The majority of the staple food crops are poor sources of nutrients, which limits access to diverse diets and other micronutrients for normal human nourishment. Previously, researchers were more focused on obtaining a high yield from crops per unit area to feed the whole world and attain food security. But now more emphasis has been given to research related to the production of quality foods containing nutrients and vitamins to eradicate malnutrition problems, and there comes the importance of fortification in crops. Biofortification is a novel technique that is considered an economical and sustainable method of increasing the concentration and bioavailability of essential elements in edible parts of plants through various means. Several biofortified food crops, mainly grains, legumes, oil seeds, fruits, and vegetables, have been released, and some are under research. It is proven that such crops could provide a sufficient level of nutrients to an undernourished population and alleviate hidden hunger. Despite the high success rate and acceptability of biofortification techniques, there are some limitations to these methods, such as the high initial cost involved in production and the time-consuming regulatory process. Nevertheless, in the coming future, biofortified crops have a great potential to tackle the problems caused by malnutrition.

Biofortification, micronutrients, vitamins, bioavailability

In this paper, we have discussed several applications, benefits, concepts, limitation and future prospects of biofortification in various crops for enhancing the bioavailability of minerals and vitamins in food products and thereby we could reduce health problems caused by malnutrition in developing and under developed countries. It has been accepted that biofortification is an effective and promising agricultural approach for boosting the nutritional status of undernourished people worldwide. Human malnutrition can be addressed with the help of biofortification techniques that include plant breeding, targeted genetic modification, and by using mineral fertilisers. In order to boost the amount and bioavailability of key mineral components in human diets, researches are being conducted worldwide for enrichment of nutrients in agricultural produce, particularly in case of staple cereal crops, millets, pulses and tuber crops. Future prospects for biofortified crops are quite promising since they have the capability to reduce malnutrition among billions of poor people, especially in developing nations.

Sandra Jose and J. Suresh Kumar (2022). Bio-fortification: A Promising Tool to Combat Malnutrition- A Review. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 334-342.