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

AbstractBACKGROUND: Consumer preference today is for the consumption of functional food and the reduction of chemical preserva-tives. Moreover, the antimicrobial properties and health-promoting qualities of plant secondary metabolites are well known.Due to forecasted climate changes and increasing human population, agricultural practices for saving water have become aconcern. In the present study, the physiological responses of curly kaleBrassica oleraceaL. convar.Acephala(DC) var.sabellicato drought stress and the impact of water limitation on the concentration of selected secondary metabolites were investigatedunder laboratory-controlled conditions.RESULTS:Resultsindicatedthatdroughtstressincreasedthecontentoftrans-2-hexenal,phytoland?-tocopherol,anddecreasedchlorophyllcontent.Moreover,droughtstressincreasedantioxidantcapacityandtheexpressionofAOP2,ageneassociatedwiththe biosynthesis of aliphatic alkenyl glucosinolates, and of three genes -TGG1,TGGEandPEN2- encoding for myrosinases, theenzymes involved in glucosinolate breakdown.CONCLUSION: The present study shows that water limitation during the growing phase might be exploited as a sustainablepractice for producing curly kale with a high concentration of nutritionally important health-promoting bioactive metabolites.© 2019 Society of Chemical Industry