By N.A. Tamilselvi & T. Arumugam. 2018. Current efforts to mitigate mineral malnutrition through the development of bio-fortification methods. 16 pp.
Mineral malnutrition (e.g., Fe and Zn) is one of the most important global challenges affecting two-thirds of the world’s population (Weber, 2017) from every economic status, and the problem is intensified by current agricultural practices.
The lack of soil, space, outdoor garden sites, and time to commit to traditional vegetable cultivation, as well as the high cost of production, are some of the challenges that need innovative approaches. Current efforts to mitigate mineral malnourishment have focused on developing bio-fortification methods (White et al., 2009), genetic engineering and manipulation of the crops to maximize nutrient uptake (Grusack, 2002).
Yet, other strategies exist to solve these problems. For instance, microgreens, a new category of salad crops gaining popularity and interest over the past few years, represent a rich source of nutrients and vitamins with nutraceutical properties (Mir et al., 2017). They do not rely on bio-fortification or genetic engineering/manipulation.
They can play an important role in human health. This may explain their recent popularity and increased consumption. Moreover, these young seedlings contain lower nitrate concentrations compared with baby leaf or adult plants of the same species (Bulgari et al., 2017).
Access to the Spanish document 'Microgreens, un alimento multimineral y rico en nutrientes'
By N.A. Tamilselvi and T. Arumugam. 2018. Current efforts to mitigate mineral malnutrition through the development of bio-fortification methods. 16 pp.