PreprintReviewVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Intercropping Systems to Modify Bioactive Compounds and Nutrient Profiles in Plants, Do We Have Enough Information to Take It as a Strategy to Improve Food Quality? A Review
Arenas-Salazar, A.P.; Schoor, M.; Parra-Pacheco, B.; García-Trejo, J.F.; Torres-Pacheco, I.; Feregrino-Pérez, A.A. Intercropping Systems to Modify Bioactive Compounds and Nutrient Profiles in Plants: Do We Have Enough Information to Take This as a Strategy to Improve Food Quality? A Review. Plants2024, 13, 194.
Arenas-Salazar, A.P.; Schoor, M.; Parra-Pacheco, B.; García-Trejo, J.F.; Torres-Pacheco, I.; Feregrino-Pérez, A.A. Intercropping Systems to Modify Bioactive Compounds and Nutrient Profiles in Plants: Do We Have Enough Information to Take This as a Strategy to Improve Food Quality? A Review. Plants 2024, 13, 194.
Arenas-Salazar, A.P.; Schoor, M.; Parra-Pacheco, B.; García-Trejo, J.F.; Torres-Pacheco, I.; Feregrino-Pérez, A.A. Intercropping Systems to Modify Bioactive Compounds and Nutrient Profiles in Plants: Do We Have Enough Information to Take This as a Strategy to Improve Food Quality? A Review. Plants2024, 13, 194.
Arenas-Salazar, A.P.; Schoor, M.; Parra-Pacheco, B.; García-Trejo, J.F.; Torres-Pacheco, I.; Feregrino-Pérez, A.A. Intercropping Systems to Modify Bioactive Compounds and Nutrient Profiles in Plants: Do We Have Enough Information to Take This as a Strategy to Improve Food Quality? A Review. Plants 2024, 13, 194.
Abstract
Various environmental, food security and population health problems seem to be related to intensive agriculture production worldwide. This type of food production system impacted the loss of biodiversity and natural habitats; high usage rates of agrochemicals and natural resources had affected soil composition, human health, and nutritional plant quality in rural areas. Intercropping agroecological systems that respect agrobiodiversity could significantly benefit ecosystems, human health, and food security by modifying the nutritional profile and the content of some health-promoting bioactive compounds of the species cultivated in this system. Research on intercropping strategies focuses on the benefits they can offer to ecosystems and less on nutrient plant composition, leaving information scattered when this theme should be more studied due to the critical impact it could provide for human nutrition. Therefore, this review aims to collect viable details on the investigation status of nutrients and bioactive compounds profile in intercropping systems by verifying different regions of the world with unique mixed crops using plant species, along with the criteria for combining them, as well as the nutrients and bioactive compounds analyzed to show what intercropping systems can contribute to food availability and quality.
Keywords
food production; sustainable agriculture; human health; nutrients; bioactive compounds
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
