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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Vegetable Crops: Cultivation, Nutritional Value and Bioactive Components
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Vegetable Crops: Cultivation, Nutritional Value and Bioactive Components

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Vegetable Production Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2025 | Viewed by 2571

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shivani Kathi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Interests: vegetable crop production; nutrient management; urban horticulture; controlled environment crop production; best management practices for vegetable crops; hydroponics; biofortification of nutrients in plants; reducing production costs; optimizing plant establishment; sustainable practices to improve crop production; environmental stress physiology; efficient use of resources
Dr. Catherine R. Simpson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Interests: urban horticulture; sustainability; biofortification; water conservation; people-plant interactions; greenhouse production systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetable crops play an important role in horticulture and human nutrition. Vegetable farming provides income and employment opportunities for millions of people worldwide. Additionally, consuming vegetables can help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers due to their nutrient-density with various minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals. However, challenges like human-induced climate change, biotic and abiotic stresses, pest and disease pressure, limited resources, and increased input costs limit vegetable production. Hence, it is important to evaluate alternative and sustainable production and management practices.

This Special Issue welcomes submissions on evaluating sustainable and climate-resilient production practices to improve the yield and nutritional quality of vegetable crops. Research areas could include improved vegetable varieties, soil and crop management strategies, controlled environment production, biofortification, and post-harvest technology.

