BIOFORTIFICATION

INTRODUCTION

 In the country like India and most part of the world like African
country the growing population is always a problem and it is
difficult to provide food with vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
 More than 840 million people in the world do not have adequate
food to meet their daily food and nutritional requirements. A far
greater number three billion people suffer from micronutrient,
protein and vitamin deficiencies or ‘hidden hunger’ because they
cannot afford to buy enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and
meat. Diets lacking essential micronutrients particularly iron,
vitamin A, iodine and zinc increase the risk for disease, reduce
lifespan and reduce mental abilities.
 Conventional plant breeding is not new it began hundreds of years ago. Farmers
have been altering the genetic makeup of the crops they grow for the past eight
to ten thousand year since the dawn of agriculture. Early farmers chose the best
looking plants and seeds and saved them for next year’s planting. As the science
of genetics became better understood, plant breeders were able to select
certain desirable traits in a plant to create improved varieties of plants.
 One such conventional process is BIOFORTIFICATION.
 BIOFORTIFICATION

 It its the process of production of crops with higher levels of

vitamins and minerals or higher proteins and healthier fats through
plant breeding.
 This kind of plant breeding consists of the development of
micronutrient-enhanced crop varieties through conventional
breeding.
 It is a cost-effective, feasible means of delivering micronutrients to
populations who may have limited access to diverse diets,
supplements, or commercially fortified foods.
 OBJECTIVE

 Breeding for improved nutritional quality is undertaken

with the objectives of improving
(i) Protein content and quality
(ii) Oil content and quality
(iii) Vitamin content
(iv) Micronutrient and mineral content.
 METHODS OF BIOFORTIFICATION

 Selective breeding:
Using this method, plant breeders search seeds for existing
varieties of crops which are naturally high in nutrients. They
then crossbreed these high-nutrient varieties with high-
yielding varieties of crops, to provide a seed with high
yields and increased nutritional value.
This method is prevalent at present, as it is less
controversial than genetically engineering crops.
 Genetic modification:
Agricultural biotechnology methods, and in specific genetic
engineering (GM), represent therefore a very valuable,
complementary strategy for the development of more nutritious
crops.
In this process genes are inserted into the plants to increase there
nutritional growth.
 EXAMPLES

 Examples of biofortification projects include:

i) Iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and
legumes.
ii) Zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato and maize.
iii) Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of sweet potato, maize
and cassava.
iv)Amino acid and protein-biofortification of sourghum and cassava.
 APPLICATIONS

Biofortification has several applications over food fortification. After the

initial investment to develop the biofortified seed, it can be replicated and
distributed without any reduction in the micronutrient concentration. This
makes it highly cost-effective and sustainable.

Biofortified crops are also often more resilient to pests, diseases, higher
temperatures and drought essential qualities as many countries become
increasingly susceptible to climate change. And, perhaps most importantly
for nutrition, biofortified crops reach the world’s poorest and most
vulnerable people.
 (i) enhanced uptake from soil
 (ii) increased transport of micronutrients to grains
 (iii) increased sequestration of minerals to endosperm rather than husk and
aleurone
 (iv) reduction in anti-nutritional factors in grains
 (v) increase in promoters of mineral bio-availability in grains.
 CONCLUSION

 It is well established that biofortification is a promising, cost-

effective, agricultural strategy for improving the nutritional status
of malnourished populations throughout the world. Biofortification
strategies based on crop breeding, targeted genetic manipulation,
and/or the application of mineral fertilizers hold great potential for
addressing mineral malnutrition in humans. The generation of
biofortified food crops with improved nutrient contents such as
increases in iron, zinc, Se, and provitamin A content are providing
sufficient levels of these and other such micronutrients that are
frequently lacking in the diets of the developing and developed
world.
 To achieve this, collaboration between plant breeders, nutrition scientists,
genetic engineers, and molecular biologists is essential.
 Biofortified crops hold a very bright future as these have the potential to remove
micronutrient malnutrition among billions of poor people, especially in the
developing countries.
THANK YOU