Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Response of Bioactive Phytochemicals in Vegetables and Fruits to Environmental Factors

Jingwen Xu, Xiaoyu Su, Yonghui Li, Xiuzhi Sun, Donghai Wang, Weiqun Wang

European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety · pp. 233–247 · Published 9 May 2019

10.9734/ejnfs/2019/v9i330062

Abstract

This review focused on the influence of environmental systems and/or factors including high tunnel, UV and visible light, fertilization, and irrigation on bioactive compounds in vegetables and fruits. Most studies reported that high tunnel reduced chicoric acid and luteolin in vegetables including lettuce and pac choi, and fruits including raspberry and tomato versus open field, although a few studies demonstrated that high tunnel did not significantly impact on the bioactive compounds. Light including UV such as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), UV-A, and UV-B, and visible light especially red and blue light, significantly stimulated biosynthesis of anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolics, and promoted their contents in vegetables such as onion and spinach, and fruits for example blueberry and strawberry. The effect of fertilization including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on bioactive phytochemicals (carotenoids, flavonoids, polyphenols) in vegetables (broccoli, kale) or fruits (tomato) varied among the cultivars. Water deficit usually increased anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids in vegetables such as lettuce and red beet, and fruits including grape and pomegranate. Taken together, the bioactive compounds in vegetables and fruits in response to environmental factors were species- and varieties- dependent. The negative effect of environmental factors on bioactive compounds in vegetables and fruits can be overcome by selecting appropriate cultivars, while the positive effect can be further manipulated in horticultural production for potential consumer’s health benefits.

Phenolics carotenoids high tunnel light fertilization irrigation lettuce tomato

Cited by 22

Stress induced production of plant secondary metabolites in vegetables: Functional approach for designing next generation super foods.

Deepika Sharma, Bharti Shree, S. Sushanth Kumar · Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB · 2022

Influence of Harvest Time on the Chemical Profile of Pereskia aculeate Mill. Using Paper Spray Mass Spectrometry

A. D. de Souza, Henrique de Oliveira Prata Mendonça, A. C. D. de Paula · Molecules · 2022

UPLC-HRMS Polyphenolic Characterization, Contents and Antioxidant Activity of Zingiber officinale Roscoe rhizomes from Costa Rica

Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos, Mónica Acuña-Quirós, María Isabel Quirós-Fallas · Processes · 2022

Increasing the performance of Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) seedlings by LED light regimes

Dangdi Liang, A. Yousef, Xiao-Xia Wei · Scientific Reports · 2021

Characterization of Anthocyanins in Sweet Potato Leaves Grown in Various Stages and Conditions

Xiaoyu Su, Zhen-Bao Jia, Fei Tao · European Journal of Nutrition and Food Safety · 2019

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

22

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.