Drought stress modulates secondary metabolites in Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC) Alef, var. sabellica L.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays the preference of the consumers turned towards the consumption of functional food, and the reduction of chemical preservatives for food conservation. Moreover, the antimicrobial property and the human health promoting quality of plant secondary metabolites are well known. Due to the forecasted climate changes and increasing population, agricultural practices for saving water have become a concern. In the present study, the physiological responses of curly kale Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC) var. sabellica to drought stress and the impact of water limitation on the concentration of selected secondary metabolites were investigated in laboratory-controlled conditions. RESULTS: Results indicated that drought stress increased the content of trans-2-hexenal, phytol, as well as ? tocopherol, and decreased chlorophyll content. Moreover, drought stress increased the antioxidant capacity the expression of AOP2, a gene associated with the biosynthesis of aliphatic alkenyl glucosinolates and of three genes, TGG1, TGGE and PEN2, encoding for myrosinases, the enzymes involved in glucosinolate breakdown. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that water limitation during the growing phase might be exploited as a sustainable practice for producing curly kale with a high concentration of nutritionally important health-promoting bioactive metabolites. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.