Impact of Fertilizers on Phytochemicals in Vegetables

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing consumer awareness of the value of vegetables in human diet requires continuous investigation and monitoring of plants’ phytochemicals composition and the growing factors that impact the antioxidant content of the different varieties of edible plants grown under different agricultural soil management practices, such as recycling animal manure for use in land farming as an alternative to inorganic fertilizers. The search for beneficial phytochemicals is growing worldwide. Many vegetable species and varieties within species have not been analyzed for their concentrations of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and other vitamins, which are important antioxidants that have a number of benefits for human health. The application of animal manure as an organic fertilizer has important properties that cannot be obtained from synthetic inorganic fertilizers. Microorganisms in animal manures facilitate the slow release of the three main plant nutrients, N, P, and K, from soil organic matter. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and algae present in animal manure release various enzymes, such as urease, invertase, dehydrogenase, cellulase, amylase, and phosphatase that are primary means of degrading toxic compounds in soil systems, mineralization, and release of nutrients for plant uptake.

Dietary phytochemicals have a great impact on human health and prevention of diseases. The aim of this Special Issue on “Impact of Fertilizers on Phytochemical in Vegetables” is to share original and review research articles on the various aspects of agricultural production systems in relation to organic and inorganic fertilizers and their impact on phytochemicals in edible plants. A literature review revealed a lack of information regarding the impact of organic amendments on plants nutritional and antioxidant properties. Investigators have focused on the plant yield and soil physical and chemical characteristics following the incorporation of organic and inorganic fertilizers with very little information on plant nutritional and antioxidant contents. Animal manures are associated with inorganic and organic toxic compounds, such as heavy metals and antibiotics that, when incorporated into agricultural soil, establish a pollution problem and consequently cause toxic effects to soil microorganisms and reduce the nutrients available to plants. Overall, organic amendments from animal manure are excellent fertilizers. However, there is an emerging concern regarding the impact of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in reclaimed water and municipal sewage sludge (SS), chicken manure (CM), and horse manure (HM). Most livestock raised worldwide is raised in large-scale concentrated animal-feeding operations, which require the use of antibiotics and inorganic and organic compounds (heavy metals, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides) that when incorporated into soil might constitute a pollution problem and might therefore impact the activity of soil microorganisms and their enzymatic secretions.

Prof. George Antonious
Guest Editor

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• antioxidants
• vitamin C
• carotenoids
• flavonoids
• plant phenols
• antibiotics in animal manure
• functional foods
• bioactive compounds
• soil enzymes
• medicinal plants