Production of Synthetic Seeds in Vegetable Crops: A Review

Abstract

Over the last few decades, biotechnology research has advanced to the point where it is now possible to improve essential agricultural crops. Synthetic seed manufacturing has opened up new possibilities of in vitro plant propagation technique since it has various practical benefits on a commercial scale for the cultivation of a wide range of agricultural crops. It is one of the most important tools for plant tissue culture breeders and scientists, since it provides significant benefits for massive production of distinct (elite) plant species. Synthetic seeds offer a promising strategy for mass plant production in a way of encapsulation of non-embryonic or embryonic (somatic embryos) tissues in a gel-like matrix, such as shoot buds, shoot tips, microshoots, protocoms and nodal segments. When the strategies minimize the cost of the production of elite plant genotypes, this strategy can be adapted for commercial production. The technology of the synthetic seed necessitates the use of in vitro growth systems in order to produce viable materials that can be converted into plants on a wide scale. The discovery of an artificial seed technology opens up new possibilities of a promising strategy for improving a wide range of commercially significant plant species, including cereals, fruit crops, medicinal plants, and vegetable crops, which we focus on in this review article.