Journal of Current Research in Food Science

Biofortification of vegetable crops is an emerging, sustainable strategy to combat “hidden hunger” by enhancing the concentration and bioavailability of essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, iodine, provitamin A carotenoids, folates and vitamin C in edible tissues. Vegetables are particularly suitable targets owing to their inherently high nutrient density, short crop cycles and broad inclusion in daily diets, offering substantial potential to complement staple crop biofortification and conventional supplementation or industrial fortification programmes. This review consolidates recent advances in agronomic practices, conventional and molecular breeding, and modern biotechnological tools including genetic engineering, genome editing and synthetic biology for micronutrient enhancement across major vegetable groups such as leafy vegetables, brassicas, solanaceous crops, cucurbits, root and tuber vegetables, and alliums. It further highlights the emerging role of soil-plant-microbe interactions, hydroponic and controlled environment systems, and crop wise case studies demonstrating substantial (often multi fold) increases in target micronutrients without compromising yield or quality.

Biofortification of vegetable crops is an emerging, sustainable strategy to combat “hidden hunger” by enhancing the concentration and bioavailability of essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, iodine, provitamin A carotenoids, folates and vitamin C in edible tissues. Vegetables are particularly suitable targets owing to their inherently high nutrient density, short crop cycles and broad inclusion in daily diets, offering substantial potential to complement staple crop biofortification and conventional supplementation or industrial fortification programmes. This review consolidates recent advances in agronomic practices, conventional and molecular breeding, and modern biotechnological tools including genetic engineering, genome editing and synthetic biology for micronutrient enhancement across major vegetable groups such as leafy vegetables, brassicas, solanaceous crops, cucurbits, root and tuber vegetables, and alliums. It further highlights the emerging role of soil-plant-microbe interactions, hydroponic and controlled environment systems, and crop wise case studies demonstrating substantial (often multi fold) increases in target micronutrients without compromising yield or quality.

Key constraints such as genotype × environment interactions, limited high throughput phenotyping, uncertain human bioavailability, fragmented seed systems, regulatory and biosafety hurdles for engineered cultivars, and low consumer awareness are critically examined alongside policy and governance gaps that hinder large scale deployment. The article concludes by outlining research and policy priorities for integrating biofortified vegetables into horticultural value chains, home and peri urban gardens, school and institutional feeding programmes and public procurement schemes, underscoring their potential to strengthen nutrition sensitive horticulture and contribute meaningfully to the reduction of micronutrient malnutrition.