Health Benefits of Vitamins and Secondary Metabolites of Fruits and Vegetables and Prospects To Increase Their Concentrations by Agronomic Approaches

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables (FAVs) are an important part of the human diet and a major source of biologically active substances such as vitamins and secondary metabolites. The consumption of FAVs remains globally insufficient, so it should be encouraged, and it may be useful to propose to consumers FAVs with enhanced concentrations in vitamins and secondary metabolites. There are basically two ways to reach this target: the genetic approach or the environmental approach. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the results that have been obtained so far through purely agronomic approaches and brings them into perspective by comparing them with the achievements of genetic approaches. Although agronomic approaches offer very good perspectives, the existence of variability of responses suggests that the current understanding of the way regulatory and metabolic pathways are controlled needs to be increased. For this purpose, more in-depth study of the interactions existing between factors (light and temperature, for instance, genetic factors × environmental factors), between processes (primary metabolism and ontogeny, for example), and between organs (as there is some evidence that photooxidative stress in leaves affects antioxidant metabolism in fruits) is proposed.

Assessment of nutritional and metabolic profiles of pea shoots: The new ready-to-eat baby-leaf vegetable

“…Color parameters L 45.9 ± 2.3 47.3 ± 2.0 be directly appreciated by the consumer, the nutritional quality of a −18.6 ± 0.9 § −18.8 ± 0.6 § these products is also becoming a choosing factor, due to an increased perception of the possibility of preserving health by choosing a balanced diet (Poiroux-Gonord et al, 2010). Due to the lack of specific informa-tion about the nutritional composition of pea shoots, this work focused on achieving a comprehensive characterization of nutritional quality of these leaves.…”

Técnicas De Prospecção Fitoquímica E Sua Importância Para O Estudo De Biomoléculas Derivadas De Plantas

“…O conhecimento popular sobre os efeitos biológicos de espécies vegetais é passado de geração em geração desde o início das civilizações (PEREIRA & CARDOSO, 2012), o que tem direcionado as pesquisas para descobertas e aplicação das propriedades ativas vegetais, que são resultantes da produção de metabólitos secundários pelas plantas.…”

Prospects for Using Environmental Levers in Greenhouses to Stimulate Plant Defences and the Quality of Fruits and Vegetables

“…There are basically two ways to reach the objective of increased or guaranteed amounts of micronutrients in FAVs: the genetic approach and the environmental approach. A recent survey of the existing literature provided evidence that agronomic methods may stimulate an increase in the concentrations of secondary metabolites of FAVs, likely without attaining undesirable levels (Poiroux-Gonord et al, 2010). The good news for greenhouse growers is that they have a much wider range of environmental levers at their disposal than growers in open field conditions.…”

“…Although the nutritional benefits of fresh FAVs are well established, their consumption remains insufficient. In developed countries, it may be tempting for the fruit and vegetable industry to offer consumers FAVs with increased or guaranteed amounts of micronutrients (Dorais and Ehret, 2008;Poiroux-Gonord et al, 2010). This could help the cause of public health while contributing to the competitiveness of the industry in a more and more challenging global market.…”