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Abstract

Abstract Horticultural crops mainly include fruits, vegetables, ornamental trees and flowers, and tea trees. They deliver a variety of nutrients for the daily human diet in addition to the nutrition provided by staple crops, and some of them additionally possess ornamental and medicinal features. As such, horticultural crops make unique and important contributions to both food security and a colorful lifestyle. Under the current climate change scenario, growing population and limited arable land means that agriculture, and especially horticulture, has been facing unprecedented challenges to meet the diverse demands of human daily life. Breeding horticultural crops with high quality and adaptability, and establishing an effective system that combines cultivation, post-harvest handling and sales becomes increasingly imperative for horticultural production. This review introduces characteristic and recent research highlights in horticultural crops, focusing on the breeding of quality traits and the mechanisms that underpin them. It additionally addresses challenges and potential solutions in horticultural production and post-harvest practices. Finally, we provide a prospective as to how emerging technologies can be implemented alongside interdisciplinary basic research to enhance our understanding and exploitation of horticultural crops.