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Regulatory Mechanisms of Exogenous Natural Compounds in the Growth and...
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Regulatory Mechanisms of Exogenous Natural Compounds in the Growth and Stress Resistance of Horticultural Crops

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Genetics, Genomics and Breeding".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2026 | Viewed by 1462

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Donata Arena

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia n. 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: agricultural plant science; biochemistry; brassica crops; novel food
Prof. Dr. Ferdinando Branca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Food and Environment-Di3A, University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia n. 5, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: plant physiology; plant growth; conservation; medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry; plant biotechnology; plant biology; agriculture; genomics; evolution; molecular biology; genetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exogenous natural compounds—including plant growth regulators, signaling molecules, biostimulants, and elicitors—play pivotal roles in enhancing the growth, stress resilience, and quality of horticultural crops. These compounds function through multifaceted regulatory mechanisms, modulating metabolic pathways, improving nutrient assimilation, and fine-tuning gene expression associated with stress responses. Their application has been shown to enhance antioxidant activity, mitigate both abiotic (e.g., drought, salinity, extreme temperatures) and biotic (e.g., fungal, bacterial) stresses, and elevate the content of bioactive compounds in plants. Beyond stress mitigation, these natural compounds contribute to increased crop yield and improved nutritional quality, aligning with consumer demand for healthier and more sustainable horticultural products.

Integrating these compounds into sustainable crop management strategies represents a promising approach to address climate challenges and the growing demand for agricultural productivity. This Special Issue aims to collect the application of natural compounds in horticultural science and practice, highlighting the regulatory mechanisms by which exogenous natural compounds influence the plants growth, development, and stress responses, particularly in horticultural crops.

Dr. Donata Arena
Prof. Dr. Ferdinando Branca
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Agriculture 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 2600 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

  • biostimulants
  • elicitors
  • horticulture crops
  • organic farming system
  • abiotic/biotic stress
  • plant growth and development
  • plant physiology
  • functional food
  • biochemical analysis
  • microbiome
  • genetic traits

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 2006 KB  
Article
Elicitor-Driven Changes in Harvest Quality of ‘Calabacita’ Figs Under High-Density Production
by Carlos Moraga-Lozano, Mónica Palomino-Vasco, Alicia Rodríguez, Manuel J. Serradilla and Margarita López-Corrales
Agriculture 2026, 16(7), 790; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16070790 - 2 Apr 2026
Viewed by 352
Abstract
Fresh figs are characterised by high perishability, leading to a limited postharvest shelf life. Consequently, preharvest elicitor application strategies have been explored to enhance their quality and storability. During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, figs (cv. Calabacita) grown under high-density conditions were treated [...] Read more.
Fresh figs are characterised by high perishability, leading to a limited postharvest shelf life. Consequently, preharvest elicitor application strategies have been explored to enhance their quality and storability. During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, figs (cv. Calabacita) grown under high-density conditions were treated with oxalic acid (OA; 1 and 2 mM), melatonin (MEL; 0.1 and 0.5 mM), and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA; 10 and 50 mM) through foliar sprays applied two or three times. Fruits were harvested at commercial maturity and analysed immediately after harvest. Physicochemical and bioactive parameters were determined. Analysis of variance was used to assess treatment effects, and t-tests were used to evaluate differences in the number of applications and between seasons. Significant seasonal effects were observed, whereas no cumulative effect from repeated applications was detected. OA at 2 mM increased fruit weight (37.9 g) and size (42.5 mm) and delayed ripening. MEL treatments enhanced sugar accumulation (100.1 g kg−1 and 96 g kg−1 of glucose and fructose, respectively), while GABA treatments were associated with a more advanced maturity stage. Notably, OA (2 mM), MEL (0.5 mM), and GABA (50 mM) significantly increased enzymatic antioxidant activity by an average of 24% and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity by around 17% in general terms. These results indicate that preharvest elicitor application is a promising and eco-friendly approach to improve the nutritional value and overall quality of fresh figs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regulatory Mechanisms of Exogenous Natural Compounds in the Growth and Stress Resistance of Horticultural Crops)
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Review

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29 pages, 1716 KB  
Review
Insights on Physiological, Biochemical and Genetic Responses of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to Drought Conditions
by Nicolas Al Achkar, Hajer Ben Ammar, Donata Arena, Daniela Romano and Ferdinando Branca
Agriculture 2026, 16(7), 813; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16070813 - 6 Apr 2026
Viewed by 711
Abstract
With global warming and climate change, drought stress is nowadays a threatening problem for growing vegetable crops worldwide. The introduction of more resilient and less water-demanding varieties is a key aspect for sustainable vegetable production, especially in Mediterranean countries where water availability for [...] Read more.
With global warming and climate change, drought stress is nowadays a threatening problem for growing vegetable crops worldwide. The introduction of more resilient and less water-demanding varieties is a key aspect for sustainable vegetable production, especially in Mediterranean countries where water availability for agricultural uses is progressively decreasing. This review highlights different mechanisms of tomato plant, as one of the most important crops of the Mediterranean countries, which are activated at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels in response to drought. With regard to the root system architecture modification, osmotic adjustments, and hormonal and antioxidant regulations are discussed. For vegetative organs, plant architecture, leaf morphology adjustments and stomatal regulation are described. Major genetic traits related to drought stress, along with responsive genes, are listed. The metabolic pathways, which determine the tolerance to drought stress, are reported and their related molecular markers used for the molecular-assisted selection (MAS) are listed. Novel growing systems and techniques which can improve efficiency for mitigating drought are highlighted; in addition, different breeding methods, both conventional and new gene-editing ones, are mentioned. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regulatory Mechanisms of Exogenous Natural Compounds in the Growth and Stress Resistance of Horticultural Crops)
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