Folate biofortification in food plants

Folate deficiency is a global health problem affecting many people in the developing and developed world. Current interventions (industrial food fortification and supplementation by folic acid pills) are effective if they can be used but might not be possible in less developed countries. Recent adva...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in plant science 2008, Vol.13 (1), p.28-35
Main Authors: Bekaert, Samir, Storozhenko, Sergei, Mehrshahi, Payam, Bennett, Malcolm J., Lambert, Willy, Gregory, Jesse F., Schubert, Karel, Hugenholtz, Jeroen, Van Der Straeten, Dominique, Hanson, Andrew D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Biotechnology
Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases - genetics
Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases - metabolism
folic acid
Folic Acid - biosynthesis
food fortification
food plants
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic engineering
Genetic technics
GTP Cyclohydrolase - genetics
GTP Cyclohydrolase - metabolism
literature reviews
metabolic engineering
Methods. Procedures. Technologies
Models, Biological
nutrient availability
plant biochemistry
Plants, Edible - enzymology
Plants, Edible - genetics
Plants, Edible - metabolism
Plants, Genetically Modified
Transaminases
Transgenic animals and transgenic plants
Transgenic plants
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Folate deficiency is a global health problem affecting many people in the developing and developed world. Current interventions (industrial food fortification and supplementation by folic acid pills) are effective if they can be used but might not be possible in less developed countries. Recent advances demonstrate that folate biofortification of food crops is now a feasible complementary strategy to fight folate deficiency worldwide. The genes and enzymes of folate synthesis are sufficiently understood to enable metabolic engineering of the pathway, and results from pilot engineering studies in plants (and bacteria) are encouraging. Here, we review the current status of investigations in the field of folate enhancement on the eve of a new era in food fortification.
ISSN:1360-1385
1878-4372
DOI:10.1016/j.tplants.2007.11.001