About the book

Plants are the major source of flavonoids, which benefit humans, animals, and plants. Research on plant flavonoids has developed rapidly with the realization of the importance of plant flavonoids to plants themselves. Although parts of the biosynthesis pathway, transport, regulation, and function of flavonoids in plants have been evaluated, several genetic and biochemical mechanisms remain unclear due to differences in research strategies. Reverse genetics promoted the elucidation of the flavonoid pathway in the early stages, the forward genetics strategy is better for solving the problems that reverse genetics cannot solve, and this technique has since promoted the analysis of the flavonoid pathway. Breeding flavonoid biofortified crops can be an important strategy to solve the nutrient deficiency issues of people in developing countries, however, the stability and bioavailability of flavonoid contents in biofortified crops need further attention. In the future, the application of forwarding genetics may constitute a major direction of flavonoid research to resolve the stability and bioavailability issues.

This book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of flavonoid metabolism and the role of forwarding genetics to uncover the remaining aspects of crop biofortification for the manipulation and enhancement of beneficial nutrients.