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This research was funded by the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, grant number 20849/PI/18, through the grant call for projects for the development of scientific and technical research by competitive groups, included in the Regional Programme for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research (Action Plan 2018) of the Seneca Foundation-Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia (Spain).

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Castillejo, Noelia;

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Background: According to social demands, the agri-food industry must elaborate convenient safe and healthy foods rich in phytochemicals while minimising processing inputs like energy consumption. Young plants in their first stages of development represent great potential. Objective: This review summarises the latest scientific findings concerning the use of UV and visible spectrum LED lighting as green, sustainable, and low-cost technologies to improve the quality of sprouts, microgreens, and baby leaves to enhance their health-promoting compounds, focusing on their mode of action while reducing costs and energy. Results: These technologies applied during growing and/or after harvesting were able to improve physiological and morphological development of sprouted seeds while increasing their bioactive compound content without compromising safety and other quality attributes. The novelty is to summarise the main findings published in a comprehensive review, including the mode of action, and remarking on the possibility of its postharvest application where the literature is still scarce. Conclusions: Illumination with UV and/or different regions of the visible spectrum during growing and shelf life are good abiotic elicitors of the production of phytochemicals in young plants, mainly through the activation of specific photoreceptors and ROS production. However, we still need to understand the mechanistic responses and their dependence on the illumination conditions.

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