Biofortification of Tomato: Enhancing Vitamin and Mineral Content for a Healthier Diet

Tomatoes are one of the most significant crop plants that are grown all over the world. They are full of nutrients like vitamin C, beta-carotene, lycopene, flavonoids, and derivatives of hydroxycinnamic acid. The lycopene component of tomatoes, which has anticancer and antioxidant properties, has attracted a lot of interest, and various biotechnological techniques are being used to engineer tomato plants. Its productivity and overall yield, however, can be decreased by a number of biotic and abiotic stresses. Consequently, the development of stress-tolerant crops is a significant challenge for the agricultural industry. To date, only limited genetic techniques have been applied to cultivate tomato plants that can withstand stress. These accomplishments are based on the most recent understanding of plant adaptation. The biotechnological approaches used to alter tomatoes to create “upgraded” plants rely on the introduction of a number of genes that code for stress-relieving enzymes or genes involved in signaling and various regulatory pathways. This chapter discusses the development of genetic approaches for tomato growth and yield, as well as for improving tomato tolerant ability under stress conditions. A few future research directions are suggested in order to increase fruit yield of tomato by increasing its tolerance capacity under stress conditions.