Carotenoids are isoprenoid compounds synthesized by all photosynthetic organisms and several heterotrophic microorganisms. In plants, carotenoids play key roles as photosynthetic pigments and structural components of the photosynthetic apparatus, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers, and mediators of plant–animal interactions. Moreover, they are the precursors of bioactive apocarotenoids, such as β-cyclocitral (β-cc), zaxinone (Zax), and β-apo-11-carotenoids, and the plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and strigolactones (SLs; Fig. 1a), which regulate plant growth, development, stress response, and biotic interactions (Ramel et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2019; Moreno et al., 2021b; Jia et al., 2022). In mammals, carotenoids act as vitamin A precursors and antioxidants, which make them essential components of the human diet. In fact, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is still a severe global health problem and a major reason for blindness and childhood mortality (Olson, 1996; Giuliano et al., 2003; Zheng et al., 2020). Therefore, enhancing carotenoid content, in particular provitamin A carotenoids, has been one of the preferred targets of plant genetic engineering, resulting in biofortified cereals, fruits, and tubers, including rice, tomato, and potato. However, the continuous increase in food demand of the growing world population, accompanied by climate change that negatively impacts agricultural production, makes it necessary to develop novel strategies for simultaneous improvement of stress tolerance, yield, and nutritional value of crops. Here, we briefly discuss how genetic engineering of LYCOPENE β-CYCLASE (LCYB) can be a promising strategy for crop improvement beyond carotenoid biofortification.