A unique feature of bioactive food ingredients is their broad antioxidant function. Antioxidants having a wide spectrum of chemical structure and activity beyond basic nutrition; display different health benefits by the prevention and progression of chronic diseases. Functional food components are capable of enhancing the natural antioxidant defense system by scavenging reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, protecting and repairing DNA damage, as well as modulating the signal transduction pathways and gene expression. Major pathways affected by bioactive food ingredients include the pro-inflammatory pathways regulated by nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), as well as those associated with cytokines and chemokines. The present review summarizes the importance of plant bioactives and their roles in the regulation of inflammatory pathways. Bioactives influence several physiological processes such as gene expression, cell cycle regulation, cell proliferation, cell migration, etc., resulting in cancer prevention. Cancer initiation is associated with changes in metabolic pathways such as glucose metabolism, and the effect of bioactives in normalizing this process has been provided. Initiation and progression of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) which increase the chances of developing of colorectal cancers can be downregulated by plant bioactives. Several aspects of the potential roles of microRNAs and epigenetic modifications in the development of cancers have also been presented.

Apples (Malus domestica Borkh) are prone to preharvest fruit drop, which is more pronounced in ‘Honeycrisp’. Hexanal is known to improve fruit retention in several economically important crops. The effects of hexanal on the fruit retention of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples were assessed using physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic approaches. Fruit retention and fruit firmness were significantly improved by hexanal, while sugars and fresh weight did not show a significant change in response to hexanal treatment. At commercial maturity, abscisic acid and melatonin levels were significantly lower in the treated fruit abscission zone (FAZ) compared to control. At this stage, a total of 726 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between treated and control FAZ. Functional classification of the DEGs showed that hexanal downregulated ethylene biosynthesis genes, such as S-adenosylmethionine synthase (SAM2) and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidases (ACO3, ACO4, and ACO4-like), while it upregulated the receptor genes ETR2 and ERS1. Genes related to ABA biosynthesis (FDPS and CLE25) were also downregulated. On the contrary, key genes involved in gibberellic acid biosynthesis (GA20OX-like and KO) were upregulated. Further, hexanal downregulated the expression of genes related to cell wall degrading enzymes, such as polygalacturonase (PG1), glucanases (endo-β-1,4-glucanase), and expansins (EXPA1-like, EXPA6, EXPA8, EXPA10-like, EXPA16-like). Our findings reveal that hexanal reduced the sensitivity of FAZ cells to ethylene and ABA. Simultaneously, hexanal maintained the cell wall integrity of FAZ cells by regulating genes involved in cell wall modifications. Thus, delayed fruit abscission by hexanal is most likely achieved by minimizing ABA through an ethylene-dependent mechanism.

Variations in floral display represent one of the core features associated with the transition from allogamy to autogamy in angiosperms. The promotion of autogamy under stress conditions suggests the potential involvement of a signaling pathway with a dual role in both flower development and stress response. The jasmonic acid (JA) pathway is a plausible candidate to play such a role because of its involvement in many plant responses to environmental and developmental cues. In the present study, we used peach (Prunus persica L.) varieties with showy and non-showy flowers to investigate the role of JA (and JA signaling suppressors) in floral display. Our results show that PpJAZ1, a component of the JA signaling pathway in peach, regulates petal expansion during anthesis and promotes self-pollination. PpJAZ1 transcript levels were higher in petals of the non-showy flowers than those of showy flowers at anthesis. Moreover, the ectopic expression of PpJAZ1 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) converted the showy, chasmogamous tobacco flowers into non-showy, cleistogamous flowers. Stability of PpJAZ1 was confirmed in vivo using PpJAZ1-GFP chimeric protein. PpJAZ1 inhibited JA-dependent processes in roots and leaves of transgenic plants, including induction of JA-response genes to mechanical wounding. However, the inhibitory effect of PpJAZ1 on JA-dependent fertility functions was weaker, indicating that PpJAZ1 regulates the spatial localization of JA signaling in different plant organs. Indeed, JA-related genes showed differential expression patterns in leaves and flowers of transgenic plants. Our results reveal that under stress conditions – for example, herbivore attacks -- stable JAZ proteins such as PpJAZ1 may alter JA signaling in different plant organs, resulting in autogamy as a reproductive assurance mechanism. This represents an additional mechanism by which plant hormone signaling can modulate a vital developmental process in response to stress.