Optimizing elicitation and seed priming to enrich broccoli and radish sprouts in glucosinolates

Abstract

Elicitation is a cheaper and socially acceptable tool for improving plant food functionality. Our objective was to optimize the treatment doses of the elicitors: methyl jasmonate (MeJA), jasmonic acid (JA) and DL-methionine (MET), in order to find a successful and feasible treatment to produce broccoli and radish sprouts with enhanced levels of health-promoting glucosinolates. Also a priming of seeds as a novel strategy to trigger the glucosinolates content was carried out with water (control), methyl jasmonate (250 µM), jasmonic acid (250 µM) and DL-methionine (10mM) before the elicitor exogenous treatment. The results showed that almost all treatments could enhance effectively the total glucosinolates content in the sprouts, achieving the most significant increases from 34 to 100% of increase in broccoli and from 45 to 118% of increase in radish sprouts after MeJA priming and treatments. Consequently, our work demonstrates the feasibility of using elicitors, such as plant stress hormones, by priming and exogenously, as a way of increase the phytochemical profile of these sprouts to enhance their consumption in the diet.