Effects of Water Stress on the Biosynthesis and Accumulation of Secondary Metabolites in Fruit

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 7644

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Associação SFCOLAB - Laboratório Colaborativo para a Inovação Digital na Agricultura Smart Control & Monitoring Department, 2560-312 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: abiotic stress; fruit quality; grapevine; grafting; plant ecophysiology; plant hydraulics; precision agriculture; rootstocks; secondary metabolites; sustainable agriculture; water stress
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Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
Interests: profiling value-added bioactive compounds from plant-derived resources for biotechnological and therapeutical applications; characterization of the genetic diversity of species of forest and agricultural of interest in relation to nutritional value and yield

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Department of Chemistry, Postharvest Unit, University of Lleida - AGROTÈCNIO-CERCA Center, 25198 Lleida, Spain
Interests: cuticle; cell wall; flavor; fruit ripening; fruit quality; postharvest biology and technology of fruit; fruit cuticles as modulators of post harvest quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fruits constitute an important commercial and nutritional food commodity. They also represent a unique potential source for food additives, flavorings, relaxing drugs, as well as essential oils. Fruits produce and accumulate a wide range of secondary metabolites throughout their development. During fruit ripening, dramatic changes in gene expression, enzymatic activities, and metabolism lead to the production of secondary metabolites which shape the final quality characteristics. These metabolites are also major players in plant defense against biotic and abiotic environmental cues. In that sense, there is a growing interest in the effects of changed climate on the quality of many fruits. It is established that water stress coupled with higher temperature is going to definitely alter quality. However, the response to water stress depends on the stress level and on the phenological stage at which it occurs: Short-term and mild stress often leads to increased production of secondary metabolites, whereas long-term water shortage could generate the opposite results, associated with an acclimation process.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together the latest advances in various aspects of physiological, biochemical, and molecular impacts of limited water availability on fruit quality, with a focus on the biosynthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites.

We warmly welcome articles (original research, reviews, modelling approaches, perspectives, opinions) that focus on factors affecting sustained fruit growth and production under water scarcity, in plants grown in an open field or greenhouse, in any fruit species, including those industry-oriented.

Dr. Olfa Zarrouk
Dr. Carla Pinheiro
Dr. Isabel Lara
Dr. Cecilia Brunetti
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • aroma
  • alkaloids
  • deficit irrigation
  • drought
  • flavonoids
  • fruit
  • phenolics
  • terpenes
  • cuticle

