Postharvest Biology of Vegetable Crops in the New Era
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 3061
Special Issue Editor
Interests: brassica vegetables; Chinese kale; mustard; carotenoids; glucosinolate; antioxidants; nutritional quality; postharvest
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Vegetable crops make up an important part of agricultural products due to their extensive production and sales volume. They are considered to be one of the most crucial sources of certain phytonutrients necessary for humans, such as vitamins, dietary fibers, and minerals. Particularly, they provide a wide variety of bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, glucosinolates, capsaicinoids, etc., which can also function as precious sources for food functionalization or nutraceutical preparations. It is well recognized that these minerals and phytochemicals contribute to combating multiple human health problems, including obesity, cancers, and chronic inflammatory diseases. Therefore, the daily consumption of vegetables has been promoted and recommended in the guidelines from the FAO and WHO. However, due to their high moisture content, delicate tissue, and high respiratory intensity, postharvest vegetables decay very easily. According to the FAO, vegetables are one of the most wasted food item. Approximately 33% of harvested vegetables are never consumed due to their naturally short shelf-life, leading to postharvest loss and waste.
The biological characteristics of different kinds of vegetables determine the extent of their postharvest quality deterioration and spoilage, and there are differences in postharvest storage and transportation measures and effects. Despite the introduction of some postharvest methods (controlled atmosphere, packaging, chemicals, and plant hormones or their inhibitors) in recent decades, many challenges remain. Recent molecular biology technologies, such as transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and gene editing, are effective approaches for gaining insight into postharvest vegetable crops. Genes related to senescence are key as they impact the complex developmental process that involves changes in tissue firmness, stress responses, and secondary metabolism. On the genetic level, transcription factors play an indispensable role in senescence, such as ERF, NAC, and WRKY. In-depth research into the regulatory mechanisms of bioactive compounds and developing novel preharvest and postharvest technologies are of great importance, which will contribute to improving the preservation of bioactive compounds and enhancing the nutritional and commercial values of vegetables.
For this Special Issue, we welcome any original research articles, reviews, or opinion articles that highlight recent advances in the application of postharvest biology in vegetable crops.
Prof. Dr. Bo Sun
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- vegetable crops
- postharvest
- preharvest
- technology
- quality
- storage
- bioactive compounds
- antioxidants
- transcriptomics
- metabolomics
- proteomics
- gene editing
