Elicitation as a Process of Enhancing Bioactive Compounds Concentration in Sprouts

During growth, plants produce bioactive compounds—secondary metabolites. Their concentration can be stimulated by the presence of a stressful factor—an elicitor. Since chlorine dioxide is commonly used in water plants to disinfect drinking water, its application as a plant elicitor seems to be very attractive. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of a new elicitor, ClO2, on the quality of seeds and bioactive compounds of sprouts. Elicitation of radish and broccoli seeds using ClO2 solutions did not significantly reduce their germination percentage (GP remained over 90%). Radish sprouts sprouted from seeds elicited in chlorine dioxide solutions with concentrations up to 800 ppm did not differ statistically significantly in terms of polyphenol content. Sprouts which were grown in the presence of ClO2 contained significantly fewer polyphenolic compounds. Elicitation of broccoli seeds in 800–1000 ppm ClO2 solutions causes an increase in total phenolic content and concentration of ascorbic acid in sprouts. Elicitation in chlorine dioxide solutions not only increased concentrations of selected bioactive compounds but also improved the microbiological quality of sprouts.