S08 - Session P4 - How indoor farms can advance the production of high value bioactive substances

Authors: Alice Petrini *, Roberta Bulgari, Andrea Ertani, Silvana Nicola

Plants of several species can be considered a factory of bioactive substances, which can be of interest for their nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications, in addition to their economic relevance. Usually, the most interesting species are medicinal and aromatic plants and microgreens, but many horticultural species are rich in bioactive compounds too. The compounds produced from the secondary metabolism of plants and external conditions can trigger their production, reflecting the ability by which plants can face the constant changing of the environment around them. Genetic characteristics can influence the plants' response and accumulation of metabolites as well as environmental conditions. The most relevant are light irradiation, temperature, water and nutrient availability and soil characteristics. All these aspects variably affect the qualitative and quantitative content of bioactive substances, limiting the extensive exploitation until a high level of process standardization will be achieved. A potential solution is implementing the cultivation in totally controlled conditions, such as in indoor farms, where not only all the variables can be held for the best growing conditions, but also the plant metabolism can be forced and stressed to stimulate the biosynthesis of valuable compounds. Indoor farms also ensure a contaminant-free environment, which is crucial for reducing the safety hazards and providing prime quality products. This work aims to analyze the most relevant innovative solutions to enhance the content in bioactive substances through plant cultivation in indoor farms. Thorough bibliographic research is revealing useful aspects to produce plants rich in bioactive substances. For each input that can be controlled in indoor farms, such as light, nutrient, water, relative humidity, and air or root temperature - scientific works and case studies are provided to highlight all the scenarios in the field, exploring different categories of plants producing bioactive substances of relevant interest.