Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Med Res. 2018 Nov;148(5):621-631. doi: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1893_18.
Malnutrition has emerged as one of the most serious health issues worldwide. The consumption of unbalanced diet poor in nutritional quality causes malnutrition which is more prevalent in the underdeveloped and developing countries. Deficiency of proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals leads to poor health and increased susceptibility to various diseases, which in turn lead to significant loss in Gross Domestic Product and affect the socio-economic structure of the country. Although various avenues such as dietary-diversification, food-fortification and medical-supplementation are available, biofortification of crop varieties is considered as the most sustainable and cost-effective approach where the nutrients reach the target people in natural form. Here, we have discussed the present status on the development of biofortified crop varieties for various nutritional and antinutritional factors. Ongoing programmes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research on the improvement of nutritional traits in different crops have been presented. Challenges and future prospects of crop biofortification in India have also been discussed. The newly developed biofortified crop varieties besides serving as an important source for livelihood to poor people assume great significance in nutritional security.
营养不良已成为全球最严重的健康问题之一。不均衡的饮食导致营养不良，这种情况在欠发达国家和发展中国家更为普遍，而这些饮食中缺乏营养质量高的蛋白质、必需氨基酸、维生素和矿物质，导致健康状况不佳，更容易患上各种疾病，这反过来又导致国内生产总值的显著损失，并影响国家的社会经济结构。虽然有多种途径，如饮食多样化、食物强化和医疗补充，但作物品种的生物强化被认为是最可持续和最具成本效益的方法，因为营养物质以自然形式到达目标人群。在这里，我们讨论了针对各种营养和抗营养因素开发生物强化作物品种的现状。介绍了印度农业研究理事会在不同作物营养特性改良方面的现行计划。还讨论了印度作物生物强化的挑战和未来前景。新开发的生物强化作物品种除了成为贫困人口重要的生计来源外，在营养安全方面也具有重要意义。
