Managing phenol contents in horticultural crops, why and how?

The importance of phenolic compounds is attributed to their beneficial effects for humans and for plants. They are involved in defence and also in physiology of organisms. It is therefore of interest to manage the level and composition of these secondary metabolites in crop plants. Some instruments are listed which are available for manipulation of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid metabolism. There are however, constraints which have to be considered. These are based mainly on the fact that the secondary metabolism is integrated into programmes of growth and development of the plant.