Recent Advances and Approaches in the Application of Elicitors to Enhance Resistance Mechanisms in Fresh Produce

Various approaches have been developed to reduce abiotic stress in fresh produce. Some of these approaches include low-temperature conditioning, modified atmosphere, 1-Methylcyclopropene, and other chemical treatments. More recently, consumers and producers have become more aware of issues facing the environment and their individual health, however, the indiscriminate use of chemicals has led to increased environmental pollution and health issues. The purpose of this Research Topic is to elucidate the abiotic stress responses in horticultural plants from the field to the consumer. The activation of resistance mechanisms through physical or chemical treatments is attracting popularity for alleviating abiotic stresses and reducing oxidative damage. Elicitors play an important role in the stimulation of resistance mechanisms against stresses as plants demonstrate adaptive responses when exposed to elicitors.

Plants are often exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions such as soil salinity, drought, heat, cold, flooding, heavy metals, ozone, UV radiation, etc. and these conditions pose serious threats to sustainable food production. Pre-harvest and post-harvest abiotic stresses remain the greatest challenge to maintain quality and increase production of highly perishable crops worldwide. It has been estimated that more than 50% of yield reductions are the direct result of abiotic stresses. These abiotic stresses have the potential to cause a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes that adversely affect plant growth, productivity, and quality attributes. Abiotic stresses impact not only the productivity, and nutritional characteristics of perishables, but the quality and shelf-life, and these changes can cause huge losses to growers, industries, and retailers. Managing fresh produce is particularly difficult in a context where the supply of agricultural produce is subject to unpredictable events and fluctuating demand. The more perishable a food item is, the more problematic the issue, and so fruits and vegetables pose the greatest challenge. Keeping losses to a minimum before and after harvesting is, therefore, a key challenge, not only from an economic standpoint but from an environmental one as well.

Research into the recent advances and approaches in regulating stress responses is essential, and it is important for this research to be collected in one place. Plants under abiotic stress conditions experience oxidative damage which can be reduced through the application of exogenous elicitors. Elicitors are involved in multiple defense mechanisms, such as the modulating of enzyme activities, cellular protection against the toxicity of oxidative damage, and tolerance to abiotic stress. The exogenous application of elicitors has similar effects to the endogenous molecule, and this enables plants to cope with stress conditions. The exogenous pre-harvest and post-harvest applications of elicitors to trigger defense responses against various stresses are covered in this collection. We encourage the submission of manuscripts addressing the following topics, but not limited to:
• Abiotic stresses and mitigation;
• Plant oxidative damage and defense systems;
• Plant elicitors like jasmonic acid, oxalic acid, salicylic acid, β-aminobutyric acid, nitric oxide, brassinolide, etc;
• Pre-harvest and post-harvest applications of elicitors;
• Reduction of losse,s and maintaining the quality of fresh produce;
• Food safety during storage and transportation.