Vitamin A deficiency remains a nutritional concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Conventionally bred maize hybrids with high provitamin A carotenoid concentrations may have the potential to improve vitamin ...A status in maize-consuming populations.
We evaluated the efficacy of regular provitamin A carotenoid-biofortified "orange" maizemeal (∼15 μg β-carotene/g) consumption in improving vitamin A status and reducing vitamin A deficiency in children.
This was a cluster-randomized controlled trial in the rural farming district of Mkushi, Zambia. All 4- to 8-y-old children in an ∼400-km(2) area were identified and grouped by proximity into clusters of ∼15-25 children. We randomly assigned clusters to 1) orange maizemeal (n = 25), 2) white maizemeal (n = 25), or 3) a parallel, nonintervention group (n = 14). Children in intervention clusters (n = 1024) received 200 g maizemeal for 6 d/wk over 6 mo; the maizemeal was prepared according to standardized recipes and served in cluster-level kitchens. Staff recorded attendance and leftovers. We collected venous blood before and after the intervention to measure serum retinol, β-carotene, C-reactive protein, and α1-acid glycoprotein.
Intervention groups were comparable at baseline, and vitamin A status was better than anticipated (12.1% deficient on the basis of serum retinol <0.7 μmol/L). Although attendance at meals did not differ (85%), median daily maize intake was higher in white (154 g/d) than in orange (142 g/d) maizemeal clusters. At follow-up, mean serum β-carotene was 0.14 μmol/L (95% CI: 0.09, 0.20 μmol/L) higher in orange maizemeal clusters (P < 0.001), but mean serum retinol (1.00 ± 0.33 μmol/L overall) and deficiency prevalence (17.1% overall) did not differ between arms.
In this marginally nourished population, regular biofortified maizemeal consumption increased serum β-carotene concentrations but did not improve serum retinol. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01695148.
Maize is a major source of food security and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Latin America, and the Caribbean, and is among the top three cereal crops in Asia. Yet, maize is ...deficient in certain essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Biofortified maize cultivars enriched with essential minerals and vitamins could be particularly impactful in rural areas with limited access to diversified diet, dietary supplements, and fortified foods. Significant progress has been made in developing, testing, and deploying maize cultivars biofortified with quality protein maize (QPM), provitamin A, and kernel zinc. In this review, we outline the status and prospects of developing nutritionally enriched maize by successfully harnessing conventional and molecular marker-assisted breeding, highlighting the need for intensification of efforts to create greater impacts on malnutrition in maize-consuming populations, especially in the low- and middle-income countries. Molecular marker-assisted selection methods are particularly useful for improving nutritional traits since conventional breeding methods are relatively constrained by the cost and throughput of nutritional trait phenotyping.
Carotenoids play a critical role in animal and human health. Animals and humans are unable to synthesize carotenoids de novo, and therefore rely upon diet as sources of these compounds. However, ...major staple cereals often contain only small amounts of carotenoids in their grains. Consequently, there is considerable interest in genetic manipulation of carotenoid content in cereal grain. In this review, we focus on carotenoid metabolism and regulation in non-green plant tissues, as well as genetic manipulation in staple cereals such as rice, maize, and wheat. Significant progress has been made in three aspects: (1) seven carotenogenes play vital roles in carotenoid regulation in non-green plant tissues, including 1-deoxyxylulose-5-phosphate synthase influencing isoprenoid precursor supply, phytoene synthase, β-cyclase, and ε-cyclase controlling biosynthesis, 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl 4-diphosphate reductase and carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases responsible for degradation, and orange gene conditioning sequestration sink; (2) provitamin A-biofortified crops, such as rice and maize, were developed by either metabolic engineering or marker-assisted breeding; (3) quantitative trait loci for carotenoid content on chromosomes 3B, 7A, and 7B were consistently identified, eight carotenogenes including 23 loci were detected, and 10 gene-specific markers for carotenoid accumulation were developed and applied in wheat improvement. A comprehensive and deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of carotenoid metabolism in crops will be beneficial in improving our precision in improving carotenoid contents. Genomic selection and gene editing are emerging as transformative technologies for provitamin A biofortification.
Provitamin A carotenoid-biofortified maize is a conventionally bred staple crop designed to help prevent vitamin A deficiency. Lactating women are a potential target group, because regularly eating ...biofortified maize may increase vitamin A in breast milk-a critical source of vitamin A for breastfeeding infants.
We assessed whether daily consumption of biofortified orange maize would increase the retinol concentration in the breast milk of Zambian women.
Lactating women (n = 149) were randomly assigned to receive orange maize delivering 600 μg retinol equivalents (REs)/d as carotenoid plus placebo (OM), low-carotenoid white maize plus 600 μg REs/d as retinyl palmitate (VA), or white maize plus placebo (WM). Boiled maize (287 g dry weight/d) was served as 2 meals/d, 6 d/wk for 3 wk. We measured initial and final breast milk plasma retinol and β-carotene concentrations, and plasma inflammatory protein concentrations.
