Is Nano-Biofortification the Right Approach for Malnutrition in the Era of COVID-19 and Climate change?

Abstract

H UMAN health may depend on the environment and its compartments, which may include climatic factors. These climatic factors and their changes might impact on human health particularly the outbreak of pandemics like COVID-19. The combined stress resulted from climate changes and COVID-19 could be noticed in several countries especially in the developing countries. Malnutrition is considered one of the most important problems in the developing countries in particular under the droughts, flooding, and other climatic events. Malnutrition was aggravated under COVID-19 outbreak in these countries due to the closure of borders between countries, the crisis of global trade, and the global food insecurity. The biofortification process is the sustainable solution to overcome malnutrition, which included very recently using nano-nutrients as called nano-biofortification. The approach of nanobiofortification is a promising tool in producing biofortified edible plants, otherwise this tool still needs more studies to answer the open questions like which nano-nutrients can be used in nano-biofortification? Which recommended doses and crops are considered suitable candidates?

Fighting Obesity-Related Micronutrient Deficiencies through Biofortification of Agri-Food Crops with Sustainable Fertilization Practices

“…Finally, the last approach used to improve the nutritional profile of plant-based foods is through biofortification. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology" [104,107,108]. Biofortified crops have a higher content of macro and micronutrients in the edible parts of plants; they also ensure nutrient bioavailability to satisfy the daily nutrient demand [19,23,24,31,81,102].…”

“…Biofortified crops have a higher content of macro and micronutrients in the edible parts of plants; they also ensure nutrient bioavailability to satisfy the daily nutrient demand [19,23,24,31,81,102]. Biofortification is considered a sustainable strategy intended to reach both the poor population and high-income people capable of addressing malnutrition and reducing micronutrient deficiencies in humans, especially since it represents an attractive approach to reducing nutrient inadequacies associated with obesity [19,22,23,31,107].…”

“…Nanoparticles have a size between 1 and 100 nm, which gives them unique physicochemical properties with many advantages over their bulk macrostructures or ionic analogs, including a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio, electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, enhanced reactivity, and special functionalization properties, improving the plant nutrient assimilation, transport, and use [19,21,108,131,141,142]. The small size of NPs enables their passage through biological barriers, easily diffusing into the vascular system of plants after soil or foliar application [107,108]. Several studies have revealed that nanoscale micronutrients used as nanofertilizers present an increased plant nutrition and improved plant resistance against environmental stress, having a superior efficacy in comparison with conventional micronutrient fertilizers.…”

“…Nanomaterials applied in agriculture increase the effectiveness of traditional products by between 20 and 30%; they have a higher absorption rate, utilization efficiency, and faster nutrient release. In addition, nanomaterials reduce the toxicity to the soil by increasing the nutrient availability, reducing chemical doses, and minimizing the adverse effects of overdosing [19,21,22,107,108,[141][142][143].…”

“…It has been proven that plant nutrients can be enriched by applying nanoparticles [19,21]. Through nanofertilization, it is possible to increase the bioavailable mineral nutrient content in edible portions of food crops; metal-or metal-oxide-NPs can be employed to produce biofortified food crops to reduce obesity-related nutritional deficiencies [22,23,107]. Velázquez-Gamboa et al [144] evaluated the biofortification of Stevia rebaudiana plants via nanofertilization with ZnO phytonanoparticles.…”