As the demand for herbal medicines is increasing globally, the supply of medicinal plants is declining because most of this harvest is derived from wild and naturally growing resources. The genetic improvement of medicinal plants to produce higher yields and more active ingredients might help fulfil the increasing demand for medicinal plants. Medicinal plants are one of the most important sources of life-saving drugs for the world’s population. Increasing global demand for herbal medicines is accompanied by a dwindling supply of medicinal plants due to over-harvesting. Biotechnological interventions play a significant role in the improvement of crop yields and quality. Despite such progress in plant molecular biology, only limited biotechnology application has been seen in medicinal plants. Recent breakthroughs in high-throughput approaches have revolutionized this research area and shifted the focus towards omics approaches, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. This book discusses these technologies. Currently, there is no existing publication that focuses on omics and medicinal plants.

The book contains aspects of production, genetics and breeding of Capsicum species with emphasis on fruit quality, yield and its nutritional characteristics among with some specific chapters focusing on breeding and physiological features of potted ornamental Chili and responses to abiotic stress and postharvest of fruits.

Plant breeding has undergone a period of very rapid and significant development in recent years and the area of fruit breeding is no exception. This book provides a balanced, up-to-date and comprehensive account of the developments in the field of breeding tropical and subtropical fruits. It offers not only the theoretical and applied aspects of breedings fruits but also provides an authoritative manual of the conventional and new techniques used for increasing efficiency of crop improvement programmes. In specific chapters the book deals with crop taxonomy, genetic resources, floral biology, breeding objectives, inheritance patterns and information on new improved cultivars/hybrids.