Can Biofortified Crops Help Attain Food Security?

Malnutrition, or “hidden hunger,” continues to linger throughout the developing world. This is partially the result of a lack of access to a diversified diet. A burgeoning human population and the advent of climate change have resulted in the forecast of increases in food insecurity for at risk populations. The following report describes the use of agricultural biotechnology to generate crops which are biofortified with vitamins and minerals. Crops designed through biotechnology that possess additional health benefits such as preventing the onset of non-communicable diseases including hypertension and cancer are also presented. Examples of several biofortified and nutritionally enhanced crops are provided. The report ends with a discussion of the state of these technologies in the world today and their prospects for improving global food security.

[1]  M. Haskell.  The challenge to reach nutritional adequacy for vitamin A: β-carotene bioavailability and conversion--evidence in humans. , 2012, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[2]  R. Russell,et al.  Yellow maize with high β-carotene is an effective source of vitamin A in healthy Zimbabwean men. , 2011, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[3]  F. Witlox,et al.  Application of GM crops in Sub-Saharan Africa: lessons learned from Green Revolution. , 2011, Biotechnology advances.

[4]  G. Giovinazzo,et al.  Over-expression of a grape stilbene synthase gene in tomato induces parthenocarpy and causes abnormal pollen development. , 2011, Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB.

[5]  K. Kraemer,et al.  Bioavailability of iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin A from fortified maize , 2014, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[6]  N. L. Innes.  Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2005. ISAAA Briefs No. 34. By C. James. Ithaca, NY, USA: ISAAA (2005), pp. 46, US$50.00. ISBN 1-892456-38-9 , 2006, Experimental Agriculture.

[7]  M. McGloughlin.  Modifying agricultural crops for improved nutrition. , 2010, New biotechnology.

[8]  Caterina D’Ambrosio,et al.  Food from Genetically Engineered Plants , 2016 .

[9]  Ingo Potrykus,et al.  Regulation must be revolutionized , 2010, Nature.

[10]  G. Giovinazzo,et al.  Antioxidant metabolite profiles in tomato fruit constitutively expressing the grapevine stilbene synthase gene. , 2004, Plant biotechnology journal.

[11]  T. Tschaplinski,et al.  Transgenic American chestnuts show enhanced blight resistance and transmit the trait to T1 progeny. , 2014, Plant science : an international journal of experimental plant biology.

[12]  R. Twyman,et al.  Nutritionally enhanced crops and food security: scientific achievements versus political expediency. , 2011, Current opinion in biotechnology.

[13]  Michael A Grusak,et al.  Golden Rice is an effective source of vitamin A. , 2009, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[14]  Kang Zhang,et al.  Targeted mutagenesis in Zea mays using TALENs and the CRISPR/Cas system. , 2014, Journal of genetics and genomics = Yi chuan xue bao.

[15]  E. Hinchliffe,et al.  Improving the nutritional value of Golden Rice through increased pro-vitamin A content , 2005, Nature Biotechnology.

[16]  P. Beyer,et al.  Golden Rice and 'Golden' crops for human nutrition. , 2010, New biotechnology.

[17]  T. Rocheford,et al.  Vitamin A equivalence of the ß-carotene in ß-carotene-biofortified maize porridge consumed by women. , 2010, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[18]  K. Pillay,et al.  Provitamin A carotenoids in biofortified maize and their retention during processing and preparation of South African maize foods , 2014, Journal of Food Science and Technology.

[19]  J. Napier,et al.  Enhancing the accumulation of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana via iterative metabolic engineering and genetic crossing , 2012, Transgenic Research.

[20]  Fabiana F De Moura,et al.  Carotenoid retention of biofortified provitamin A maize (Zea mays L.) after Zambian traditional methods of milling, cooking and storage. , 2014, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[21]  Yong-guan Zhu,et al.  Selecting iodine-enriched vegetables and the residual effect of iodate application to soil , 2004, Biological Trace Element Research.

[22]  R. Hall,et al.  Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factors , 2008, Nature Biotechnology.

[23]  J. Napier,et al.  The modification of plant oil composition via metabolic engineering--better nutrition by design. , 2013, Plant biotechnology journal.

[24]  J. Napier,et al.  Successful high-level accumulation of fish oil omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in a transgenic oilseed crop , 2013, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[25]  G. Giovinazzo,et al.  Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of tomato fruits synthesizing different amounts of stilbenes. , 2009, Plant biotechnology journal.

[26]  M. Blair,et al.  Iron, zinc, and protein bioavailability proxy measures of meals prepared with nutritionally enhanced beans and maize. , 2009, Journal of food science.

[27]  E. Alós,et al.  Manipulation of Carotenoid Content in Plants to Improve Human Health. , 2016, Sub-cellular biochemistry.

[28]  M. Schmidt,et al.  Modern Breeding and Biotechnological Approaches to Enhance Carotenoid Accumulation in Seeds. , 2016, Sub-cellular biochemistry.

[29]  P. Trivedi,et al.  Co-expression of Arabidopsis transcription factor, AtMYB12, and soybean isoflavone synthase, GmIFS1, genes in tobacco leads to enhanced biosynthesis of isoflavones and flavonols resulting in osteoprotective activity. , 2014, Plant biotechnology journal.

[30]  P. Perata,et al.  Purple as a Tomato: towards High Anthocyanin Tomatoes Update , 2022 .

[31]  Ingo Potrykus,et al.  Lessons from the 'Humanitarian Golden Rice' project: regulation prevents development of public good genetically engineered crop products. , 2010, New biotechnology.

[32]  M. Wenger,et al.  Are biofortified staple food crops improving vitamin A and iron status in women and children? New evidence from efficacy trials. , 2014, Advances in nutrition.

[33]  Fabiana F De Moura,et al.  Retention of Provitamin A Carotenoids in Staple Crops Targeted for Biofortification in Africa: Cassava, Maize and Sweet Potato , 2015, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition.

[34]  W. Gruissem,et al.  The BioCassava plus program: biofortification of cassava for sub-Saharan Africa. , 2011, Annual review of plant biology.

[35]  J. Napier,et al.  Metabolic engineering of the omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthetic pathway into transgenic plants. , 2012, Journal of experimental botany.

[36]  Michael A Grusak,et al.  β-Carotene in Golden Rice is as good as β-carotene in oil at providing vitamin A to children. , 2012, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[37]  Clive James,et al.  ISAAA Briefs brief 41 Global status of Commercialized biotech/GM Crops: 2009 , 2009 .

[38]  Jai K Das,et al.  Meeting the challenges of micronutrient malnutrition in the developing world. , 2013, British medical bulletin.

[39]  M. Rayman,et al.  Food-chain selenium and human health: spotlight on speciation , 2008, British Journal of Nutrition.

[40]  P. Beyer,et al.  Golden Rice--five years on the road--five years to go? , 2005, Trends in plant science.

[41]  S. A. Wilson,et al.  Metabolic engineering approaches for production of biochemicals in food and medicinal plants. , 2014, Current opinion in biotechnology.

[42]  P. Trivedi,et al.  Genetically engineered flavonol enriched tomato fruit modulates chondrogenesis to increase bone length in growing animals , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[43]  Chao Bai,et al.  The contribution of transgenic plants to better health through improved nutrition: opportunities and constraints , 2012, Genes & Nutrition.

[44]  G. Gilani,et al.  Impact of foods nutritionally enhanced through biotechnology in alleviating malnutrition in developing countries. , 2007, Journal of AOAC International.

[45]  H. Steur,et al.  Status and market potential of transgenic biofortified crops , 2015, Nature Biotechnology.