Metabolomics: current application and prospects in crop production

Necessary steps need to be taken in order to cushion the effects of hunger, famine, and drought in the world. To ameliorate these challenges, biotechnological innovations like meta-omics techniques have been employed in crop improvement programs. Metabolomics is a viable technology to fully detect the functional network of metabolites with far-reaching biological uses in agriculture, medicine, and pharmaceutical disciplines. This review is grouped into four sections discussing 1) plant and microbial metabolomics, 2) metabolomics and its application in crop production, 3) metabolomics workflow and techniques explaining the analytical techniques and instrumentation with merits and demerits, and 4) metabolomic analysis of metabolites in a metabolic network. This technology has been applied in plant-microbe interaction, biological control measures, and abiotic stress tolerance, where various crops like maize, sunflower, soybean, and wheat have been used. In view of all these, further, development is needed to increase our understanding of microbial metabolites in order to develop bioproducts that will increase growth and eventual yield, protecting plants from pathogens and in the process providing nutritious food for the teeming populace. Although metabolomics can be applied to a wide range of scientific areas, we focus this review on plant improvement, which is a driver for improved food security.