Pulsed electric fields bioproduction of secondary metabolites in plant systems

Abstract

Plant cell culture 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 chronic disease risk. Pulsed electric fields (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. It has been demonstrated that PEF treatments can be applied as an abiotic stressor to elicit an increase of secondary metabolites in plant systems. Therefore, PEF treatments could be a feasible strategy for increasing the bioproduction of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures in order to produce natural food additives and nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic ingredients and for promoting the antioxidant potential in raw fruits and vegetables prior to processing to the aim of developing healthier plant-based products. This chapter is focused in describing the use of PEF as an abiotic stressor for increasing the bioproduction of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures and for obtaining fruit and vegetable products with high antioxidant potential.