Effect of growing environment on the antioxidant activity of recultivated pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L.)

Pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L.) are young pea plants with the potential for sustainable cultivation; these plants are cost-effective and provide high nutritional value. Although numerous studies have explored the nutritional content and functionality of pea seedlings, a few reports exist on the regrowth of pea seedlings after the initial harvest of their edible parts. Hence, this study aimed to elucidate the effect of the growing environment during recultivation on the properties and functionalities of pea seedlings. The non-edible parts of commercially acquired pea seedlings were recultivated in three different environments: (1) indoors under sunlight during the day, (2) indoors with only artificial fluorescent light, and (3) in a dark room. The edible parts of the recultivated seedlings were extracted with methanol, and the antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Plants grown in environment 1 exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. The antioxidant components of pea seedlings were identified to be kaempferol glycoside (1), quercetin glycoside (3), and their respective p-coumaroyl acylated glycosides (2 and 4). This determination was made by separating the components via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry using activity as an indicator. An analysis of these components across the studied environments revealed that the isolated quantities of components 2 and 4 were 2.7- and 6.2-fold greater, respectively, from the plants recultivated in environment 1 than those recultivated in environment 2. This study highlights the importance of the recultivation environment on the production of plant functional components.