ABSTRACT
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is an approach for crop cultivation which involves managing certain parameters of the growing environment to promote better health and faster development of plants, reduction in plant pests and diseases, increases in yield and better resource management. Plant secondary metabolites are a widespread group of natural products synthesized by plants that enable them to interact with, and adapt to changes in, their environment. It is estimated that the plant kingdom contains more than 50,000 secondary metabolites. The long history of the usage of medicinal herbs for treatment of disease and health maintenance is based on pharmacological properties of the secondary metabolites they produce. This chapter discusses the potential of CEA in using technology and data to create a growing environment that directly affects the production of metabolites in crops grown for food, nutraceutical or pharmaceutical applications. The chapter will also discuss new trends, opportunities and limitations of CEA for crop production.
