The potential of priming in food production

Over the past decade, priming emerged as an important mechanism for the enhancement of a plant's capacity to produce various compounds with important roles in the resistance to biotic and/or abiotic stress. These include secondary metabolites which, in part, are known to have antioxidant activity and exert health-beneficial effects. Although it is known that fruits and vegetables are subject to several stresses during harvest or post-harvest treatment, little is known about whether priming can serve as a means to increase the content of antioxidants and other health-beneficial compounds in crop production. In this review, I discuss the potential of priming for use in improving food quality.