The development and release of maize fortified with provitamin A carotenoids in developing countries

Abstract

Micronutrient deficiencies have been identified as major public health problems affecting a large part of the world's population. Biofortification of staple crops like maize has been proposed as one of the most cost effective and feasible approaches to combat micronutrient deficiencies. Studies have shown that provitamin A from biofortified crops is highly bioavailable and has the capacity to improve vitamin A status of vulnerable groups. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa subsist on maize and many people may benefit from consumption of provitamin A carotenoid biofortified maize, especially women and children. With the exception of transgenic golden rice, biofortified crops have received considerable acceptance by most communities. Negative perceptions associated with yellow maize do not affect orange maize, which is, for example, well-liked in rural Zambia. With proper policy frameworks and full commercialization, provitamin A maize can address the problem of vitamin A deficiencies among poor nations with maize-based diets.

A review of micronutrient deficiencies and analysis of maize contribution to nutrient requirements of women and children in Eastern and Southern Africa

“…PVAM is an orange maize product of breeding maize with a high provitamin A content and is one of the successfully introduced product to combat VAD in Africa. Studies have shown that provitamin A from biofortified crops is highly bioavailable and has the capacity to improve vitamin A status of vulnerable groups, especially women and children (Manjeru et al 2017). In Zambia, it was demonstrated that after 3 months of consumption of biofortified orange maize, the total body reserves of vitamin A (measured by the paired 13 C-retinol isotope dilution test) in 5-7-year-old children increased significantly compared with those in the control group.…”

“…Micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) have been identified as major public health problems affecting a large part of the world's population (Manjeru, Van Biljon, and Labuschagne 2017). They are widespread globally, with pregnant women and their children under 5 years at the highest risk (Bailey, West, and Black 2015).…”

Variability of carotenoids in a Musa germplasm collection and implications for provitamin A biofortification

“…Conventional cross breeding programmes for well-known staples like maize and cassava have made significant breeding advancements on carotenoid enhancement following the identification of pVAC dense genetic resources (Ceballos et al, 2017, Manjeru et al, 2017, Pixley et al, 2013). Availability of Next Generation Sequencing Technologies and the existence of high density genotyping platforms have facilitated the development and incorporation of new breeding tools like marker assisted selection to increase breeding efficiency.…”

“…Availability of Next Generation Sequencing Technologies and the existence of high density genotyping platforms have facilitated the development and incorporation of new breeding tools like marker assisted selection to increase breeding efficiency. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping has been used to study the DNA regions related to carotenoid accumulation and identify candidate genes responsible for carotenoid regulation and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has also been employed in combination with GBS to identify trait linked allelic variations valuable for marker assisted selection in both crops (Manjeru et al, 2017, Rabbi et al, 2017).…”

Molecular Breeding for Nutritionally Enriched Maize: Status and Prospects

“…CIMMYT, IITA, and national partners [especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (LatAm)] have employed conventional breeding and molecular tools, to successfully develop and release several nutritious maize cultivars without compromising grain yield levels or other important agronomic and adaptive traits. Many of these biofortified maize cultivars are currently grown by farmers and accepted by consumers in many countries (Talsma et al, 2017;Manjeru et al, 2019). Advances in phenotyping coupled with molecular breeding facilitated achievement of the breeding targets for various nutrients in maize.…”