Vegetables genetic engineering

Dalai M, Dani RG and Kumar PA. 2006. Current trends in the genetic engineering of vegetable crops. Scientia Hort 107 215-225. 

The development of genetically engineered plants offers the prospect of pharmaceutical production from crops as well as improved yields for cereals, vegetables and other agricultural products. The challenge will then be to find suitable bioseparations to enable the efficient isolation of such products. 

Fig. 10. Fatty acid composition of dietary vegetable oils and beef tallow. The values shown represent typical compositions of varieties grown commercially. Lines modified substantially through breeding or genetic engineering are available for soybean, canola, com, and sunflower.

Improvement in taste or texture of vegetables and fruits, such as better tasting celery stalks and tomatoes with higher solids content (13). Somaclonal variations for selection of desirable variants, and somatic embryos (artificial seeds) have been especially useful in genetic engineering of improved vegetables. Several of these new crop varieties will be on the market within 2 to 4 years. 

The term nutraceutical, coined in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, arises from combination of two words, nutrition and pharmaceutical, and defines food or food products that can provide medical and health benefits, including prevention and treatment of disease. Whole grains, beans, and herbs are known to include natural products with therapeutic potential, but fruits and vegetables are their main natural source. Edible mushrooms have also been reported to have medicinal properties [8,9]. Fortified foods, dietary supplements, herbal products, genetically engineered foods, and processed products such as cereals, soups, and beverages are considered nutraceuticals, even when in most cases bioactive components have not been scientifically standardized [10]. 

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