MAINSTREAMING BIOFORTIFICATION WITH PARTICIPATORY CROP NUTRITIONAL CHARACTERIZATION RESEARCH AND HUMAN HEALTH CLINICAL RESEARCH

Autor: Kellogg, Julianne Alexis
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
DOI: 10.7273/000004629
Popis: The new nutrition reality is the coexistence of multiple forms of malnutrition. Tackling this complex problem will require multiple tools and approaches. Biofortification, the improvement in nutritional quality of food sources through plant breeding, agronomic practices, or biotechnology, can be a meaningful nutrition intervention. Although biofortification has been proven conditionally effective, it is not yet mainstream in agricultural research. Mainstreaming biofortification will require prioritizing crop nutritional quality in research objectives.
A review of the literature uncovered the need for a formal definition of “biofortification” for the research community. The lack of a definition and the use of synonymous terms for the concept of biofortification obfuscates critical reviews of biofortification scientific literature. A scoping review protocol was developed to 1) systematically identify peer-reviewed original research articles and limited grey literature; 2) extract data from the included publications, and 3) synthesize the data and develop a definition of “biofortification” for the research community.
A participatory crop nutritional characterization project was co-developed with an agricultural cooperative in Cañar Province, Ecuador, to uncover nutritional differences among key crops in the regional food system. Phytic acid was measured at the species and/or subspecies levels as part of a baseline project to inform future nutrition-sensitive agricultural projects. Study results suggest there are crop varieties present in the regional food system that are naturally low in phytic acid and are already processed with methods that may further reduce phytic acid concentrations in the crops.
A human clinical trial evaluated the impact of three high β-glucan barley varieties on postprandial glycemic response, appetite, and food intake in sixteen normoglycemic, healthy human subjects. Subjects consumed the barley varieties and a white rice control as unsweetened and sweetened preloads. In the unsweetened conditions, higher β-glucan preloads resulted in lower glycemic response, lower food intake at an ad libitum test meal, lower self-reported appetite ratings of hunger and desire to eat, and higher ratings of fullness. By modulating glycemic response, appetite, and food intake, high β-glucan wholegrain barley foods could play a role in preventing diabetes, obesity, and other obesity-related metabolic diseases in healthy adults.
Databáze: OpenAIRE