2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Plants respond to abiotic stress by inducing antioxidants as a defense mechanism. Such antioxidants include phytochemicals with health-promoting properties and essential oils with medicinal properties. Crop stress management strategies aim to maximize the production of these beneficial chemical compounds by achieving an optimal balance between crop stress and stress adaptation. Horticultural crops with high health-promoting and medicinal properties, plant stress responses, and, how crop stress management and production practices can be used to promote antioxidant production will be discussed. Particular emphasis will be on water stress and deficit irrigation strategies.