Yang, X.E. and Yang, W.R. and Feng, Y.
(2007)
Improving human micronutrient nutrition through
biofortification in the soil–plant system: China
as a case study.
Environ Geochem Health , 29 (5).
pp. 413-428.
Abstract
Micronutrient malnutrition is a major
health problem in China. According to a national
nutritional survey, approximately 24% of all
Chinese children suffer from a serious deficiency
of iron (Fe) (anemia), while over 50% show a
sub-clinical level of zinc (Zn) deficiency. More
than 374 million people in China suffer from
goiter disease, which is related to iodine (I)
deficiency, and approximately 20% of the Chinese
population are affected by selenium (Se)
deficiency. Micronutrient malnutrition in humans
is derived from deficiencies of these elements in
soils and foods. In China, approximately 40% of
the total land area is deficient in Fe and Zn.
Keshan and Kaschin-Beck diseases always appear
in regions where the soil content of Se in low. The
soil–plant system is instrumental to human nutrition
and forms the basis of the ‘‘food chain’’ in
which there is micronutrient cycling, resulting in
an ecologically sound and sustainable flow of
micronutrients. Soil-plant system strategies that
have been adopted to improve human micronutrient
nutrition mainly include: (1) exploiting
micronutrient-dense crop genotypes by studying
the physiology and genetics of micronutrient flow from soils to the edible parts of crops; (2)
improving micronutrient bioavailability through
a better knowledge of the mechanisms of the
enhancers’ production and accumulation in edible
parts and its regulation through soil-plant system;
(3) improving our knowledge of the relationship
between the content and bioavailability of micronutrients
in soils and those in edible crop
products for better human nutrition; (4) developing
special micronutrient fertilizers and integrated
nutrient management technologies for
increasing both the density of the micronutrients
in the edible parts of plants and their bioavailability
to humans.
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