Effect of Sodium Sulfate Treatment on the Modulation of Aliphatic Glucosinolates in Eruca sativa Mill Organs at Flowering Stage

Featured Application: A simple method to elicit the synthesis of glucosinolates in different organs of Eruca sativa can have multiple applications. Increasing their concentration in leaves can make this species a more powerful functional food but boosting them in organs not usually used for food consumption can make them new matrices that can be used for the development of bioproducts, in the areas of health, agriculture, and food innovation. Abstract: Glucosinolates are secondary metabolites of the Brassicales, playing a role in plant protection and as health-promoting compounds. Here, Na2SO4 was used to modulate the aliphatic glucosinolate content in different organs of Eruca sativa Mill. In flowers, which accumulate the highest amount of glucosinolates, Na2SO4 increased the concentration of glucoraphanin, in roots of glucoerucin and in apical leaves it doubled the amount of dimeric 4-mercaptobutyl glucosinolate. The biosynthetic gene Branched-Chain Aminotransferase 4 was also induced in roots at the highest salt concentration, while in leaves all tested genes biosynthetic genes were downregulated or unaffected. Cytochromes P450 83A1 monooxygenase was downregulated at the highest salt concentration in all organs. Overall, E. sativa is a reliable source of glucosinolates, which can be modulated with Na2SO4.