Badejo Adebanjo Ayobamidele
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat 785013, Assam, India.
J Genet Eng Biotechnol. 2018 Dec;16(2):553-562. doi: 10.1016/j.jgeb.2018.02.010. Epub 2018 Mar 6.
Poverty eradication and global food security are among the targets of world leaders, most especially combating the scourge of hidden hunger. Provitamin A carotenoids cannot be synthesized by human and so it must be taken as part of the diet. The deficiency of which is causing almost 6000 sights to be lost daily in most developing countries because of the monotonous starchy diets lacking substantial amount of carotenoid. Conventional breeding as well as genetic engineering have been used to increase the level of carotenoid in many staples including rice, potato, maize and cassava. While products from genetic engineering are still been subjected to strict regulatory measures preventing the delivery of the products to target consumers, some of the products from conventional breeding are already on the table of consumers. Interestingly, both technologies are crucial to tackling micronutrient deficiencies. This review discusses the role of carotenoid in human, the biosynthesis in plant and some of the staple crops that have been modified for increased carotenoid. Some measures expected of the leaders of the countries in need of these products for safe delivery to the target population after two decades is also highlighted.
消除贫困和全球粮食安全是世界各国领导人的目标之一，尤其是应对隐性饥饿这一祸害。维生素A原类胡萝卜素不能由人体合成，因此必须作为饮食的一部分摄入。由于大多数发展中国家的淀粉类饮食单调，缺乏大量类胡萝卜素，其缺乏导致每天约6000人失明。传统育种以及基因工程已被用于提高包括水稻、马铃薯、玉米和木薯在内的许多主食中的类胡萝卜素含量。虽然基因工程产品仍受到严格监管措施的限制，无法交付给目标消费者，但一些传统育种产品已经摆上了消费者的餐桌。有趣的是，这两种技术对于解决微量营养素缺乏问题都至关重要。本综述讨论了类胡萝卜素在人体中的作用、在植物中的生物合成以及一些为增加类胡萝卜素而改良的主要作物。还强调了预计在二十年后，需要这些产品的国家领导人应采取的一些措施，以便将其安全交付给目标人群。
