Abstract
Macro and micronutrient deficiencies pose serious health challenges globally, with the largest impact in developing regions such as subSaharan Africa (SSA), Latin America and South Asia. Maize is a good source of calories but contains low concentrations of essential nutrients. Major limiting nutrients in maize-based diets are essential amino acids such as lysine and tryptophan, and micronutrients such as vitamin A, zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe). Responding to these challenges, separate maize biofortification programs have been designed worldwide, resulting in several cultivars with high levels of provitamin A, lysine, tryptophan, Zn and Fe being commercialized. This strategy of developing single-nutrient biofortified cultivars does not address the nutrient deficiency challenges in SSA in an integrated manner. Hence, development of maize with multinutritional attributes can be a sustainable and cost-effective strategy for addressing the problem of nutrient deficiencies in SSA. This review provides a synopsis of the health challenges associated with Zn, provitamin A and tryptophan deficiencies and link these to vulnerable societies; a synthesis of past and present intervention measures for addressing nutrient deficiencies in SSA; and a discussion on the possibility of developing maize with multinutritional quality attributes, but also with adaptation to stress conditions in SSA.
Highlights
IntroductionDeficiencies of essential macro and micronutrients in human diets pose serious health challenges worldwide [1,2], the impacts are greatest in developing countries [3,4]
Deficiencies of essential macro and micronutrients in human diets pose serious health challenges worldwide [1,2], the impacts are greatest in developing countries [3,4].Diets in developing regions such as subSaharan Africa (SSA) are characterized by insufficient quantities of multiple nutrients since the majority of people heavily depend on cereals such as maize and cassava [5,6]
Because of over-reliance on maize in SSA, diseases induced by nutrient deficiencies such as kwashiorkor and pellagra that are caused by lack of proteins and tryptophan, respectively [7]; night blindness as a result of lack of vitamin A [11]; and acute respiratory infections induced by Zn deficiency [12], are common
Summary
Deficiencies of essential macro and micronutrients in human diets pose serious health challenges worldwide [1,2], the impacts are greatest in developing countries [3,4]. Through conventional and molecular-based breeding techniques, several biofortified maize cultivars have been commercialized in SSA [18], but biofortification was designed solely for specific limiting nutrients, either Zn, provitamin A or lysine or tryptophan [7,19,20] These cultivars, cannot fully meet the challenges on the ground, because the macro and micronutrient deficiencies in SSA are complex and cannot be addressed by one nutrient; and maize production in this region is done by small-scale farmers who rarely diversify cultivars with different nutritional attributes; growing a provitamin A cultivar does not help the farmers to address Zn or lysine and tryptophan deficiencies.
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