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2656 KiB  
Article
Improving Peach Fruit Quality Traits Using Deficit Irrigation Strategies in Southern Tunisia Arid Area
by Ines Toumi, Olfa Zarrouk, Mohamed Ghrab and Kamel Nagaz
Plants 2022, 11(13), 1656; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11131656 - 23 Jun 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2253
Abstract
The peach (Prunus persica L.) is one of Tunisia’s major commercial fruit crops and is considered one of the biggest water consumers of all crops. In warm and arid areas of southern Tunisia, irrigation is necessary to ensure orchard longevity and high [...] Read more.
The peach (Prunus persica L.) is one of Tunisia’s major commercial fruit crops and is considered one of the biggest water consumers of all crops. In warm and arid areas of southern Tunisia, irrigation is necessary to ensure orchard longevity and high yield and fruit quality. Nevertheless, under water-scarcity conditions and low water quality, water management should rely on efficient deficit irrigation strategies. In this study, sustained deficit irrigation (DI) and partial root-zone drying (PRD50) at 50% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) were evaluated for their impact on the primary and secondary metabolites of the peach fruit of early cultivar Flordastar grown in the Tataouine region. A full irrigation (FI) treatment at 100%, etc., was used as a control treatment. Color, dry-matter content, firmness, organic acids, sugars, phenolic compounds, vitamin C, β-carotene and minerals were assessed on harvested mature fruits. Dry-matter content and firmness increased significantly under DI and PRD50 (13% and 15.5%). DI fruit had the highest soluble-solid content (SSC), reaching Brix values of 14.3°. Fruit sorbitol and sucrose contents were not affected by Di and PRD50. Higher glucose in fruit juice was observed in PRD50 (23%) and DI (21.5%) compared to FI, which had the highest malic acid content (33.5–37%). Quinic and citric acids decreased with DI and PRD50, while almost all individual phenolic compounds increased with deficit irrigation. Hydroxycinnamates and anthocyanins were significantly higher in fruits harvested from DI and PRD50 treatments. Proanthocyanidins (catechin and epicatechin) were only improved by DI, while flavone compounds and vitamin C were not affected by irrigation restrictions. β-carotene was higher in fruits yielded under FI (0.71 mg/100 g DM) than DI and PRD50 (0.21–0.43 mg/100 g DM). Macro- and micronutrients significantly increased in DI and PRD50 fruit. A significant difference between DI and PRD50 fruits was observed for Zn and Fe concentrations. This research highlights the positive impact of reduced irrigation on bioactive-fruit quality attributes and the suitability of PRD50 and DI as tools for irrigation management in arid areas of southern Tunisia, contributing to water-saving in orchards and the improvement of fruit commercial value. Full article
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17 pages, 844 KiB  
Article
Improving the Phenolic Content of Tempranillo Grapes by Sustainable Strategies in the Vineyard
by M. Esperanza Valdés, M. Inmaculada Talaverano, Daniel Moreno, David Uriarte, Luis Mancha and Mar Vilanova
Plants 2022, 11(11), 1393; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11111393 - 24 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1952
Abstract
Wine phenolics are of considerable interest due to their implication in the organoleptic appreciation of wines and due to their bioactive functions as antioxidants. In this work, the effects of sustainable strategies in the vineyard, regulated deficit irrigation treatments (RDI) and crop load [...] Read more.
Wine phenolics are of considerable interest due to their implication in the organoleptic appreciation of wines and due to their bioactive functions as antioxidants. In this work, the effects of sustainable strategies in the vineyard, regulated deficit irrigation treatments (RDI) and crop load level (CL) on Tempranillo grape phenolics over two seasons was studied. Rainfed (T), early (EDI) and late (LDI) regulated deficit irrigation was applied. Cluster thinning (TH) and control (C) without cluster removal were also applied under each irrigation treatment. The effect of CL remained independent of RDI for all compounds, except for phenolic acids. The RDI influence on the grape skin phenolic profile was higher than CL in the dry season (2009); however, in 2010, the effect of CL was greater. In 2009, a tendency to increase anthocyanin and hydroxycinnamic acid content in grape skins was registered in EDI with respect to T. However, significant decreases in hydroxycinnamic and flavanol compounds were found in LDI. In 2010, the wettest year, CL increased all phenolic families’ content. Thus, it can be concluded that the effects of RDI and cluster thinning treatments depend on the family of compounds considered and the meteorological conditions of the year. Full article
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25 pages, 1016 KiB  
Article
Vine Irrigation through Two Shoot Densities in Flavonoid and Non-Flavonoid Compounds in ‘Tempranillo’ Grapes
by Daniel Moreno, María Victoria Alarcón, David Uriarte, Luis A. Mancha and María Esperanza Valdés
Plants 2022, 11(10), 1378; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11101378 - 22 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1954
Abstract
This study aims to analyze the effects of non-limiting irrigation (I) vs. rainfed (R) through two different shoot densities, high-load (H) and low-load (L), on vegetative growth, agronomic parameters, flavonoid and non-flavonoid polyphenol substances of [...] Read more.
This study aims to analyze the effects of non-limiting irrigation (I) vs. rainfed (R) through two different shoot densities, high-load (H) and low-load (L), on vegetative growth, agronomic parameters, flavonoid and non-flavonoid polyphenol substances of cv. Tempranillo grown in a semi-arid climate during three consecutive seasons (2014–2016). Under these conditions, in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, irrigation showed significant increases in berry weight (14.7% and 13.4% in H and L, respectively, in 2015, and 35.6% and 23.5% in the same treatments in 2016) and yield (66.7% and 48.5 in 2015; 27.9% and 177.5% in 2016). Additionally, a general decreasing trend is observed in anthocyanins with the exception of peonidin derivates, almost all flavonol compounds, cinnamic acid and resveratrol values with different degrees and statistical significance depending on the shoot density of the vines. A slight variation is observed in 2014 in these parameters. On the other hand, no general trends are established either in flavanol compounds or hydroxybenzoic acid. Thus, the effect of irrigation depends on the parameter considered, the shoot density of the vine and the season considered. Full article
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