Pietro Santamaria, 2016, Trends in Food Science and Technology on p. 103-115

Sprouts, Microgreens and “Baby Leaf” Vegetables

Francesco Di Gioia, Massimiliano Renna, Pietro Santamaria, 2017, on p. 403-432

Physicochemical, agronomical and microbiological evaluation of alternative growing media for the production of rapini (Brassica rapa L.) microgreens

Francesco Di Gioia, Palmira De Bellis, Carlo Mininni, Pietro Santamaria, Francesco Serio, 2017, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture on p. 1212-1219

Vegetable organosulfur compounds and their health promoting effects

Spyridon Petropoulos, Francesco Di Gioia, Georgia Ntatsi, 2017, Current Pharmaceutical Design on p. 2850-2875

Zinc and iron agronomic biofortification of Brassicaceae microgreens

Francesco Di Gioia, Spyridon A. Petropoulos, Monica Ozores-Hampton, Kelly Morgan, Erin N. Rosskopf, 2019, Agronomy

Anaerobic soil disinfestation impact on soil nutrients dynamics and nitrous oxide emissions in fresh-market tomato

Francesco Di Gioia, Monica Ozores-Hampton, Xin Zhao, John Thomas, Patrick Wilson, Zhuona Li, Jason Hong, Joseph Albano, Marilyn Swisher, Erin Rosskopf, 2017, Agro-Ecosystems on p. 194-205

Grafting improves tomato salinity tolerance through sodium partitioning within the shoot

Francesco Di Gioia, Angelo Signore, Francesco Serio, Pietro Santamaria, 2013, Hortscience: A Publication of the American Society for Hortcultural Science on p. 855-862

Effect of cooking methods on antioxidant activity and nitrate content of selected wild Mediterranean plants

Francesca Boari, Maria Cefola, Francesco Di Gioia, Bernardo Pace, Francesco Serio, Vito Cantore, 2013, International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition on p. 870-876

Culinary Assessment of Self-Produced Microgreens as Basic Ingredients in Sweet and Savory Dishes

Massimiliano Renna, Francesco Di Gioia, Beniamino Leoni, Carlo Mininni, Pietro Santamaria, 2017, Journal of Culinary Science and Technology on p. 126-142

Grown to be blue—antioxidant properties and health effects of colored vegetables. Part ii: Leafy, fruit, and other vegetables

Francesco Di Gioia, Nikolaos Tzortzakis, Youssef Rouphael, Marios C. Kyriacou, Shirley L. Sampaio, Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira, Spyridon A. Petropoulos, 2020, Antioxidants

News Articles Featuring Francesco Di Gioia

May 17, 2022

Internet-based precision irrigation system shows promise for fresh-market tomato

An “internet of things” — or IoT — system monitoring real-time data from soil-based sensors to activate an automated precision irrigation setup can conserve water and boost crop production, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

Full Article

Apr 01, 2022

Microgreens are tiny, tasty and packed with nutrients; How to grow them indoors, year-round

Microgreens bring flavor, texture and delight to a meal, especially in times when fresh produce isn’t in season.

Full Article

Oct 19, 2021

Grant to fund research on biological approach to manage soil pathogens and pests

In an effort to boost the profitability and sustainability of organic specialty crop productions, a team of scientists is improving and optimizing a method for controlling soilborne pests and pathogens and promoting soil health that prevents oxygen from entering the soil.

Full Article

Sep 28, 2021

Small but mighty: Microgreens go from trendy vegetables to functional food

Starting decades ago as fashionable, high-value gourmet greens, today microgreens have gained popularity among consumers for their nutritional profile and high content of antioxidant compounds. Now, a new study suggests that the tiny plants have the potential to help provide global nutrition security.

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Jun 16, 2021

Salad will survive climate change. But at what cost?

We made eating greens more convenient. Can we make it truly democratic?

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Jun 08, 2020

Research team to study food resilience in the face of catastrophic global events

An interdisciplinary team of Penn State professors has received $3 million from Open Philanthropy to study food resilience in the face of potentially catastrophic global events.

Full Article