This presentation discusses biofortification as a strategy to address malnutrition. Biofortification involves breeding staple food crops to increase their micronutrient levels, targeting iron, zinc, and vitamin A. The goal is to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in low-income populations by improving the micronutrient density of staple crops they produce and consume. Selective breeding and fertilizer application can increase crop micronutrient levels. Organizations like HarvestPlus are developing biofortified varieties of crops like cassava, maize, and rice to combat malnutrition in subsistence farming communities. The benefits of biofortification include potentially reaching rural populations with limited access to supplements through a low-cost, sustainable intervention.

1. Presentation Topic
BIOFORTIFICATION
Muhammad Qasim Ali
Ph.D Food science and Technalogy
2nd Semester
INSTITUTE OF FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION
UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA, SARGODHA

2. OUTLINE
 Why we need bio fortification
 What is bio fortification
 Strategies for bio fortification of food crops
 Targets in Bio fortification
 Different examples
 The potential benefits of bio fortification

3. Why we need bio fortification
 The world population was continuously increasing, suffer from a lack of
food, so that fighting hunger continues to be a challenge for humanity.
 On the other hand, the World Health Organization estimates that, worldwide,
1.5 billion people are overweight (WHO 2011g).
 Increasingly, these two forms of malnutrition, underweight and overweight,
are occurring simultaneously within the Different countries.(Gillespie and
Haddad 2003; FAO 2006).

4. Bio fortification
 Bio fortification is an intervention strategy currently being
researched and developed for increasing the bio‐absorbable content
of micronutrients in the edible portion of staple food crops.
 The micronutrients currently being targeted by the bio fortification
program are iron, zinc, and pro vitamin A.

5. The Goal of Bio fortification
 The goal of bio fortification is to contribute to reducing the high
prevalence of specific nutritional deficiencies, especially of iron, zinc
and vitamin A, which commonly occur in low income populations.
 This is to be achieved by improving the micronutrient density of staple
food crops that are produced and consumed by these populations and
hence, if bioavailability is demonstrated, increasing the adequacy of
micronutrient intakes.
 Bio fortification is intended to contribute to the prevention of
micronutrient deficiencies by reaching all household members

6. Bio fortification through conventional breeding
 Bio fortified crop varieties are developed by plant breeding using selective
breeding and/or genetic modification.
 Selective breeding these programs search for variation in the characteristic of
interest, for example higher iron content, within existing varieties of the crop. This
characteristic is then bred into cultivated varieties by crossing (deliberately inter-
breeding) and selecting those individual plants with the desired characteristics.

7. Selective breeding
In selective breeding, scientists use
 Seed banks - collections of seeds usually collected in the past,
which may have greater genetic variation than current varieties;
 Mutagenesis - a chemical or physical induction of genetic
mutations used to generate new variation;
 Wide crosses – inter-breeding between a cultivated species and
another, normally closely-related, species

8. Bio fortification through fertilizer application
 The application of fertilizers containing essential mineral micronutrients is
complicated by several factors, such as the application method, soil
composition, mineral mobility in the plant, and its accumulation site.
 Iodine and selenium are mobile in soil and in plants, thus bio fortification
with iodine and selenium fertilizers has been particularly successful.
Because Zn is also mobile in the soil, applications of ZnSO4 can also
increase yield and Zn concentrations in cereals and legumes.

9. Harvest Plus
 Harvest Plus was launched in 2004 with funding from the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation the UK Department for International Development
(DFID) and others.
 Harvest Plus is focusing on increasing levels of iron, zinc and beta-carotene
in seven staple crops, grown in areas of high subsistence farming, namely
sweet potato, bean, pearl millet, cassava, maize, rice and wheat.

10. Different examples
 Golden Rice Project
Golden Rice is a GM-derived variety of beta-carotene-rich rice. Golden Rice 1 was
developed with only moderate amounts of beta-carotene in the grain. More recently Golden
Rice 2 was developed containing higher levels and this variety is being prepared for release,
pending regulatory approval.
 Selenium Bio fortification of Wheat
In 1980s Selenium levels in UK soils are generally low so UK-grown wheat is low in
selenium. A project explored selective breeding and timely application of selenium
containing fertilizer to increase selenium levels in wheat. The project found adding small
amounts of selenium to fertilizer increases selenium levels in the grain.

11. Conti……………
 Protein
Quality Protein Maize (QPM) was developed at the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Centre using selective breeding. Maize is a staple food, and studies have shown a
beneficial impact on growth (height and weight) in children.
 Fatty acids
Plant oils, such as rapeseed oil, contain long-chain fatty acids that can be converted into two,
health-promoting, long-chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) although conversion rates are low. The FAO recommends, EPA and
DHA for pregnant and lactating women, that improve cardio-vascular health in adults and play an
important role in brain and eye development in the fetus.

12. The potential benefits of bio fortification
 Reaching rural communities without access to pharmaceutical supplements
or fortified food and improving life-time nutritional status;
 less susceptible to social and economic changes than short term
interventions;
 The potential to impact a large number of people at a low cost per person

13. Thank You…