Long-term exposure to a low nitrogen supply could effectively improve phenolic content in vegetables, but it also greatly decreases the yield. Therefore, it is necessary to develop cost-effective strategies of nitrogen management to overcome these obstacles. Here, we find that decreasing the nitrogen (NO3-) supply from 8.0 to below 2.0 mM during the last 7 days before harvest significantly increases phenolic levels and antioxidant capacity of the soluble fraction in two hydroponic-cultivated lettuces, which is demonstrated by the up-regulation of related genes ( PAL1, CHS, F3H, DFR, F35H, and UFGT) involved in the phenolic synthesis pathway. Importantly, short-term nitrate limitation before harvest does not affect yield production unless nitrogen supply is reduced below 1.0 and 0.5 mM for Ziluoma and Lvluo, respectively. These findings suggest that appropriate short-term nitrate limitation before harvest, considering genotype variation, is feasible for improving the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of vegetables without reducing their yield.
Keywords: HPLC; Lactuca sativa L; antioxidant capacity; nitrogen; phenolic compounds.