Dr. Shivani Kathi
Dr. Catherine Simpson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • novel
  • production
  • phytochemicals
  • quality
  • sustainability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 532 KiB  
Article
Biofortification of Arugula Microgreens Through Supplemental Blue Light
by Franciele Quintino Mendes, Rogério Falleiros Carvalho, Manuela Oliveira de Souza and Arthur Bernardes Cecílio Filho
Horticulturae 2025, 11(4), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11040412 - 12 Apr 2025
Viewed by 375
Abstract
Eruca sativa has been widely chosen among species to be cultivated in plant factories as microgreens, especially due to its nutraceutical and sensory qualities. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of blue light intensity (5 and 20 μmol [...] Read more.
Eruca sativa has been widely chosen among species to be cultivated in plant factories as microgreens, especially due to its nutraceutical and sensory qualities. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of blue light intensity (5 and 20 μmol m−2 s−1) and exposure time (1 and 2 h per day) on the yield and quality of arugula microgreens in plant factories. Blue light supplemental to white light for 1 h did not impair the hypocotyl lengths (HLs) or cotyledon area (CA) and yield of arugula microgreens compared with those grown only with white light. However, when the blue light time increased from 1 to 2 h, there were reductions in HL, CA and yield, with greater reductions under 20 μmol m−2 s−1. The concentrations of chlorophylls, carotenoids, vitamin C and antioxidant power responded similarly to the supply of blue light and were maximized with 20 μmol m−2 s−1. In view of these results, the supplementation of blue light with 20 μmol m−2 s−1 for 1 h is proposed, since it did not cause a reduction in growth and yield parameters and promoted the agronomic biofortification of arugula microgreens, bringing nutraceutical and, therefore, commercial benefits to the producer and consumer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetable Crops: Cultivation, Nutritional Value and Bioactive Components)
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16 pages, 3006 KiB  
Article
Genetic and Seasonal Factors Influence Pungent Pepper Capsaicinoid and Vitamin C Content
by Ingrid Melinda Gyalai, Lajos Helyes, Hussein G. Daood, Flórián Kovács, Adrienn Szarvas and Ferenc Lantos
Horticulturae 2025, 11(3), 286; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11030286 - 6 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 879
Abstract
Pungent red peppers and chilis are healthy foods and crucial ingredients of modern diets due to their content of bioactive phytochemicals such as carotenoids, tocopherols, capsaicinoids, polyphenols, and vitamin C. The production of pungent peppers with outstanding nutritional properties is influenced by genetic [...] Read more.
Pungent red peppers and chilis are healthy foods and crucial ingredients of modern diets due to their content of bioactive phytochemicals such as carotenoids, tocopherols, capsaicinoids, polyphenols, and vitamin C. The production of pungent peppers with outstanding nutritional properties is influenced by genetic factors and their interaction with the environments where they are cultivated. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of genotype and climate conditions on the response of capsaicinoids and vitamin C. The extracts of pungent materials and vitamin C were separated and qualitatively determined by HPLC alone or hyphenated with mass spectroscopy. Four genotypes were selected and cultivated under traditional agricultural practices in southern Hungary. The yield properties and the contents of capsaicinoids and vitamin C were significantly influenced by genetic factors and, to a high extent, by the interaction between genotype × environment. The highest yield of 2.86 ± 0.59 kg/m2 was recorded for the CS variety. The yield was significantly decreased under high precipitation and low air temperature. The highest concentration of capsaicin of 1586–1734 µg/g dwt was found in the BHJ variety. The lowest level of 514 µg/g dwt of capsaicin was determined in the CS variety, in which the content significantly increased to 772 µg/g dwt with the increase in rainfall and decrease in air temperature in the warmer season of 2022. In most cultivars examined, capsaicin content negatively responded to the change of the climate toward higher precipitation and lower temperature except for SZ178, in which the concentration of capsaicinoids stayed insignificantly varied. The amount of vitamin C ranged between 570 and 135 µg/g dwt, with the highest content being in the BHJ and the lowest in the REK variety. In most varieties except the REK, vitamin C positively responded to a high and negatively to the reduced levels of precipitation. In conclusion, the phytochemical components of hot peppers respond differently to climatic factors—such as high rainfall, elevated air temperature, and intense sunlight—depending on the genotype’s ability to adapt to environmental changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetable Crops: Cultivation, Nutritional Value and Bioactive Components)
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14 pages, 1321 KiB  
Article
Effect of Induced Polyploidy on Morphology, Antioxidant Activity, and Dissolved Sugars in Allium cepa L.
by Mujahid Ado Abubakar, Novitskaya Elena Gennadievna, Son Oksana Mikhailovna and Kim Ekaterina Mikhailovna
Horticulturae 2025, 11(2), 154; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11020154 - 2 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1009
Abstract
The role of onion as the second most-consumed and cultivated vegetable around the world and its renowned qualities that lead it to be called the “queen of the kitchen” have positioned it as a vital source of nutritional and economic contributions around the [...] Read more.
The role of onion as the second most-consumed and cultivated vegetable around the world and its renowned qualities that lead it to be called the “queen of the kitchen” have positioned it as a vital source of nutritional and economic contributions around the world. Polyploidy serves as a groundbreaking innovation in plant breeding, improving the yield and vigor of plants. This study was conducted to determine the effects of applying different concentrations of colchicine to onion seedlings on their morphology, antioxidant activity, and dissolved sugars. The mutagen was applied to the onion seeds at three different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2% w/v) for an exposure period of 24 h. A chromosomal analysis confirmed the induction of polyploidy, which led to the successful duplication of the chromosome number from diploid (2n = 16) to tetraploid (4n = 32). The control recorded a survival rate of 91.57%, while 83.33%, 3.33%, and 0.00% survival rates were recorded for seedlings treated with 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% (w/v) concentrations of colchicine, respectively. Furthermore, the tetraploids showed significant differences in morphology, producing the tallest seedlings (reaching up to 73.6 cm tall) and the greatest average bulb diameter (of 5.64 cm) after 14 weeks. The tetraploids also showed significant differences in antioxidant activity and the amount of dissolved sugars, recording the highest DPPH scavenging percentage of 72.58% and refractive index of 1.369. Successful induction of polyploidy was achieved with the application of 0.05% (w/v) colchicine, which produced tetraploids that are morphologically and biochemically superior to other treated and control plants at a significance level of p < 0.05. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vegetable Crops: Cultivation, Nutritional Value and Bioactive Components)
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