## 3 Results and Discussion
### Leaf Colorimetry  
Visual quality is undoubtedly of crucial relevance, which can influence the industry and consumer choice [37]. However, the color of plants varies according to genetic and pre-/post-harvest factors, such as agronomic practices, maturation, and storage methods [38]. The characteristic green color of basil leaves is an important industrial requirement for the preparation of \"pesto Genovese\". A more intense color attracts the consumer's interest and reduces the use of artificial colorants.  
The color of the leaves was affected by genotype and cut (Table 1); however, the interaction of these factors was not significant for color coordinates L*, a*, and b* and for chroma and hue angle. The b* values demonstrated a cultivar-dependent variation, with Italiano Classico and Eleonora recording the highest (21.62) and lowest (18.64) ones, respectively. These results are consistent with the chroma values that indicate a lower color intensity perceived in Eleonora, although statistically not different from Aroma 2. On the other hand, the degree of lightness (L*) and greenness (a*) did not vary, which means that the leaves maintained the same shade of green in each cultivar. These findings are in accordance with those reported in a comparable study on green basil [39], which showed that, under the same growing conditions, plants tended to change mainly the b* value, without affecting the a* value, confirming that this effect depends only on the genotype. Notwithstanding the change in color from green to yellow is usually attributed to tissue senescence [40], in this experiment basil plants were harvested in the pre-flowering stage, without senescence symptoms, as evidenced by the high yield achieved, highlighting the influence of the genotype once again.  
The cut mean effect shows that the second harvest positively impacted the colorimetric parameters (Table 1). L* and a* values decreased by 3.5% and 11.4%, respectively. These results are supported by the hue angle, which decreased by 2.1%, showing the change in leaf coloring towards green. The freshly harvested vegetables usually have a glossy and bright surface (higher L* value), which generally varies with post-harvest processing [38]. However, in our experiment, the lower gloss and the greater shade of green could be due to a higher accumulation of antioxidants in response to mechanical stress induced by the cut for protecting the photosynthetic machinery and preserving it from oxidation. In fact, an intense green color indicates a more significant accumulation of compounds with  
Figure 2: Effect of cultivar (**A**) and cut (**B**) on the yield of green Genovese basil. n.s., ***, *** non-significant or significant at \(p\leq 0.01\) and \(0.001\), respectively. Cultivar means were compared by ANOVA; according to [PERSON]’s multiple range test (\(p=0.05\)), different letters indicate significant differences. Cut means were compared using a \(t\)-test. All data are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard error (SE) (\(n=3\)).  
antioxidant function [41], confirmed by the increased build-up of phenolic acids achieved at the second cut, in accordance with our results.