**4. The use of -omics technologies to improve nutritional bioavailability**

Omics is a multidisciplinary study that refers to studies in applied biology that end with -omics, including but not limited to genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, phenomics, epigenomics, nutrigenomics, vaccinomics, metagenomics and various others. These studies are mainly conducted through the application of several high-throughput technologies that mainly encompass qualitative and/or quantitative detection of novel or known genes (nucleotides), mRNA transcripts or transcription factors, proteins, metabolites and other parameters through genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, respectively [87, 88].

The molecular data obtained through high-throughput technological applications are quite intense, comprehensive and may be complex in other instances. This could make the integration of omics data quite a challenging task if the experimental analyses were not designed to contribute to downstream data analyses. The integration of omics data would bring about a comprehensive overview of data on various biological variables, thereby allowing researchers to have a comprehensive manner in which they could study relationships among biological variables within a biological system. Thus, it would be possible for researchers to even predict the quantitative and qualitative effect an introduction or deduction that a selected element or compound could have in the gene network or pathway within a biological system. For example, it would be possible to predict what effect could high concentrations of Ca have on the phenotype or the production of a selected phenolic acid in a selected grain compartment (endosperm) [89]. The integration of these technologies would enable researchers to determine which gene region could be targeted to improve the levels of a desirable metabolite without affecting other biological systems. We would then be able to know what is the optimum level of fertilizer required to drive the translocation of minerals into the wheat grain, at which optimum growth stage, etc.

Biological systems are complex in that there are many biological variables that encompass biological processes, thus, making integrative analyses through omics approaches a major challenge due to several technological limits associated with analysing biological processes that entail a large number of variables [90]. Thus, there is still a great need for researchers to form consortiums aimed at integrating research efforts that contribute towards integrating the data obtained from the application of omics technologies to have an integrated biological system that will allow easier manipulation of data. Integrating multiple omics data is still a major challenge in that there are several computational issues associated with integrating a series of multilayer datasets [91, 92].

Phenomics involve the use of high-throughput non-invasive colour imaging, near infrared imaging, far infrared and fluorescence imaging technologies, which are capable of acquiring several physical traits such as the plant structure, phenology, soil water content, canopy/ leaf temperature, physiological state of the photosynthetic machinery as well as automated weighing and water efficiency usage measurement [93]. These technologies have the capability to provide solutions to genomics-enabled crop improvement through the high-throughput platforms that can be integrated with genomics-based platforms [93].
