The Nutraceutical value of Horticultural Crops

Nutraceuticals are one of the secondary metabolites that are being produced by diverse group of plants including the horticultural crops. The secondary metabolites in diverse horticultural crops are produced in significant amounts when encountered with different stresses such as wounding stress, abiotic stress, biotic stress, exposure to ultraviolet radiation etc. The secondary metabolite production in the plants enhances their response towards different stresses and help the plants to fight against the stresses in addition to their growth and development. The secondary metabolites expressed in horticultural crops such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyphenols, terpenoids have proven to exhibit number of health benefits such as anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anticancer response. The indepth knowledge of the biosynthetic pathways could lead to the enhancement of the secondary metabolites. Also, the stress responses can be modulated in a ways that could lead to the optimal expression of the genes involved in the production of these secondary metabolites. In the present review article, various horticultural crops including two vegetable and four fruit crops were assessed for the production of secondary metabolites under stress conditions, the biosynthetic pathways leading to the specific secondary metabolite production along with their health benefits have been discussed in detail.