{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T02:02:44Z","timestamp":1793066564901,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Seed priming with ascorbic acid (AsA) has been widely recognized for enhancing early plant development; however, its effectiveness in improving growth, physiology, yield, and nutritional quality of broccoli under field conditions remains limited. This two-year field study evaluated the effects of AsA seed priming on broccoli under Atlantic Canada soil conditions using a randomized complete block design across two field sites. Four treatments were assessed: non-primed control, water-primed (0 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    ), and AsA-primed seeds at 1 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    and 10 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    . AsA priming significantly (p &amp;lt; 0.05) enhanced plant height, canopy length, stem girth, and leaf area, with the greatest improvements observed at 10 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    , resulting in increases of 17.4%, 19.7%, 51.7%, and 69.4%, respectively, compared to the control. Net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration, and chlorophyll index, were also significantly improved (p &amp;lt; 0.001). Biochemical analysis showed significant increases (p &amp;lt; 0.05) in chlorophyll\n                    <jats:italic>a<\/jats:italic>\n                    and carotenoid content at 10 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    . Meanwhile phenolics, flavonoids, and most nutrients were not significantly affected (p \u2265 0.05), except for a slight but significant (p &amp;lt; 0.05) reduction in phosphorus concentration at 10 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    . Yield components were significantly (p &amp;lt; 0.05) improved by AsA priming, with 10 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    increasing primary yield by 38.4% and secondary yield by 80.4%, whereas 1 mgL\n                    <jats:sup>-1<\/jats:sup>\n                    significantly (p &amp;lt; 0.05) increased the number of secondary heads per plant by 15.3% compared with the control. Overall, AsA seed priming enhanced growth, physiological performance, and yield without compromising nutritional quality, demonstrating its potential as a practical and sustainable approach to improve broccoli production under field conditions.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1897446","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T11:07:10Z","timestamp":1789556830000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Field evaluation of ascorbic acid seed priming on growth, physiology, yield, and nutritional quality of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica \u2018Gypsy\u2019)"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Vijaya R.","family":"Mohan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University","place":["Truro, NS, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew M.","family":"Hammermeister","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University","place":["Truro, NS, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lord","family":"Abbey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University","place":["Truro, NS, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mason T.","family":"Macdonald","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University","place":["Truro, NS, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"Statistical Overview of the Canadian Field Vegetable Industry\n          \n          2024"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"875","DOI":"10.1038\/nprot.2007.102","article-title":"Estimation of total phenolic content and other oxidation substrates in plant tissues using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent","volume":"2","author":"Ainsworth","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nat. 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