Micronutrient malnutrition, commonly referred to as hidden hunger, affects billions of people worldwide and poses serious public health challenges, particularly in developing countries. Horticultural crops such as fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and dietary fiber, making them essential components of human nutrition. Biofortification has emerged as a sustainable strategy to enhance the nutritional quality of crops by increasing the concentration and bioavailability of essential nutrients in edible plant parts. This review highlights recent advances in biofortification approaches applied to horticultural crops, including conventional breeding, agronomic biofortification, genetic engineering, and modern genome-editing technologies. The article also discusses the role of soil and nutrient management, microbial interventions, and precision agriculture tools in enhancing nutrient uptake and accumulation. Challenges associated with adoption, regulatory concerns, and consumer acceptance are examined along with future prospects for integrating biofortification with climate-smart horticulture. Biofortification of horticultural crops holds significant potential to improve global nutrition while supporting sustainable agricultural production systems.
