Pulsed Electric Field Bioproduction of Secondary Metabolites in Plant Systems
摘要
Plant cell culturing has received attention as an effective technology for the production of valuable secondary metabolites to be used as food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic ingredients and additives. Moreover, secondary metabolites of fruits and vegetables play a key role in reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments are currently under study to prospect their potential to induce stress reactions in plant systems, so that bioproduction of certain compounds can be enhanced or stimulated. In this sense, it has been demonstrated that PEF treatments can be applied as abiotic stressor to elicit an increase of secondary metabolites in plant systems. Therefore, PEF treatments stand as a feasible strategy for increasing the bioproduction of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures in order to produce natural food additives, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic ingredients and for promoting the antioxidant potential in raw fruits and vegetables prior to processing with the aim of developing healthier plant-based products. This chapter is focused in describing the use of PEF as abiotic stressor for increasing the bioproduction of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures and for obtaining fruit and vegetable products with high antioxidant potential.