Groups were comparable at enrollment, with an overall geometric mean milk retinol concentration of 0.95 μmol/L (95% CI: 0.86, 1.05 μmol/L); 56% of samples had milk retinol <1.05 μmol/L. Median capsule and maize intake was 97% and 258 g dry weight/d, respectively. Final milk β-carotene did not vary across groups (P = 0.76). Geometric mean (95% CI) milk retinol concentration tended to be higher in the OM 1.15 μmol/L (0.96, 1.39 μmol/L) and VA 1.17 μmol/L (0.99, 1.38 μmol/L) groups than in the WM group 0.91 μmol/L (0.72, 1.14 μmol/L); P = 0.13, and the proportion of women with milk retinol <1.05 μmol/L was 52.1%, 42.9%, and 36.7% in the WM, OM, and VA groups, respectively (P-trend = 0.16).
Daily biofortified maize consumption did not increase mean milk retinol concentration in lactating Zambian women; however, there was a plausible downward trend in the risk of low milk retinol across intervention groups. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01922713.
Carotenoid pigments are a group of bioactive compounds that are of interest to the food scientists, nutritionists and food industries due to their positive impact on human health and their economic ...benefits. Carotenoids are responsible for the attractive colour of many plant food (mainly fruit and vegetables), which is perhaps the first attribute that consumers assess when determining the quality and appearance of a product, and therefore conditions its acceptability. In addition, carotenoids have diverse biological functions and activities, such as the well known provitamin A activity, antioxidant capacity and enhancement of the immune system. There are an extensive number of factors affecting the efficient incorporation of these phytochemicals from the diet, although in many cases no biological activity will be put in action within the consumer body (animal or human) without a first visual attraction. The term bioaccessibility is used to evaluate the amount of a nutrient that is released from a food during the digestion process. The bioaccessibility of lipophilic compounds, such as carotenoids, in natural foods (mainly fruits and vegetables) is usually fairly low and is constrained by various factors, particularly the degree of food processing and matrix composition. There are evidences that homogenisation and thermal treatment have positive effects on the bioaccessibility of these compounds, whereas the presence of dietary fibre has a negative effect. The presence and co-ingestion of fat in the diet are a key factor, with a minimum quantity needed to facilitate carotenoid absorption, and this seems to be one of the advantages of the Mediterranean diet. Most of the relevant data on the bioaccessibility of carotenoids from natural or processed foods has been obtained in postprandial absorption studies and supplementation studies. This approach, although highly valuable, is insufficient for a detailed analysis of the food matrix composition effects, and also it does not take into consideration other factors that may be involved in carotenoid absorption in each stage of the bioaccessibility process (digestibility and absorption). In vitro experimental processes that reproduce the physiological conditions and events that take place in the human gastrointestinal tract during digestion have been developed and fine-tuned in recent years. These digestion models become an excellent analytical resource to establish both the significance and scope of diverse factors in the efficiency of digestibility of carotenoids allowing a detailed analysis of the influence of the food matrix composition on the digestive process.
► Carotenoids occurrence in food and their biological functions are reviewed. ► Several factors affect bioaccesibility and bioavailability of carotenoids from diet. ► In vitro digestion models allow evaluating carotenoid bioavailability and food matrix effects.
Background: Provitamin A carotenoid–biofortified maize is a conventionally bred staple crop designed to help prevent vitamin A deficiency. Lactating women are a potential target group, because ...regularly eating biofortified maize may increase vitamin A in breast milk—a critical source of vitamin A for breastfeeding infants.
Objective: We assessed whether daily consumption of biofortified orange maize would increase the retinol concentration in the breast milk of Zambian women.
Methods: Lactating women (n = 149) were randomly assigned to receive orange maize delivering 600 μg retinol equivalents (REs)/d as carotenoid plus placebo (OM), low-carotenoid white maize plus 600 μg REs/d as retinyl palmitate (VA), or white maize plus placebo (WM). Boiled maize (287 g dry weight/d) was served as 2 meals/d, 6 d/wk for 3 wk. We measured initial and final breast milk plasma retinol and β-carotene concentrations, and plasma inflammatory protein concentrations.
Results: Groups were comparable at enrollment, with an overall geometric mean milk retinol concentration of 0.95 μmol/L (95% CI: 0.86, 1.05 μmol/L); 56% of samples had milk retinol <1.05 μmol/L. Median capsule and maize intake was 97% and 258 g dry weight/d, respectively. Final milk β-carotene did not vary across groups (P = 0.76). Geometric mean (95% CI) milk retinol concentration tended to be higher in the OM 1.15 μmol/L (0.96, 1.39 μmol/L) and VA 1.17 μmol/L (0.99, 1.38 μmol/L) groups than in the WM group 0.91 μmol/L (0.72, 1.14 μmol/L); P = 0.13, and the proportion of women with milk retinol <1.05 μmol/L was 52.1%, 42.9%, and 36.7% in the WM, OM, and VA groups, respectively (P-trend = 0.16).
Conclusions: Daily biofortified maize consumption did not increase mean milk retinol concentration in lactating Zambian women; however, there was a plausible downward trend in the risk of low milk retinol across intervention groups. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01922713.
