Sprouts, Microgreens and Edible Flowers as Novel Functional Foods

Dear colleagues,

Attention in functional and nutraceutical novel foods has been on the rise, compelled by the increased interest of scientists, food nutritionists, growers, and especially consumers for diets that support longevity and health combined with gastronomic delight. Sprouts and especially microgreens are two classes of specialty, novel crops produced from the seeds of vegetables, cereals, herbs, and wild species. Both sprouts and microgreens can be consumed raw, and they are characterized by their fortified phytonutrient content, particularly amino acids, carotenoids, flavonoids, glucosinolates, macro- and micro-minerals, as well as vitamins. The nutritional and functional quality, the shelf-life, as well as the microbial safety of these two specialty crops are modulated in several ways preharvest (species, plant nutrition, biofortification, substrate, temperature, light quality, and quantity) and postharvest (light exposure, storage temperature, atmospheric composition, and packaging technology). This Special Issue invites original research papers, opinions, and perspectives (but not review articles) dissecting the main preharvest and postharvest factors implicated in the modulation of nutritional and functional quality of sprouts and microgreens. The analytical aspects of submitted works must be of high standard (e.g., HPLC/GC/mass spectrometry orbitrap), while works covering mainly physical and spectrophotometric assessments will not be considered.

Prof. Youssef Rouphael
Prof. Giuseppe Colla
Prof. Stefania De Pascale
Guest Editors

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