Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Genetic engineering approaches for nutritional improvement of cereal crops

7^th Indo-Global Summit and Expo on Food & Beverages

October 08-10, 2015 New Delhi, India

Salvinder Singh

Assam Agricultural University, India

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

More than 60% of the world population suffers from iron deficiency and over 30% of the global population has zinc deficiency. Iron and zinc are two important nutrients in the human diet. Their deficiencies in humans lead to a variety of health-related problems and are prevalent in populations depending on non-diversified plant-based diets. Iron and zinc biofortification of cereals is considered a cost-effective solution to overcome the malnutrition of these minerals. Biofortification aims at either increasing accumulation of these minerals in edible parts, endosperm or to increase their bioavailability. Additionally, it will also enhance the agronomic efficiency of crops on mineral poor soils. A multipronged strategy towards enhancing mineral content of cereal grains should involve increased uptake of minerals from soil, enhanced partitioning towards grain and improved sequestration in the edible tissues of grains. Regarding genetic strategies, quantitative genetic studies show the existence of ample variation for iron and zinc accumulation as well as inhibitors or promoters of their bioavailability in cereal grains. However, the genes underlying this variation have rarely been identified and never used in breeding programs. Genetically modified cereals developed by modulation of genes involved in iron and zinc homeostasis or genes influencing bioavailability have shown promising results. However, iron and zinc concentration were quantified in the whole grains during most of the studies whereas a significant proportion of them is lost during milling. This makes it difficult to realistically assess the effectiveness of the different strategies. With increased understanding of mineral uptake and transport mechanisms in plants, it is becoming ever more possible to engineer biofortified crop plants with the ultimate goal of overcoming hidden hunger.

Biography :

Email: ssingh1506@yahoo.co.in