Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), provides 20% of the total calories to humans across the globe and is a rich source of starch, dietary fiber, minerals, proteins and is consumed in varied forms such as chapati (Indian flat bread), bread, pasta, noodles, biscuits etc. Being a staple cereal, development of nutritionally enhanced wheat holds promising prospects of being sustainable solutions to combat the malnutrition.

Though various factors play a key role in causing hidden hunger, however confining daily calorie intake to limited range of food is one of its key determinants. To meet the challenges of feeding a hungry planet, our commitment to innovation has led to development of diverse range of wheat varieties, having not only high yields but also to the discerning tastes and specific requirements of targeted populations.

In addition to other long-term objectives, the objective of development of product-oriented wheat varieties by reorienting the research focus is the newest one. Plant breeding and molecular biology techniques have been used to develop nutritionally enriched staple grains. Enormous potential of grain protein content gene (GpcB1) in wheat has been targeted and strengthened breeding for nutritious wheat grain for providing nutrition to humans by utilizing wild progenitors.

The consumption of whole grain of wheat has been associated with health promoting roles owing to presence of spectrum of beneficial phytonutrients in it. Recently, concept of colored grains or pigmented grains has grabbed the attention of both researchers and end-users owing to their immense nutraceutical values.

Their genetics, biochemistry, quality, product development and consumer impact are being investigated so as to tailor this germplasm for biofortification of elite wheat cultivars and transforming the colored grain into commercial products in order to provide sustainable, targeted and cost effective nutritional and health benefits.

These pigments possess numerous health promoting roles such as owing to their anti-oxidative potential as they reduce the oxidative damage to biological membranes, aging and prevent several chronic diseases.

Further, phytic acid in cereals acts as a chelator of major micronutrients such as iron and zinc, thus lowering their bioavailability. Various promising genotypes having low phytic acid have been identified and characterized for use in wheat breeding programme to breed biofortifed wheat cultivars with higher micronutrient and reduced phytic acid concentration combined with enchanted abiotic stress tolerance which can potentially help in alleviating the hidden hunger under changing climatic conditions.