Résumé
Global climate change entails many threats and challenges for the majority of crops. Above all,a reduction in yield is expected in many parts of the world, and drought is generally believed torepresent one of the most important negative results of climate change. Fruit crops will certainlyalso suffer from the increased extension of drought conditions; however, yield is arguably notas important for fruit as for grain crops or oil crops. Yield does matter for fruit crops, but qualitycriteria are as important if not more important. Fruits are expected to supply health benefitsand to bring hedonistic pleasures associated with specific aromatic compounds. We may thusdistance ourselves from the dominant deleterious effect of drought on crop performance andconsider the potential benefits. Fruits from drought-stressed plants may in particular display ahigher content in health-promoting phytochemicals. The stimulation of secondary metabolismfollowing water stress may also be beneficial to plant natural defences. However, current resultsalso strongly suggest that taking advantage of stress will require a better understanding of theunderlying mechanisms of drought adaptation. Conducting laboratory studies on the effect ofa single severe stress applied during a very short period of time should be avoided in the future.Instead, one should examine the effects of variable and repeated periods of drought applied atdifferent stages of the crop cycle, possibly in combination with other forms of stress, as theseconditions reflect free living crop conditions more accurately. Integrated models must be developedto address the complexity of adaptation processes involved and to generate novel researchideas and avenues for plant physiologists. We also require novel monitoring tools to assess thelevel of fruit/plant stress, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC) signatures and parametersderived from measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence. Fortunately, the information analysedas part of this review is sufficiently mature and promising to encourage researchers shifting theirapproach to drought research versus fruit quality.