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Grant support

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, NoeliaAuthor

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Article

UV and Visible Spectrum LED Lighting as Abiotic Elicitors of Bioactive Compounds in Sprouts, Microgreens, and Baby Leaves-A Comprehensive Review including Their Mode of Action

Publicated to:Foods. 11 (3): 265- - 2022-02-01 11(3), DOI: 10.3390/foods11030265

Authors: Artes-Hernandez, Francisco; Castillejo, Noelia; Martinez-Zamora, Lorena

Affiliations

Univ Politecn Cartagena, Inst Plant Biotechnol, Dept Agron Engn, Postharvest & Refrigerat Grp, Cartagena 30203, Spain - Author

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Abiotic stressAffects growthAntioxidantsB radiationBiosynthesisBlue-lightBroccoliCarotenoidHealth-promoting compoundHealth-promoting compoundsIlluminationLight-emitting diodesNutraceuticalsNutritional qualityPhytochemicalsResponsesSeed germinationSignal-transductionUltraviolet

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Foods due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 34/142, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Food Science & Technology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 3.31. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 11.69 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-28, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 38
  • Scopus: 44
  • Europe PMC: 11

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-28:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 93.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 93 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.75.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.