Breeding Vegetables with Increased Content in Bioactive Phenolic Acids
1
Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera 14, Valencia 46022, Spain
2
Department of Vegetable Science, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar 125001, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Luis Cisneros-Zevallos and Daniel Jacobo-Velazquez
Molecules 2015, 20(10), 18464-18481; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules201018464
Received: 15 July 2015 / Revised: 30 September 2015 / Accepted: 7 October 2015 / Published: 9 October 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Plant Phenolics)
Vegetables represent a major source of phenolic acids, powerful antioxidants characterized by an organic carboxylic acid function and which present multiple properties beneficial for human health. In consequence, developing new varieties with enhanced content in phenolic acids is an increasingly important breeding objective. Major phenolic acids present in vegetables are derivatives of cinnamic acid and to a lesser extent of benzoic acid. A large diversity in phenolic acids content has been found among cultivars and wild relatives of many vegetable crops. Identification of sources of variation for phenolic acids content can be accomplished by screening germplasm collections, but also through morphological characteristics and origin, as well as by evaluating mutations in key genes. Gene action estimates together with relatively high values for heritability indicate that selection for enhanced phenolic acids content will be efficient. Modern genomics and biotechnological strategies, such as QTL detection, candidate genes approaches and genetic transformation, are powerful tools for identification of genomic regions and genes with a key role in accumulation of phenolic acids in vegetables. However, genetically increasing the content in phenolic acids may also affect other traits important for the success of a variety. We anticipate that the combination of conventional and modern strategies will facilitate the development of a new generation of vegetable varieties with enhanced content in phenolic acids.