Enhancement of health-promoting and plant-protecting secondary metabolites by postharvest conditioning with hormetic doses of abiotic stresses

我们的长期目标是开发采后调理技术，以保持新鲜水果和蔬菜的质量，并使用适合采后阶段应用的激素或有益剂量的非生物胁迫来增强促进健康和保护植物的次级代谢产物。考虑到植物产生次级代谢物作为对抗压力的武器，有可能通过将其暴露于受控剂量的压力源，可以很好地调整反应，以实现所需植物化学物质的增强与产品的可接受性之间的平衡。我们在短期到中期的努力将集中在获得一个了解激素的压力和次级代谢产物的生产新鲜农产品之间的联系，并在代谢途径的压力诱导的改变的理解。展望未来，该研究将涉及：（1）鉴定有效诱导或增强靶向的激素非生物胁迫（2）表征所选择的激素胁迫，以产生信号组分和随后在胁迫组织中的合成能力;（3）在暴露于胁迫及其组合的作物中产生所需植物化学物质的途径的初级代谢物和次级代谢物的概况分析;（4）阐明胁迫组织中信号成分、合成能力状态和次生代谢产物之间的关系;和（5）评价初级代谢途径和次级代谢途径的改变。将对胡萝卜根、花椰菜和番茄果实进行研究。从这项研究中获得的知识将提供工具，开发采后调理协议，通过知情选择激素应力或应力的组合，以实现所需的次生代谢产物的生产增加。富含植物化学物质的新鲜果蔬被认为是一类新型的功能性食品。保存具有增强的健康益处和抗病属性的新鲜作物不仅有助于新鲜农产品行业减少收获后的损失，还有助于确保人口健康。********

Our long-term goal is to develop post-harvest conditioning technologies to preserve the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables with enhancement in health-promoting and plant-protecting secondary metabolites using hormetic or beneficial doses of abiotic stresses that are suitable for application in the postharvest phase. Given that plants produce secondary metabolites as weapons to combat stresses, it is possible that the response can well be tuned to achieve a balance between enhancement of desirable phytochemicals and acceptability of the produce by exposing them to controlled doses of the stressors. Our efforts in the short- to medium-term will be focused on gaining an understanding of the connections between hormetic stressors and secondary metabolite production in fresh produce, and an understanding of the stress-induced alterations in the metabolic pathways. Going forward, the research would involve: (1) the identification of hormetic abiotic stresses that are effective in inducing or enhancing targeted (or desired) secondary metabolites in selected fresh produce; (2) the characterization of the selected hormetic stresses for their generation of signal components and the consequent synthetic capacity in the stressed tissues; (3) the profiling of primary metabolites, and secondary metabolites of the pathways that produce the desired phytochemicals in the crops exposed to the stresses and their combinations; (4) the elucidation of the relationships between signal components, synthetic capacity status, and secondary metabolites in the stressed tissues; and (5) the evaluation of alterations in the primary, and the secondary metabolic pathways. Studies will be performed with carrot root, broccoli and tomato fruit. The knowledge gained from this research will provide the tools to develop postharvest conditioning protocols by informed selection of hormetic stresses or a combination of stresses to achieve enhanced production of desired secondary metabolites. Phytochemical-enriched fresh fruits and vegetables are considered as a new class of functional foods. Preservation of fresh crops with enhanced attributes of health benefits and disease resistance will not only help the fresh produce industry to reduce postharvest losses, but also help them to ensure a healthier population. ********