Underutilized Horticultural Crops: From OMICS Perspective

The shift from food to nutritional security has resulted in an increased focus on horticultural crops, including fruits, vegetables, medicinal, and aromatic plants. This emphasis is reflected in the greater importance of nutritional security in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3: Good health and well-being) with a comprehensive strategy for achieving SDGs by 2030. Consumer awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of horticultural crops can promote their consumption towards a diverse and balanced diet. Efforts by government and research institutions have increased public awareness and polarized the opinion about diverse non-cereal crops to some extent in improving immunological and metabolic health. However, these horticultural crops are still underutilized, and more efforts need to be made to attract consumer attention towards their potential health benefits. There exists substantial experimental evidence that the inclusion of such horticultural crops in human diets can improve overall well-being, and mainstreaming their cultivation in existing farming systems can improve the diversity on farms.

In addition to their nutritional benefits, underutilized horticultural crops are also valuable sources of novel traits related to quality, resilience, and adaptability, especially under the looming threats of climate change. In recent years, a visible policy and action shift towards harnessing the benefits of underutilized horticultural crops has resulted in substantial research efforts toward understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms of their nutritional qualities and health benefits. Significant OMICS data, including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics using high-throughput platforms, have been generated, providing greater insights into the biology of various economically important traits and helping design strategies to improve the production of underutilized crops.

This Research Topic aims to further our knowledge and understanding of policy and research issues related to the commercialization and promotion of various underutilized horticultural crops. It also seeks to provide experimental insights into their nutritional qualities, health benefits, disease and pest resistance, and climate resilience using conventional phenotyping and advanced systems biology research, including various OMICS platforms. Specific questions to be addressed include understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the nutritional and health benefits of these crops, as well as identifying strategies to enhance their cultivation and consumption.

To gather further insights into the range and limitations of underutilized horticultural crops from an OMICS perspective, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Understanding the biology of underutilized fruit and vegetable crops through OMICS approaches
- Nutritional genomics of underutilized horticultural crops
- GWAS and genomic selection of underutilized horticultural crops
- Metabolomics of underutilized horticultural crops
- Nutrigenomics studies of underutilized horticultural crops
- Transportation of nutrient elements in underutilized horticultural crops
- Available genetic resources/germplasm characterization of underutilized horticultural crops
- OMICS for improving nutritional quality and yield in underutilized horticultural crops
- OMICS towards combating biotic/abiotic stresses of underutilized crops

We welcome the submission of several article types including Original Research, Review, Mini-review, Short communication, Perspective and Opinion papers.

Keywords: underutilized horticultural crops, Omics

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.