Global trends in functional agriculture: a mini-review

<p indent="0mm">As the global population increases, the desire for a higher quality of life is becoming more common, and agricultural production methods are transforming and undergoing new challenges. Functional agriculture, which focuses on the “nutrition and functionality” of agricultural products, is gradually gaining scientific attention in China and worldwide. Although the concept of functional agriculture was introduced only <sc>16 years</sc> ago, in 2008, studies on functional micronutrients have a worldwide history of over a century. The present study found that reports regarding functional agriculture are steadily increasing domestically and internationally. Moreover, international studies mainly focus on the precise regulation and processing of functional foods, whereas domestic studies focus on the assessment of soil functional components and technologies for processing and encapsulating functional foods. This review provides crucial insights into the current research landscape, identifies existing gaps, and highlights future research topics in functional agriculture.