Plant breeding: a long-term strategy for the control of zinc deficiency in vulnerable populations

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 1998-08, Vol.68 (2S), p.488S-494S
• Main Authors: Ruel, M.T, Bouis, H.E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Amino acids; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Availability; Breeding; costs and returns; crops; cultivars; Developing countries; dietary mineral supplements; Dietary Supplements; Flowers & plants; food biotechnology; food composition; food intake; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Humans; intestinal absorption; LDCs; Medical sciences; micronutrient efficiency; mineral content; Nutritional survey. Food supply and nutritional requirement; phytic acid; Phytic Acid - analysis; plant breeding; Plants - chemistry; soil suitability; sulfur amino acids; Tropical medicine; varietal tolerance; Vegetative propagation. Micropropagation; Vegetative propagation. Sowing and planting. Harvesting; Zinc; Zinc - administration & dosage; Zinc - deficiency; Zinc - metabolism
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/68.2.488S

Because trace minerals are important not only for human nutrition but for plant nutrition as well, plant breeding holds great promise for making a significant, sustainable, low-cost contribution to the reduction of micronutrient deficiencies in humans. It may also have important spinoff effects for increasing farm productivity in developing countries in an environmentally beneficial way. This article describes ongoing plant breeding research that could increase the intake of bioavailable zinc from food staple crops in vulnerable populations in developing countries. The 3 most promising plant breeding strategies toward this goal are as follows: 1) increasing the concentration of zinc, 2) reducing the amount of phytic acid (a strong inhibitor of zinc absorption), and 3) raising the concentrations of sulfur-containing amino acids (thought to promote zinc absorption) in the plant. The agronomic advantages and disadvantages as well as the potential benefits and limitations of each approach for human nutrition are described. Research is currently underway to identify the optimal combination of these approaches that will maximize the effect on human zinc nutrition.