Genetics of bulb colour variation and flavonoids in onion

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops due to its diverse culinary and health promoting properties. It is a rich source of dietary phytochemicals such as flavonoids and other antioxidants which enhance the medicinal importance of onion. Onion bulb colour is one of the important quality characters actively targeted in breeding programmes. Onion bulbs with red, white, yellow, golden, pink, chartreuse, etc. colour are available and this variation is due to the mutations in structural and regulatory genes of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. The genetics of bulb colour variation is very complex and involves multiple genes and their interactions. Further, these flavonoid compounds and their derivatives play diverse roles in plant development and stress tolerance in plants. Here, we review the biosynthesis of flavonoids, genetics and multiple alleles of genes for onion bulb colour, metabolic engineering, flavonoid in biotic and abiotic stress response and effect of cultural and storage practices on onion flavonoids.