Nutritive Value, Polyphenolic Content, and Bioactive Constitution of Green, Red and Flowering Plants

Dear Colleagues,

Plants, including vegetables, are an essential element of the human diet, considering their dense nutritional content, concomitant with low-calorie values and bioactive content that could assist in boosting nutritional quality and food security. Plants are exhibiting a colossal rebound in the context of healthier lifestyles, especially as functional foods empowered with bioactive phytochemicals. Impelled by nature’s endowment as suppliers of healthier nutritional foods, a prominent orientation towards plant consumption is thriving. Plants synthesize uncountable “ecochemichals” via secondary metabolism, which command medical and socio-economic significance. Among these secondary metabolites, phenolic compounds are of prime interest and are largely present in medicinal plants, herbs, vegetables, and flowers. These metabolites are at the helm of the bitterness, color, and scent of plants, and are correlated to the beneficial health qualities expressed by the antioxidant capacity. The accretion of these health-promoting phytochemicals depends chiefly on the genetic material and the maturity harvest stage, but notwithstanding the main role that is played by the pre-harvest factors, i.e., eustress, fertilization, irrigation, light, and other agronomic practices.

This Special issue of Horticulturae will gather scientific research that explores innovations or recent studies in boosting plant nutritional qualities including vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Therefore, any review, scientific research, short note, or opinion article that deals with the phytochemical content of plants and boosting methods is appreciated for submission.

Dr. Christophe El-Nakhel
Dr. Leo Sabatino
Guest Editors

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