**Abstract**

The most dominant vegetables in the global food economy are tomato, cucurbits, (pumpkin, squash, cucumber and gherkin), allium (onion, shallot, garlic) and chili. These vegetables are consumed in nearly all countries although with much variation in shape, size, color and taste, while the marketing of global vegetables accounts for significant revenue streams, traditional vegetables often have superior nutritional properties. Biodiversity is considered essential for food security and nutrition and can contribute to the achievement through improved dietary choices and positive health impacts Through conventional breeding approach, it is possible to develop new vegetable varieties or integrate the favorable genes for neutraceuticals, bioactive compounds and edible color into cultivated varieties. Advances in molecular biology and recombinant technology have paved the way for enhancing the pace of special trait variety development using marker assisted breeding and designing new vegetable crop plants following transgenic approach.

**Keywords:** biodiversity, neutraceuticals, conventional breeding, MAS, transgeneics
