Primary and Secondary Metabolites in Fruits and Vegetables

Dear Colleagues,

Primary and secondary metabolites determine the nutritional quality, sensory properties and bioactive potential of fruits and vegetables. Primary metabolites including sugars, organic acids and amino acids underpin plant growth and shape flavour characteristics, while secondary metabolites such as phenolics, terpenoids and nitrogenous compounds mediate plant stress defence and deliver health-promoting bioactivities for humans. The synthesis and accumulation of these metabolites are dynamically modulated by genotype, ripening stage, agronomic management, environmental stress, postharvest handling and food processing.

This Special Issue of Plants will focus on the diversity in the occurrence of primary and secondary metabolites in different fruits and vegetables, their content and function in plants and analytical methods for their precise extraction and analysis. At the same time, we are also interested in how the different environmental conditions of the site (drought, stress, nutrients, soil pH, etc.), different cultivation techniques (fertilisation, spraying, irrigation, etc.) and fruit processing technologies (pasteurisation, pressing, different substances, etc.) affect the preservation of their bioactive value. With the help of new results from the field of metabolites in fruits and vegetables, their usefulness in the field of phytochemistry, pharmacy, public health, the food industry and agriculture will be much greater. In addition, the improved effects of the extraction of metabolites from plant tissues and the preservation of their content in food require special attention so that in the technological processes of fruit and vegetable processing, their functional properties are not affected and the consumer receives good-quality products.

Dr. Maja Mikulič-Petkovšek
Guest Editor

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