Some new foods (sprouts, microgreens and baby leaf) of the brassica genus are appreciated for their nutritional and nutraceutical values. The aim of this experimental trial was to improve the nutraceutical traits of these foods by evaluating the effects of the climatic condition, genotype, and plant growth stage on the development of greater quality in relation to these new foods. The morphometric and glucosinolates (GLSs) traits of three traditional Italian cultivars of Brassica oleracea crops, such as broccoli (B. oleracea var. italica), namely the traditional Sicilian landrace ‘Broccolo Nero’ (BN) and the commercial ‘Cavolo Broccolo Ramoso Calabrese’ (CR), as well as the commercial kale cultivar ‘Cavolo Laciniato Nero di Toscana’ (CL) (B. oleracea var. acephala DC.), were evaluated in an unheated greenhouse in Catania during the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. Plant growth was studied at different phenological stages—from seeds to sprouts, microgreens, and baby leaves—over two growing cycles, one in autumn–winter and the other in spring–summer. ‘Broccolo Nero’ (BN) broccoli showed more rapid growth and biomass production than the other two cultivars evaluated (i.e., weight, hypocotyl length, and leaf width). The GLS profile varied significantly (p < 0.05), in relation both to plant’s growth stage and to genotype. The highest amount of glucoraphanin was detected for BN microgreens and baby leaves, about 8 µmol g−1 d.w., whereas glucobrassicin and its related derivatives were about 14 µmol g−1 d.w. in microgreens and baby leaves of CL and about 15 µmol g−1 d.w. and 10 µmol g−1 d.w. for glucoraphanin in CR, respectively. These new foods can also be produced at home with simple and cheap equipment

Drought tolerance of Brassica crops can be genetically improved by establishing plant ideotypes with improved yield responses associated with agronomic traits and biochemical markers. The objective of this study was to compare 20 Brassica oleracea L. accessions grown under two different water treatments (100% and 35% reintegration of evapotranspiration by irrigation) to select potential tolerant genotypes for organic cultivation based on several agronomic and biochemical parameters measured in response to drought stress. Significant differences were registered for the genotype and the irrigation regime and for their interaction (p < 0.0001 ***). A principal component analysis was performed to summarize the correlations among the analyzed phytochemicals and the stressed and not stressed genotypes and highlighted the importance of the antioxidant compounds as stress biomarkers. The present results showed that drought significantly reduces growth parameters and increases the amount of ascorbic acid and polyphenols compared to the irrigated control. Additionally, the results show that antioxidant metabolism increased by drought in some genotypes while others maintained a good biomass production by increasing the value of growth parameters considered. Based on the average sum of ranks (ASR) of morpho-physiological and biochemical parameters, the genotypes CR, CC, and BH were determined to be the most drought tolerant, whereas CI5, BU, and CV1 were determined to be the most susceptible. Due to the potential of these genotypes, further molecular and cellular research will be carried out to identify the genetic marker associated with the water stress response.

Drought is one of the major challenges of global crop production, and its severity is increasing because of climate change. This abiotic stress is an important target for Brassica species, which are generally grown in arid and semi-arid climates. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of water deficit on a set of accessions belonging to the Brassica core collection of the EU H2020 BRESOV project, represented by Brassica oleracea L. crops and Brassica oleracea complex species (n = 9). In particular, the variation in the amount and profile of the glucosinolates (GLSs) compounds was analyzed on the root and the leaf tissues. The plant morphometric traits and GLSs amount and profile were detected for the plants grown in cold greenhouse in Catania (Sicily) during the autumn–winter season for ten weeks. The results showed a wide qualitative and quantitative variation among the Brassica accessions. The GLSs profile varied qualitatively and quantitively among both genotypes and portions of the plants (hypogenous-root and epigeous-leaf). Plants grown under drought stress, for the last two weeks of the growing cycle under consideration, showed a higher amount of GLS in their leaves (190.1 ± 8.9 µmol. g−1 d.w.) compared to their roots (17.3 ± 1.9 µmol. g−1 d.w.). Under water stress conditions, the highest increase in the glucosinolate amount was detected in broccoli (the accession BR1) with 85.4% and in cauliflower (the accession CV1) with 72.8% in the roots and leaves, respectively. Positive correlations were found between the major leaf and root GLSs identified. The selection of chemotypes allows for an important time reduction during the breeding programs after crossing accessions with the specific profiles of glucosinolates.

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