ABSTRACT
Apple is an extremely cherished fruit in various temperate regions across world, and is currently grown vigorously with total world production over 71 million tonnes. Apple is the fourth most significant economical crop following citrus, banana, and grapes. Apart from its consumption as fruit, apple can be processed into diverse products like juice, vinegar, juice, and cider. More than 7,500 cultivars of apple have been discovered across various countries. But due to disease susceptibility and inappropriate quality only few cultivars have market acceptability. This review summarizes biology, production, fruit quality and advancement in biotechnological interventions from classical genetics to more advanced molecular tools in extrication of genetic characterization, development of improved fruit quality as well as development of resistant varieties of apples. Currently, the efforts are directed towards development of apple varieties with tailored traits including fruit quality and nutritional aspects. The review concludes with endnote on prospect guidelines summarizing scope of genetic engineering and advance of transgenic in improving apple quality and productivity globally.
