Abstract
Globally, many developing countries are facing silent epidemics of nutritional deficiencies in human beings and animals. The lack of diversity in diet, i.e., cereal-based crops deficient in mineral nutrients is an additional threat to nutritional quality. The present review accounts for the significance of biofortification as a process to enhance the productivity of crops and also an agricultural solution to address the issues of nutritional security. In this endeavor, different innovative and specific biofortification approaches have been discussed for nutrient enrichment of field crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds and fodder crops. The agronomic approach increases the micronutrient density in crops with soil and foliar application of fertilizers including amendments. The biofortification through conventional breeding approach includes the selection of efficient genotypes, practicing crossing of plants with desirable nutritional traits without sacrificing agricultural and economic productivity. However, the transgenic/biotechnological approach involves the synthesis of transgenes for micronutrient re-translocation between tissues to enhance their bioavailability. Soil microorganisms enhance nutrient content in the rhizosphere through diverse mechanisms such as synthesis, mobilization, transformations and siderophore production which accumulate more minerals in plants. Different sources of micronutrients viz. mineral solutions, chelates and nanoparticles play a pivotal role in the process of biofortification as it regulates the absorption rates and mechanisms in plants. Apart from the quality parameters, biofortification also improved the crop yield to alleviate hidden hunger thus proving to be a sustainable and cost-effective approach. Thus, this review article conveys a message for researchers about the adequate potential of biofortification to increase crop productivity and nourish the crop with additional nutrient content to provide food security and nutritional quality to humans and livestock.
Highlights
The global threat to nutritional security, due to the growing population, addresses the need to implement feasible and cost-effective strategies in the global food system
The essentiality of micronutrients has been recognized for humans and livestock, where micronutrient deficiency may lead to adverse health consequences
The high reliance of human population on cereal-based intakes is the primary cause for micronutrient deficiency in developing and underdeveloped countries
Summary
The global threat to nutritional security, due to the growing population, addresses the need to implement feasible and cost-effective strategies in the global food system. Agronomic biofortification refers to the application of micronutrient fertilizers through soil application, foliar feeding or seed treatment to enrich the edible part of field crops with micronutrients [10] Numerous management approaches such as the selection of suitable crops and cropping systems, application of lime, elemental sulfur and other organic amendments have been practiced to improve the soil conditions that enhance the micronutrient bio-availability for plant uptake. Górniak et al [11] reported the studies in the field of biofortification of edible plants with selenium and iodine Another factor that contributes towards the nutrient intake in the human body is whether the food consumed supplies micronutrient form in bioavailable form. The present review summarizes the research progress on micronutrient biofortification of staple crops for nutritional security, followed by the different approaches and factors affecting the nutrient status including source and mode of mineral fertilization. We propose to harness the full potential of biofortification through recent strategies such as nanotechnology or green technology
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