Vegetable breeding as a strategy of biofortification in carotenoids and prevention of vitamin A deficiency

Abstract

Carotenoids are a class of yellow-orange-red pigments distributed in various fruits, spices, herbs and especially in vegetables. These pigments are bioactive components essential to human health. Among the numerous classes of carotenoids, a smaller number is known for having provitamin A activity. This vitamin is essential to the organism in the proper functioning of the vision and the immune system. On the other hand, the deficiency in this vitamin is related to a great number of diseases, which can in severe cases, lead to death. This makes essential the proper supplying of this vitamin to human nutrition. There are two sources from which vitamin A can be derived: (a) vitamin A preformed with retinol esters from animal food sources and (b) from carotenoid found in plant foods. Thus, food fortification is presented as an alternative to reduce vitamin A deficiency. Currently, plant breeding has contributed to the development and introduction of biofortified products. Improved varieties obtained from biofortification have a higher content of nutrients and vitamins, leading to the improvement of human diet. The genetic breeding of vegetables aiming nutritional biofortification is a promising strategy for the increasing of carotenoid concentration in agricultural products and prevention of vitamin A deficiency. Besides the crops that have commonly been used in the biofortification programs, a series of horticulture crops are also promising for insertion in the programs of biofortification in pro vitamin A. Thus, the objective of this review is addressing the problems resulting from vitamin A deficiency and the adoption potential of horticulture species by genetic breeding programs aiming the biofortification in carotenoids.

Mainstreaming production and nutrient resilience of vegetable crops in megacities: pre-breeding for terrace cultivation

“…Natural disasters, sudden epidemics, or uncertainties in human society can disrupt vegetable supply, leading to potential nutrient deficiencies. In such situations, nutrient enhancement or “biofortification” becomes crucial to ensure an adequate supply of important nutrients such as chlorophyll, cellulose, and vitamins from plants ( Vlčko and Ohnoutková, 2019 ; Bhambhani et al., 2021 ), which is an important part of the resilience of megacities ( Junior, 2017 ; Langemeyer et al., 2021 ). Just as the CRISPR mutation of OsHOL1 increases iodine content ( Carlessi et al., 2021 ), the CRISPR-mediated marker-free double insertion of SSU-crtI and ZmPsy has been shown to increase carotene content in rice ( Dong et al., 2020 ).…”

Genetic parameters and selection of biofortified lettuce genotypes based on selection indices

“…Among the various constituents that characterize biofortification, carotenoids are of great relevance in several species (Machada Junior et al, 2017;Oliveira et al, 2018); however, studies on the biofortification of lettuce are limited. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between carotenoid and chlorophyll concentrations measured indirectly using the soil plant analysis development (SPAD) index (Silva et al, 2014;Cassetari et al, 2015).…”

Research Article Digital phenotyping of winter squash fruits

“…Winter squash is a vegetable/fruit with high socioeconomic significance, as it is used for several purposes in industry, as feeding and in medicine (Resende et al, 2013;Oliveira et al, 2016;Machado Junior et al, 2017;Gomes et al, 2020a). Brazil is an important holder of the genetic variability of C. moschata (Ferreira et al, 2016;Gomes et al, 2020a;Gomes et al, 2020b).…”