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This systematic review analyzes emerging inducers that optimize the germination process of cereals and pseudocereals to enhance bioactive compound production, categorizing them as physical (UV-B radiation, electromagnetic fields, ultrasound, cold plasma), chemical (phytohormones, minerals, growth regulators), and biological (concurrent fermentation, microbial extracts). The results reveal that these inducers significantly increase specific metabolites such as GABA enrichment (up to 800%), phenolic compounds (50–450%), and carotenoids (30–120%) in various bioactive cereals and functional pseudocereals. The underlying mechanisms include enzymatic activation, signal transduction, and controlled stress responses, which improve the bioavailability of phenolics and other bioactive compounds. Critical technological considerations for industrial implementation, bioavailability, and biological efficacy of these compounds are addressed. Synergies between inducers demonstrate exceptional potential for developing ingredients with optimized bioactive properties, especially when combining physical and biological processes. This integrated approach represents a promising frontier in food technology for producing cereals and pseudocereals with enhanced nutritional and functional profiles, applicable in chronic disease prevention and functional food formulation.

In the last decade, there has been an increase in the use of sprouted grains in human diet and a parallel increase in the scientific literature dealing with their nutritional traits and phytochemical contents. This review examines the physiological and biochemical changes during the germination process, and the effects on final sprout composition in terms of macro- and micro-nutrients and bioactive compounds. The main factors affecting sprout composition are taken into consideration: genotype, environmental conditions experimented by the mother plant, germination conditions. In particular, the review deepens the recent knowledge on the possible elicitation factors useful for increasing the phytochemical contents. Microbiological risks and post-harvest technologies are also evaluated, and a brief summary is given of some important in vivo studies matching with the use of grain sprouts in the diet. All the species belonging to Poaceae (Gramineae) family as well as pseudocereals species are included.

Plant specialized metabolites (SMs) play an important role in the interaction with the environment and are part of the plant defense response. These natural products are volatile, semi-volatile and non-volatile compounds produced from common building blocks deriving from primary metabolic pathways and rapidly evolved to allow a better adaptation of plants to environmental cues. Specialized metabolites include terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates, tannins, resins, etc. that can be used as phytochemicals, food additives, flavoring agents and pharmaceutical compounds. This review will be focused on Mediterranean crop plants as a source of SMs, with a special attention on the strategies that can be used to modulate their production, including abiotic stresses, interaction with beneficial soil microorganisms and novel genetic approaches.

Lepidium sativum L. is a rich source of polyphenols that have huge medicinal and pharmaceutical applications. In the current study, an effective abiotic elicitation strategy was designed for enhanced biosynthesis of polyphenols in callus culture of L. sativum. Callus was exposed to UV-C radiations for different time intervals and various concentrations of melatonin. Secondary metabolites were quantified by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results indicated the total secondary metabolite accumulation of nine quantified compounds was almost three fold higher (36.36 mg/g dry weight (DW)) in melatonin (20 µM) treated cultures, whereas, in response to UV-C (60 min), a 2.5 fold increase (32.33 mg/g DW) was recorded compared to control (13.94 mg/g DW). Metabolic profiling revealed the presence of three major phytochemicals, i.e., chlorogenic acid, kaemferol, and quercetin, in callus culture of L. sativum. Furthermore, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and enzymatic activities of callus cultures were significantly enhanced. Maximum antidiabetic activities (α-glucosidase: 57.84%; α-amylase: 62.66%) were recorded in melatonin (20 µM) treated callus cultures. Overall, melatonin proved to be an effect elicitor compared to UV-C and a positive correlation in these biological activities and phytochemical accumulation was observed. The present study provides a better comparison of both elicitors and their role in the initiation of physiological pathways for enhanced metabolites biosynthesis in vitro callus culture of L. sativum.

Phyllanthus acuminatus has been studied for its vast medical and industrial potential. Phytochemical investigations reveal that the genus is a rich source of lignans, flavonoids, phenolics, terpenoids, and other metabolites. However, the phytochemical profile elucidation of this species still needs further research. The use of eliciting compounds such as salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate has managed to increase the production of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures. Hairy roots of Phyllanthus acuminatus were produced in 250 mL flasks with a 16 h light/8 h darkness photoperiod under diffused light with a culture time of four weeks. The elicitors salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate were tested in 50 μM and 200 μM concentrations. Non-targeted analysis was done for the different treatments using HR-MS. Identified metabolites were grouped in phenylpropanoids, phenols, and mucic acids, and statistical analysis of relative concentrations was achieved. A significant change in phenols’ relative concentrations appeared in the elicitations with salicylic acid. Because of the elicitation treatment, specific compounds increased their concentrations, some of which have known pharmacological effects and are used in treating chronic diseases. The best elicitation treatment was salicylic acid 50 μM as it increased by more than 100% the general content of phenols and phenylpropanoid derivates and triplicates the concentration of mucic acid derivates in treated hairy root extracts. The application of non-targeted analysis showed interesting changes in phytochemical concentration due to elicitation in Phyllanthus acuminatus hairy roots.

