Biofortified Crops for Combating Hidden Hunger in South Africa: Availability, Acceptability, Micronutrient Retention and Bioavailability

Abstract

In many poorer parts of the world, biofortification is a strategy that increases the concentration of target nutrients in staple food crops, mainly by genetic manipulation, to alleviate prevalent nutrient deficiencies. We reviewed the (i) prevalence of vitamin A, iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) deficiencies; (ii) availability of vitamin A, iron and Zn biofortified crops, and their acceptability in South Africa. The incidence of vitamin A and iron deficiency among children below five years old is 43.6% and 11%, respectively, while the risk of Zn deficiency is 45.3% among children aged 1 to 9 years. Despite several strategies being implemented to address the problem, including supplementation and commercial fortification, the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies is still high. Biofortification has resulted in the large-scale availability of βcarotene-rich orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP), while provitamin A biofortified maize and Zn and/or iron biofortified common beans are at development stages. Agronomic biofortification is being investigated to enhance yields and concentrations of target nutrients in crops grown in agriculturally marginal environments. The consumer acceptability of OFSP and provitamin A biofortified maize were higher among children compared to adults. Accelerating the development of other biofortified staple crops to increase their availability, especially to the target population groups, is essential. Nutrition education should be integrated with community health programmes to improve the consumption of the biofortified crops, coupled with further research to develop suitable recipes/formulations for biofortified foods.

Factors Determining Consumer Acceptance of Biofortified Food: Case of Zinc-Fortified Wheat in Pakistan's Punjab Province

“…Furthermore, it shows that educated participants are more likely to accept Zn-biofortified wheat than less-educated respondents. Previous studies showed similar results and supported our study findings ( 14 , 53 – 56 ). For instance, Tumuhimbise et al in 2013 and Siwela and his colleagues in 2020 conducted studies.…”

“…Previous studies showed similar results and supported our study findings (14,(53)(54)(55)(56). For instance, Tumuhimbise et al in 2013 and Siwela and his colleagues in 2020 conducted studies.…”

“…According to a previous study, it found that 901.4 million population in Asia, 236.8 million in Africa, and 135.6 million in Latin America and the Caribbean people are under Zn deficiency risk ( 13 ). At the same time, 45% of children aged between 1 and 9 years old are under Zn risk in Africa ( 14 ). Moreover, Zn deficiency causes stunting among children ( 15 ) and deprived cognitive growth, which is alarming ( 16 , 17 ).…”

Mineral Biofortification of Vegetables as a Tool to Improve Human Diet

“…Among the different strategies to obtain biofortified vegetables there are agronomic and genetic approaches, the latter can be done either through conventional breeding or transgenic methods [ 27 , 28 ]. The objectives are to increase in the edible portion the minerals content or other specific health related compounds.…”

Breeding Progress for Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc Biofortification, Drought Tolerance, and Sweetpotato Virus Disease Resistance in Sweetpotato

“…To date, biofortified crops, namely, provitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP), iron beans, iron pearl millet, vitamin A yellow cassava, vitamin A orange maize, zinc rice, and zinc wheat, have been released in more than 30 countries and evaluation is underway and they are grown in more than 40 countries. Crop improvement targets varieties with higher levels of vitamins and minerals adapted to a wide range of agroecological conditions, and ensures that climate adapted germplasm and consumer-preferred traits are used in breeding biofortified crops (Siwela et al, 2020). Cultivated sweetpotato has great potential for enhancing the most essential vitamins and minerals because of the wide range of extant germplasm which can be bred for climate resilience and consumer preference.…”