Linking abiotic stress, plant metabolites, biostimulants and functional food

Abstract

Plants must cope with different environmental stresses during their whole lifetime. Abiotic stresses like drought, salt, mineral nutrition disturbances and temperature stress are commonly interconnected through some physiological events in stressed plants, such as the synthesis of protective plant compounds as a response to stress. Many of these, produced within plant primary or secondary metabolism, act as functional compounds not exclusively in plants but in other organisms as well. Concurrently, many of the active compounds in biostimulants which can support plant stress tolerance and productivity in adverse growth conditions are the metabolites or intermediates that may influence the plant's edible parts nutritional quality. Such effects of biostimulants application are not elucidated enough, therefore, we aimed to give an overview of recent advances in the research related to the interplay among abiotic stress, plant response, biostimulants effects and plant‐derived functional food, focusing on plant metabolites as the link which connects the environment with the food chain.

Effect of Botanical Extracts on the Growth and Nutritional Quality of Field-Grown White Head Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)

“…The effects of usage of biostimulants can be attributed to the induction of the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase enzyme, which is an essential regulator in the phenols synthesis pathway [ 27 ]. Natural extracts can enhance the anthocyanin and phenolic content in crops as a result of the modulation of genes involved in the anthocyanin and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway [ 96 ]. The higher phenolic concentration and antioxidant capacity can be attributed as well to the presence of thiamine which evokes diverse genes that belong to the phenylpropanoid pathway with a resultant greater enhancement of secondary metabolites and antioxidant capacity [ 97 ].…”

Exogenous Gibberellic Acid or Dilute Bee Honey Boosts Drought Stress Tolerance in Vicia faba by Rebalancing Osmoprotectants, Antioxidants, Nutrients, and Phytohormones

“…Biostimulants are a promising sustainable strategy to stimulate plant growth and productivity and to strengthen the plant’s ability to mitigate abiotic stresses [ 19 , 31 , 32 ]. Although the use of commercially available plant growth stimulants such as osmoprotectants and/or antioxidants reduces the deleterious effects of abiotic stress, they are costly to growers.…”

“…Db-H serves as an active antioxidant in scavenging ROS [ 38 , 41 ] due to the presence of flavonoids that inhibit auto-oxidation [ 42 ] and enzymes that contribute to the removal of oxygen radicals [ 41 ], which are effective protection against drought-induced oxidative damage. As stated by Teklić et al [ 32 ], Bulgari et al [ 43 ], and Semida et al [ 38 ], diluted honey extract as a plant biostimulator can increase tolerance to abiotic stress in plants. A recent field study highlighted the ability of Db-H-based plant biostimulants to alleviate salt stress in onions [ 38 ].…”

Nutrient Supplementation Configures the Bioactive Profile and Production Characteristics of Three Brassica L. Microgreens Species Grown in Peat-Based Media

“…On the other hand, biochemical compositions are drastically managed by interacting genetic and environmental factors [5]. Deficient or unbalanced mineral nutrition is a form of abiotic stress that elicits an array of physiological cascades in plant secondary metabolism [5,[19][20][21]. This makes nutrient deprivation a useful method to modulate the levels of functional compounds naturally [22,23], such as ascorbate, carotenoids and phenols; moreover, it may curtail anti-nutrient agents like nitrate [20].…”