ABSTRACT
Fruits and vegetables, which can be consumed as fresh and as processed products, are important ingredients of a healthy diet. They are valuable sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. The important quality factors of fruits and vegetables are their color, flavor, texture, and nutritive value. Consumers always prefer to buy fruits and vegetables of high quality. As used by the industry, quality is a concept involving measurable attributes: degree of purity, firmness, flavor, color, size, maturity, condition, or any other distinctive attributes or characteristics of the product (1). The qualities of the produce bought by the consumer are influenced by many factors, such as the cultivar, the environmental conditions affecting growth, cultural practices, exposure to pests and diseases, time of harvesting, and postharvest and storage conditions used. Today, with the advancement of technology in several areas, the only factor on which the grower has no control of is the environment of the field conditions. Heredity (the identity of the cultivar) plays a major role in determining the quality of fruits and vegetables, as evidenced by the various varietal differences in quality. Even though traditional crop breeding is still being used as one means of crop improvement, continuing advances in knowledge and technology have dramatically expanded the biotechnological tools available for genetic improvement and production of vegetables and fruits. The term biotechnology is broad, encompassing a wide range of disciplines in science. In this chapter, the focus will be on plant transformation, where genes are modified or transferred by molecular means, and the resulting improvements in fruit and vegetable quality. Because this chapter is focused on genetic engineering, we will be discussing only the parameters and mechanisms that affect nutritional quality and shelf life (other than pests and diseases), and which can be improved or modified by genetic engineering. The discussion will also be based on two important crops; potatoes and tomato.
