Protected Cultivation of Horticultural Crops
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural Science and Ornamental Plants".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 3230
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant biology; horticulture; fruit science; fruit quality; plant physiology; hydroponics; antioxidants; post-harvest physiology; vegetable production; horticulture research; post-harvest biology; fruit crop production processing; post-harvest handling; post-harvest technology; pomology; horticulture engineering; nutrients
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant eco-physiology; biotic and abiotic stresses; biofortification and biostimulation of horticultural crops and cultivated mushrooms; functional food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: selenium; plant nutrition; secondary plant metabolism; antioxidants; medicinal plants; functional food; microalgae; crop systems; quality indicators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: organic food science; management of vegetable growing; plant nutrition; conventional production systems; horticulture biodiversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Vegetable crops are widespread worldwide and characterized by management systems differing from each other regarding the farming and post-harvest practices performed. However, all the systems should be managed to make them sustainable, both under production and environmental safeguard perspectives. The crucial role of either farming, post-harvest, or environmental factors on vegetable chains has received the scientific community’s attention and stimulated its research interests.
Among farming practices, fertilization plays a major role, as all essential macro- and micro-nutrients should be supplied to fulfill plant requirements for growth and development, thus boosting crop yield and improving produce quality. The use of beneficial microorganisms interacting with those naturally present in the plants, such as nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria, may enhance plant nutrient absorption, growth, yield, and quality, and affect antioxidant synthesis and activity.
Post-harvest management may regard all the possible types of product conditioning and/or processing and, in this respect, the final yield, quality, antioxidant compounds and activity, mineral composition, and waste valorization should be addressed.
Indeed, the several bibliographic reports relevant to the present topics have not resolved all the issues that have arisen and, therefore, in this interesting field of research, plenty of challenges should be addressed. In this respect, remarkable attention should be paid to the interactive dynamics among nutrient uptake, plant development, and the synthesis of antioxidants. The latter are essential plant secondary metabolites acting in plant growth as well as in plant–microbe, plant–plant, and plant-environment relationships, whose presence in significant concentrations also allows the production of vegetables labeled as functional foods.
In this Special Issue, we warmly welcome articles (original research, reviews, modeling approaches, perspectives, and opinions) that focus on factors affecting yield, quality, antioxidant compounds and activity, mineral composition, and the waste valorization of vegetable chains in the greenhouse cropping phase and/or in post-harvest management, carried out in investigations regarding the agronomical, biochemical, physiological, and genetic aspects of plants, soil, the microbiome, nutrients, and hormone interactions in any vegetable species, including those that are industry-oriented (legumes, tomato, and potato).
Prof. Dr. Gianluca Caruso
Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Sękara
Dr. Alessio Vincenzo Tallarita
Prof. Dr. Vasile Stoleru
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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
- protected cultivation
- circular economy
- sustainable production
- quality, antioxidant properties
- mineral composition
- waste valorization
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