Micronutrient Dynamics in Purple Cauliflower: Physiological Roles, Molecular Regulation, Anthocyanin Accumulation and Future Perspectives - A Critical Review

Abstract

Purple cauliflower has emerged as a high-value functional vegetable owing to its elevated anthocyanin accumulation, distinct visual appeal and superior antioxidant activity. Mineral nutrition, particularly micronutrients, governs crucial physiological pathways, photosynthetic activity, enzymatic cofactors and structural wall synthesis required for optimal curd formation and secondary metabolite production. Deficiencies in essential micronutrients like boron, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, molybdenum, chlorine and nickel impair vegetative growth, delay curd initiation, induce physiological disorders and severely diminish anthocyanin concentration. Recent progress in functional genomics, transport biology and multi-omics has illuminated the complex molecular networks that dictate micronutrient uptake, cellular homeostasis and metabolic crosstalk. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of micronutrient dynamics in purple cauliflower. It presents a systematic literature search methodology, details transporter systems (e.g., ZIP, BOR1/BOR4, NRAMP, IRT1, MOT1) and transcriptional networks and delineates the regulatory influence of micronutrients on structural genes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway (PAL, CHS, CHI, F3H, DFR, ANS, UFGT). Furthermore, advanced biofortification models, nano-fertilizer integration, CRISPR/Cas gene editing, AI-assisted precision nutrition and multi-omics frameworks are critically evaluated to establish future strategies for climate-resilient and nutrient-dense crop production.