How Genetics and Environment Influence Food Chemistry: A Meta-Analysis of Cereal and Vegetable Crop Metabolomics and Implications to Human Nutrition and Health.

Understanding the influence of genetics and environment on food quality is an important component of global public health. Current efforts in biofortification and enrichment support the need to breed for healthier food. Several studies have evaluated variation in the type and quantity of nutrients and bioactives among cultivars, and have also evaluated the effects of environment on food quality. Here, four independent metabolomics experiments were performed that evaluated the effects of genotype and environment on food chemistry in both advanced breeding lines and released cultivars. Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics was performed on barley, wheat, potatoes and onions to evaluate chemical diversity in food. The analysis was conducted on both precursors and food products to estimate effects of food processing on nutrients and bioactives (i.e. wheat flour and bread, cooked and raw potato). Each study detected and quantified thousands of small molecules including vitamins, minerals, phenolics, alkaloids, lipids and others. Genotypic, environment, and/or processing effects on the food metabolome were observed in all four experiments, and several-fold variation was observed for most metabolites. Taken together, this meta-analysis of crop and food metabolomics estimates the potential influence of genetics and environment in most crop systems, and informs on the potential to biofortify and enrich food for human nutrition and health.