Figure 1
A range of pigments, including anthocyanins and carotenoids, confer numerous health benefits to the consumer.
Fruit pigmentation is part of the programmed development that culminates in ripening. This orchestrated process is largely driven by phytohormones and mediated via transcription factors (TFs) (Allan & Espley 2018; Kumar, Khurana & Sharma 2013). This process, however, can be strongly influenced by environmental conditions such as light intensity and spectral quality as well as temperature. Knowledge of how the environment affects fruit colour will become increasingly important under changing climatic conditions globally. Increases in solar radiation and temperature as well as less predictable rainfall and a higher incidence of drought are predicted to affect crops (Challinoret al. 2014; Lobell & Gourdji 2012). Climate change is expected to require the breeding of new varieties adapted to different conditions to tackle the potential issues of compromised plant health, flowering, fruit set and fruit development.
Colours in fruit not only protect the fruit itself, but also have implications for human health. As such, they have been recognised as an integral component of a healthy diet (Martin & Li 2017). In fact, rather than simply maintain the amounts of these pigmented phytochemicals, many consider that they should be enhanced to promote greater potential health benefits (D’Amelia et al. 2018; Poiroux-Gonord et al. 2010).