Molecular Biology for Enhancing Nutritional Quality in Tomato Fruit

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetables are essential components of the human diet, particularly because they benefit human health by providing vitamins, minerals, and fiber. However, the current levels of phytonutrients in vegetable crops are not sufficient to meet daily requirements. Moreover, as much as 30% of the harvest may be lost due to the short shelf life of the produce. Spoilage due to postharvest pathogens and physiological disorders are additional constraints on fruit and vegetable marketability. A better understanding of the basic metabolism and key processes involved is needed to enable scientists to develop strategies for improving specific quality attributes in vegetables such as nutritional quality and vine and shelf life.

Ethylene is a plant hormone that significantly contributes to short shelf life and the postharvest metabolism of plant organs. We could target key genes in the fruit ripening process to prolong the shelf life and increase the nutritive value of tomatoes. Tomato fruit lines can be modified to enable the continuation of anabolic processes late into ripening and to produce higher amounts of the cancer-preventing antioxidants such as lycopene, amino acids such as glutamine, asparagine, lysine, and arginine, and other micronutrients such as choline, which is an important nutrient with great potential for brain development. This Special Issue will focus on original papers covering areas of "Molecular Biology for Enhancing Nutritional Quality in Tomato Fruit" that present advances in those fields.

Dr. Autar Mattoo
Guest Editor

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• tomato
• nutritional quality
• fruit ripening
• postharvest