Increasing nutritional value of broccoli with seaweed extract and trilinolein

Abstract

Abstract Glucosinolates and phenolic compounds are bioactive molecules with well-known health-related effects. Their synthesis in vegetables can be induced by the application of molecules that stimulate the plant defence systems by promoting the synthesis of biologically active metabolites. Seaweed extracts and trilinolein are considered biostimulants that can exert important plant-protective effects. This work studies the accumulation of bioactives in the edible part of broccoli following the application of Laminaria japonica extract and trilinolein. Treatments were applied by irrigation at different concentrations: 0.5 and 1 g/L for seaweed extract (SW1 and SW2, respectively), and 1 and 5 mg/L for trilinolein (TL1 and TL2, respectively). Seaweed extract was the most effective biostimulant treatment for enhancing the concentrations of both glucosinolates and phenolic compounds. At both SW1 and SW2 concentrations, its application led to an increase in gluconasturtiin and several hydroxycinnamic derivatives. In addition, SW2 increased both indole and aliphatic glucosinolate levels (except glucoraphanin and glucoalyssin) and SW1 stimulated the accumulation of kaempferol derivatives. While the effect of trilinolein on the bioactive accumulation was less pronounced, their application at the lower dose assayed could be of interest for the production of broccoli with a higher gluconasturtiin content and decreased neoglucobrassicin content.