Plant Metabolomics

The demand for functional genomics has significantly increased in recent years, accelerating the development in other omics fields, such as metabolomics. Metabolomics is a rapidly developing field that is used for the identification and quantification of small metabolites that are present in biological systems, including the cells and tissues of plants. This chapter provides an overview of the rapidly developing field of metabolomics and its use in plant research. It outlines the main analytical methods frequently used in plant metabolomics, including mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and how they may be used to identify and quantify metabolites. It highlights the basic information regarding the genetic and biochemical mechanisms underlying plant development, growth, and response to stress with an emphasis on the contributions of metabolomics to real-world uses such as crop quality improvement, determining the safety of food, and plant breeding. This chapter also emphasizes this developing sector’s existing status and potential to facilitate more research that might result in better crop production and quality.