Biofortification: The Nutrition Revolution Is Now

Hidden hunger-

Hidden hunger is a chronic lack of vitamins and minerals that often has no visible warning signs, so that people who suffer from it may not even be aware of it. The chronic lack of micronutrients can cause severe but often invisible health problems, especially among women and young children. Its consequences are nevertheless disastrous: hidden hunger can lead to mental impairment, poor health and productivity, or even death.

“Hidden hunger has no better friend than poverty."

Nutrient deficiencies pertain mainly to proteins and micronutrients like vitamin A, iron, zinc, selenium and iodine. Conventional strategies to combat nutrient deficiencies include dietary supplements and food fortification programs. These programs, however, present several problems: the target populations are often not reached (especially in poor rural populations in developing countries); they are often not sustainable over time; and they address mostly the symptoms rather than the underlying cause of the problem.

Biofortification: The Nutrition Revolution Is Now

Biofortification – breeding crops with higher levels of vitamins and minerals, or higher protein and healthier fats – is the most practical means to improve public health. Biofortification is a upcoming, promising, sustainable, feasible and cost-effective means of delivering micronutrients to populations that may have limited access to diverse diets and other micronutrient interventions. “Biofortification” or “biological fortification” refers to nutritionally enhanced food crops with increased bioavailability to the human population that are developed and grown using modern biotechnology techniques, conventional plant breeding, and agronomic practices.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; and

(iv) Micronutrient and mineral content.

Examples of biofortificatione:

1. Iron-biofortification of rice, beans, sweet potato, cassava and legumes
2. Zinc-biofortification of wheat, rice, beans, sweet potato and maize
3. Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of sweet potato, maize and cassava  
4. Amino acid and protein-biofortification of sourghum.

              Biofortified crops are often assumed to be transgenic or genetically modified crops. While the thrust of biofortification activities through international projects focused on the production of nutritionally enhanced crops through conventional breeding, increasingly, more efforts are using genetic modification to add value to staple and non-staple crops.

On basis of the above content, try to answer the following:

Q.1- What is the difference between food fortification and food supplementation?

Q.2- Can biofortification play a leading role in resolving the issues of hidden hunger?

Q.3- How can we define hidden hunger?

Q.4- What are the major objectives of biofortification?

Q.5- Give some examples of biofortified crops?

THANK YOU, for reading and now it's your turn to tell me, about this article.