Does Consumption of Tortured Fruit and Vegetables Improve Health, and Do They Taste Good?

Over the past two decades, researchers have extensively studied the use of controlled postharvest abiotic stresses (like wounding, ultraviolet light, and modified atmospheres) to increase the levels of bioactive compounds in fruits and vegetables. There are two main research directions: (1) understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms that trigger the production of nutraceuticals in response to postharvest stresses and (2) finding optimal stress conditions for increasing the levels of bioactive compounds, leading to foods enriched with plant bioactive compounds. However, a crucial research gap remains with respect to introducing stressed/tortured crops into the market, like determining whether stressed crops, with a higher content of bioactive compounds, truly provide improved health benefits to humans compared to their nonstressed counterparts. Additionally, assessing the toxicological properties of stressed crops when consumed directly or as food ingredients is essential. Likewise, it is also vital to assess consumers' acceptability before making these crops available. This Viewpoint emphasizes addressing these scientific gaps to enhance human health through the consumption of stressed/tortured crops.

Automated summary

In the past two decades, researchers have studied the use of controlled postharvest abiotic stresses to increase the levels of bioactive compounds in fruits and vegetables. Two main research directions include understanding the mechanisms behind nutraceutical production and finding optimal stress conditions. However, there is a research gap in determining the health benefits and toxicological properties of stressed crops, as well as assessing consumer acceptability.