Bioactive compounds (e.g., flavonoids, phenolics acids, alkaloids and carotenoids) are commercially-valued products, due to their wide array of applications in the medical, pharmacological, cosmetic, agriculture and food industry. A strategy applied to increase or enhancing bioactive compounds production in plants is controlled elicitation. In recent years, many researchers have studied the role of nanoparticles (NPs) as a novel elicitor for the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds shown that the NPs could affect the plant’s secondary metabolism in plant and culture systems. In this sense, recent studies have highlighted the potential applications of nanotechnology in crop production by improving the nutraceutical and nutritional quality of plants. In this review, we present studies about the application of NPs to enhance the production of bioactive plant metabolites. The aforementioned studies in ex vitro as in vitro, in addition to the effect of post-harvest by NPs application.

Edible sprouts with germinating seeds of a few days of age are naturally rich in nutrients and other bioactive compounds. Among them, the cruciferous (Brassicaceae) sprouts stand out due to their high contents of glucosinolates (GLSs) and phenolic compounds. In order to obtain sprouts enriched in these phytochemicals, elicitation is being increasing used as a sustainable practice. Besides, the evidence regarding the bioavailability and the biological activity of these compounds after their dietary intake has also attracted growing interest in recent years, supporting the intake of the natural food instead of enriched ingredients or extracts. Also, there is a growing interest regarding their uses, consumption, and applications for health and wellbeing, in different industrial sectors. In this context, the present review aims to compile and update the available knowledge on the fundamental aspects of production, enrichment in composition, and the benefits upon consumption of diverse edible cruciferous sprouts, which are sources of phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, as well as the evidence on their biological actions in diverse pathophysiological situations and the molecular pathways involved.

Hairy root cultures are considered as a valuable source of bioactive phytoconstituents with expanding applicability for their production. In the present study, hairy root cultures of Polyscias filicifolia (Araliaceae), a traditional Southeast Asian medicinal plant, were established. The transformation with Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC 15834 allowed to obtain 15 root lines. The K-1 line, demonstrating the highest growth capabilities, was subjected to further investigations. To enhance the biosynthetic potential of hairy roots, methyl jasmonate elicitation approach was applied (MeJA; at different doses and exposure time), with subsequent transfer of elicited roots to control medium. This strategy resulted in chlorogenic acid production up to 1.59 mg/g dry weight. HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS analysis demonstrated variation in extracts composition and allowed to identify different caffeic and ferulic acid derivatives. Next, cytotoxic, antigenotoxic, and anti-photogenotoxic properties of hairy roots extracts were determined. None of the tested extracts were cytotoxic. In addition, they demonstrated significant antigenotoxic activity with the highest protective potential; up to 52% and 49% of inhibition of induction ratio (IR) induced by the 2-aminoanthracene was revealed for extracts derived from hairy roots elicited for 3 days with 50 µM MeJA and roots elicited for 7 days with 100 µM MeJA and then transferred for 30 days to control medium, respectively. These same extracts exhibited the highest anti-photogenotoxic potential, up to 36% of inhibition of chloropromazine-induced genotoxicity.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of gold and silver nanoparticles on the activity of antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (POX), and catalase (CAT)), the free radical scavenging capacity, and the total polyphenol capacity of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) cultivar “Munstead” propagated in vitro. In the experiment, fragments of lavender plants were cultivated in vitro on medium with the addition of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 mg∙dm−3 of AgNPs or AuNPs (particle sizes 24.2 ± 2.4 and 27.5 ± 4.8 nm, respectively). It was found that the nanoparticles increase the activity of the antioxidant enzymes APX and SOD; however, the reaction depends on the NP concentration. The highest APX activity is found in plants propagated on media with 2 and 5 mg∙dm−3 of AgNPs. AuNPs significantly increase the APX activity when added to media with a concentration of 10 mg∙dm−3. The highest SOD activity is recorded at 2 and 5 mg∙dm−3 AgNP and AuNP concentrations. The addition of higher concentrations of nanoparticles to culture media results in a decrease in the APX and SOD activity. The addition of AuNPs to culture media at concentrations from 2 to 50 mg∙dm−3 increases the POX activity in comparison to its activity when AgNPs are added to the culture media. No significant influence of NPs on the increase in CAT activity was demonstrated. AgNPs and AuNPs increased the free radical scavenging capacity (ABTS•+). The addition of NPs at concentrations of 2 and 5 mg∙dm−3 increased the production of polyphenols; however, in lower concentrations it decreased their content in lavender tissues.

In this review, the primary objective was to systematize knowledge about the possibility of improving the health-promoting properties of raw plant products, defined as an increase in the content of bioactive compounds, by using ozone. The greatest attention has been paid to the postharvest treatment of plant raw materials with ozone because of its widespread use. The effect of this treatment on the health-promoting properties depends on the following different factors: type and variety of the fruit or vegetable, form and method of ozone treatment, and dosage of ozone. It seems that ozone applied in the form of ozonated water works more gently than in gaseous form. Relatively high concentration and long contact time used simultaneously might result in increased oxidative stress which leads to the degradation of quality. The majority of the literature demonstrates the degradation of vitamin C and deterioration of color after treatment with ozone. Unfortunately, it is not clear if ozone can be used as an elicitor to improve the quality of the raw material. Most sources prove that the best results in increasing the content of bioactive components can be obtained by applying ozone at a relatively low concentration for a short time immediately after harvest.