REVIEWS  FOOD FOR THE FUTURE 

Minerva Biotecnologica 2005 March;17(1):1-11

Copyright © 2005 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Biofortification of the crops with micronutrients using plant breeding and/or transgenic strategies

Poletti S., Sautter C.

Institute of Plant Sciences, Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

Micronutrients like vitamins and minerals are an important element of food safety, however are often not available in sufficient amounts in the diet. Fortification of food is not always possible or appropriate. Biofortifica-tion is a method which improves the content of vitamins and minerals directly in the crop plant. Breeding for accumulation of micronutrients is often difficult. Recent developments added gene technology as a supplementary technique to breeding. In combination with functional genomics gene technology could contribute in the future significantly to these traits. We review recent developments of biofortification with vitamin A, vitamin E and folate, and with the minerals iron, zinc and selenium.