TY - JOUR A1 - Wiesner-Reinhold, Melanie A1 - Schreiner, Monika A1 - Baldermann, Susanne A1 - Schwarz, Dietmar A1 - Hanschen, Franziska S. A1 - Kipp, Anna Patricia A1 - Rowan, Daryl D. A1 - Bentley-Hewitt, Kerry L. A1 - McKenzie, Marian J. T1 - Mechanisms of Selenium Enrichment and Measurement in Brassicaceous Vegetables, and Their Application to Human Health JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for human health. Se deficiency affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, particularly in developing countries, and there is increasing awareness that suboptimal supply of Se can also negatively affect human health. Selenium enters the diet primarily through the ingestion of plant and animal products. Although, plants are not dependent on Se they take it up from the soil through the sulphur (S) uptake and assimilation pathways. Therefore, geographic differences in the availability of soil Se and agricultural practices have a profound influence on the Se content of many foods, and there are increasing efforts to biofortify crop plants with Se. Plants from the Brassicales are of particular interest as they accumulate and synthesize Se into forms with additional health benefits, such as methylselenocysteine (MeSeCys). The Brassicaceae are also well-known to produce the glucosinolates; S-containing compounds with demonstrated human health value. Furthermore, the recent discovery of the selenoglucosinolates in the Brassicaceae raises questions regarding their potential bioefficacy. In this review we focus on Se uptake and metabolism in the Brassicaceae in the context of human health, particularly cancer prevention and immunity. We investigate the close relationship between Se and S metabolism in this plant family, with particular emphasis on the selenoglucosinolates, and consider the methodologies available for identifying and quantifying further novel Se-containing compounds in plants. Finally, we summarize the research of multiple groups investigating biofortification of the Brassicaceae and discuss which approaches might be most successful for supplying Se deficient populations in the future. KW - Brassica vegetables KW - selenium KW - biofortification KW - glucosinolates KW - human health KW - immune system KW - cancer KW - analytical methods Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01365 SN - 1664-462X VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baldermann, Susanne A1 - Blagojevic, Lara A1 - Frede, Katja A1 - Klopsch, R. A1 - Neugart, Susanne A1 - Neumann, A. A1 - Ngwene, Benard A1 - Norkeweit, Jessica A1 - Schroeter, D. A1 - Schroeter, A. A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. A1 - Wiesner, M. A1 - Schreiner, Monika T1 - Are Neglected Plants the Food for the Future? JF - Critical reviews in plant sciences N2 - Malnutrition, poor health, hunger, and even starvation are still the world's greatest challenges. Malnutrition is defined as deficiency of nutrition due to not ingesting the proper amounts of nutrients by simply not eating enough food and/or by consuming nutrient-poor food in respect to the daily nutritional requirements. Moreover, malnutrition and disease are closely associated and incidences of such diet-related diseases increase particularly in low- and middle-income states. While foods of animal origin are often unaffordable to low-income families, various neglected crops can offer an alternative source of micronutrients, vitamins, as well as health-promoting secondary plant metabolites. Therefore, agricultural and horticultural research should develop strategies not only to produce more food, but also to improve access to more nutritious food. In this context, one promising approach is to promote biodiversity in the dietary pattern of low-income people by getting access to nutritional as well as affordable food and providing recommendations for food selection and preparation. Worldwide, a multitude of various plant species are assigned to be consumed as grains, vegetables, and fruits, but only a limited number of these species are used as commercial cash crops. Consequently, numerous neglected and underutilized species offer the potential to diversify not only the human diet, but also increase food production levels, and, thus, enable more sustainable and resilient agro- and horti-food systems. To exploit the potential of neglected plant (NP) species, coordinated approaches on the local, regional, and international level have to be integrated that consequently demand the involvement of numerous multi-stakeholders. Thus, the objective of the present review is to evaluate whether NP species are important as “Future Food” for improving the nutritional status of humans as well as increasing resilience of agro- and horti-food systems. KW - Fruits KW - malnutrition KW - orphan crops KW - underutilized species KW - vegetables Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/07352689.2016.1201399 SN - 0735-2689 SN - 1549-7836 VL - 35 SP - 106 EP - 119 PB - Institut d'Estudis Catalans CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Witzel, Katja A1 - Neugart, Susanne A1 - Ruppel, Silke A1 - Schreiner, Monika A1 - Wiesner, Melanie A1 - Baldermann, Susanne T1 - Recent progress in the use of 'omics technologies in brassicaceous vegetables JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - Continuing advances in 'omics methodologies and instrumentation is enhancing the understanding of how plants cope with the dynamic nature of their growing environment. 'Omics platforms have been only recently extended to cover horticultural crop species. Many of the most widely cultivated vegetable crops belong to the genus Brassica: these include plants grown for their root (turnip, rutabaga/swede), their swollen stem base (kohlrabi), their leaves (cabbage, kale, pak choi) and their inflorescence (cauliflower, broccoli). Characterization at the genome, transcript, protein and metabolite levels has illustrated the complexity of the cellular response to a whole series of environmental stresses, including nutrient deficiency, pathogen attack, heavy metal toxicity, cold acclimation, and excessive and sub optimal irradiation. This review covers recent applications of omics technologies to the brassicaceous vegetables, and discusses future scenarios in achieving improvements in crop end-use quality. KW - genomics KW - transcriptomics KW - metabolomics KW - proteomics KW - crop KW - microbiomics Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00244 SN - 1664-462X VL - 6 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -