Fertilization and Plant Metabolism: Organic Acids, Phenolic Compounds, and Amino Acids

Abstract

Today, plant nutrition practices are considered not only as nutrient applications that support plant growth, but also as strategic management tools that guide the plant's metabolic capacity, biochemical composition and product quality. Fertilization plays a crucial role in regulating carbon and nitrogen metabolism, sustaining energy production, directing secondary metabolite synthesis, and enhancing plant adaptation to environmental stresses. Organic acids, amino acids, and phenolic compounds constitute the principal metabolite groups linking nutrient utilization with plant metabolism and crop quality. While organic acids, as central intermediates of carbon metabolism, are involved in energy production and nutrient acquisition processes in the rhizosphere; Amino acids are critical in regulating carbon–nitrogen balance, nitrogen assimilation, and generating stress responses. Phenolic compounds, on the other hand, play an important role in determining herbal defense mechanisms, antioxidant capacity and especially the biological value of medicinal and aromatic plants. In this review, the effects of different fertilizer sources on plant metabolism; This review discusses on the basis of organic acid, amino acid and phenolic compound metabolisms, and the effects of mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers, biological fertilizers and biostimulants on plant metabolic responses were discussed. In addition, the role of metabolomics approaches in determining the biochemical responses of plants to fertilization applications and the potential of metabolite-based precision feeding strategies in sustainable and quality-oriented production systems were discussed. It was emphasized that future plant nutrition approaches, especially in medicinal and aromatic plants, should focus on production models that support the synthesis of targeted bioactive compounds, not just high yields.