Agronomic Biofortification with Se, Zn, and Fe: An Effective Strategy to Enhance Crop Nutritional Quality and Stress Defense—A Review

Abstract

Human micronutrient deficiencies are a widespread problem worldwide and mainly concern people whose diet (mainly of plant origin) consists of insufficient amounts of critical vitamins and minerals. Low levels of micronutrients in plants are linked to, i.e., their decreasing concentration in soils and/or low bioavailability and presence of abiotic stresses which disturb the proper growth and development of plants. Agronomic biofortification of crops is a very promising way to improve the concentration of micronutrients in edible parts of crops without compromising yield and is recognized as the cheapest strategy to alleviate hidden hunger worldwide. The review is focused on the factors influencing the effectiveness of biofortified crops (a type of application, form, and a dose of applied microelement, biofertilizers, and nanofertilizers). Also, the accumulation of zinc, selenium, and iron in edible parts of crops, their effects on metabolism, morphological and yield parameters, and an impact on plants’ defense mechanisms against abiotic stress like salt, high/low temperature, heavy metal, and drought was discussed. Finally, the directions of future agronomic biofortification studies are proposed.

Mechanisms underlying cereal/legume intercropping as nature-based biofortification: A review

“…Biofortification, supplementation, and fortification of crops are successful ways to combat hidden hunger worldwide (Bouis and Welch, 2010;Taylor and Kini, 2012). Among those techniques, biofortification offers a rural-based intervention and complements fortification and supplementation programs (Bouis and Welch Ebbisa Food Production, Processing and Nutrition (2022) 4:19 2010; Szerement et al 2021). However, the effectiveness of the biofortification program relies on the farmer's and consumers' acceptance, and future policy interventions (Singh et al 2016), and its overall success remains limited in developing countries.…”

“…In response to those challenges, intercropping is one of the feasible, cost-effective, and sustainable approaches to alleviating micronutrient deficiency of plants in smallholder farmers (Gunes et al 2007;Singh et al 2016;Szerement et al 2021). Sustainable food security not only requires full access to sufficient and nutritious food at all times by all people, but also the produced food should be with minimal environmental impact, sustainable agriculture, and balancing the agroecology (Maitra and Ray 2019).…”

“…There have been several recent reviews on the strategies for the biofortification of crops (Augustine and Kalyanasundaram 2020;Galić et al 2021;Sharma et al 2020;Szerement et al 2021). Understanding the mechanism and processes linking intercropping with the biofortification concept is crucial for creating advanced breeding and agronomic practice for further use of intercropping, yet there were a few studies available in these areas.…”

Plant Nutrition for Human Health: A Pictorial Review on Plant Bioactive Compounds for Sustainable Agriculture

“…These reasons may include the genetics of plant species with low content of certain mineral elements, differences between crops in their mineral phytoavailability (such as for Cu, Fe, and Zn in alkaline or calcareous soils), and plant anatomy, including restricted phloem mobility of elements in edible portions such as seeds, fruits, and tubers at low concentrations [45]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to produce edible plants with sufficient and proper nutrients for human nutrition, which could be achieved using many strategies, especially biofortification approaches [139]. The application of nutrients to cultivated plants is called biofortification, which can be achieved by agronomic and genetic biofortification and nanobiofortification (Figure 12).…”

Agronomic Biofortification of Zinc in Rice for Diminishing Malnutrition in South Asia

“…Although improved cultivars are available, grain Zn concentration depends on environmental factors such as temperature, soil type, soil pH, and availability of micronutrients in the soil [57,58]. Hence, agronomic biofortification is necessary to attain the desired results, and it is the cheapest method to reduce Zn deficiency in humans [59]. Agronomic biofortification is the process of enriching micronutrients in edible portions of the crops through fertilizer application and crop management practices.…”