Influence of stress conditions on the quality of obtained sprouts – modification of their chemical composition

Abstract

Sprouts are generally accepted as a pro-healthy food. They are consumed as a source of valuable macronutrients, antioxidants, microelements, and vitamins. Changing growth conditions of sprouts enables modification of their nutritional quality, as well as their safety. Thus, in order to achieve the most desirable composition of the produced sprouts, the conditions for their production are optimized. The aim of this review is to present methods currently used to modify the nutritional quality of plant sprouts. Most scientific works focus on stress conditions inducing the synthesis of secondary metabolites, mainly antioxidants. An increase in their content is achieved after application of physical (e.g., light illumination, temperature) or chemical factors (e.g., salinity stress, phytohormones, metal ions, etc). Though the application of these modifications on a larger scale is problematic. These problems include difficulties in predicting the effect of the stressor and an increased price of the obtained sprouts. However, since it is possible to enrich sprouts with valuable health-promoting substances, these methods are still considered very promising.