DNA methylation can be affected by numerous lifestyle factors, including diet. Tobacco smoking induces aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) DNA hypomethylation, which increases the risk of lung ...and other cancers. However, no lifestyle habits that might increase or restore percentage of AHRR DNA methylation have been identified. We hypothesized that dietary intakes of vegetables/fruits and serum carotenoid concentrations are related to AHRR DNA methylation. A total of 813 individuals participated in this cross-sectional study. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary intake of vegetables and fruits. AHRR DNA methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were measured using pyrosequencing method. In men, dietary fruit intake was significantly and positively associated with AHRR DNA methylation among current smokers (P for trend = .034). A significant positive association of serum provitamin A with AHRR DNA methylation was observed among current smokers (men: standardized β = 0.141 0.045 to 0.237, women: standardized β = 0.570 0.153 to 0.990). However, compared with never smokers with low provitamin A concentrations, percentages of AHRR DNA methylation were much lower among current smokers, even those with high provitamin A concentrations (men: β = −19.1% −33.8 to −19.8, women: β = −6.0% −10.2 to −1.7). Dietary intake of vegetables and fruits rich in provitamin A may increase percentage of AHRR DNA methylation in current smokers. However, although we found a beneficial effect of provitamin A on AHRR DNA methylation, this beneficial effect could not completely remove the effect of smoking on AHRR DNA demethylation.
In this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether dietary vegetables/fruits intakes and serum carotenoid concentrations were associated with AHRR DNA methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in a Japanese population. We found that dietary intake of vegetables and fruits rich in provitamin A may increase AHRR DNA methylation in current smokers. AHRR, aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor. Display omitted
Traditional yellow maize though contains high kernel carotenoids, the concentration of provitamin A (proA) is quite low (<2 μg/g), compared to recommended level (15 μg/g). It also possesses poor ...endosperm protein quality due to low concentration of lysine and tryptophan. Natural variant of
(β
) and
(
ε
) cause significant enhancement of proA concentration, while recessive allele,
(
) enhances the level of these amino acids. Development of biofortified maize enriched in proA, lysine and tryptophan thus holds significance in alleviation of micronutrient malnutrition. In the present study, marker-assisted stacking of
and
was undertaken in the genetic background of four maize hybrids (HQPM1, HQPM4, HQPM5, and HQPM7) popularly grown in India. HP704-22 and HP704-23 were used as donors, while four elite QPM parents viz., HKI161, HKI163, HKI193-1, and HKI193-2 were used as recipients.
showed severe segregation distortion, while
segregated as per the expectation. Recovery of recurrent parent genome (RPG) among selected backcross progenies ranged from 89 to 93%. Introgressed progenies possessed high concentration of proA (7.38-13.59 μg/g), compared to 1.65-2.04 μg/g in the recurrent parents. The reconstituted hybrids showed an average of 4.5-fold increase in proA with a range of 9.25-12.88 μg/g, compared to original hybrids (2.14-2.48 μg/g). Similar plant-, ear-, and grain- characteristics of improved versions of both inbreds and hybrids were observed when evaluated with their respective original versions. Mean lysine (0.334%) and tryptophan (0.080%) of the improved hybrids were
with the original versions (lysine: 0.340%, tryptophan: 0.083%). Improved hybrids also possessed similar grain yield potential (6,301-8,545 kg/ha) with their original versions (6,135-8,479 kg/ha) evaluated at two locations. This is the first study of staking
-,
-, and
-, favorable alleles in single genetic background. The improved inbreds can be effectively used as potential donor for independent and/or simultaneous introgression of
, and
in the future breeding programme. These biofortified maize hybrids, rich in proA, lysine and tryptophan will hold great promise for nutritional security.
Summary
Vitamin A‐rich maize hybrids provide sustainable solutions to malnutrition. However, significant loss of carotenoids during storage reduces its efficacy. Grains of nine sub‐tropically adapted ...crtRB1‐based biofortified hybrids along with six normal hybrids were stored under conventional storage for five months. PVAC (β‐carotene and β‐cryptoxanthin) among crtRB1‐based hybrids degraded from initial level of 18.77 to 3.24 µg g−1, while NPVAC (lutein and zeaxanthin) reduced to 10.79 µg g−1 from 19.00 µg g−1 during storage. Among PVAC, β‐cryptoxanthin (21.8%) possessed more stability than β‐carotene (16.4%). For NPVAC, lutein (61.2%) showed the highest retention than zeaxanthin (50.4%). Majority of the PVAC loss occurred within first three months of storage. Retention for PVAC among crtRB1‐based hybrids varied from 14% to 23% indicating the role of favourable genetic factors. APQH1, APQH7 and APH2 were the promising hybrids with higher retention (>20%) of PVAC. This is the first report on identification of provitamin A‐rich crtRB1‐based biofortified maize hybrids with higher retention during sub‐tropical storage.
(A) Retention of carotenoids in crtRB1‐based maize hybrids; (B) Variation for retention of PVAC in proA rich maizehybrids after five months of storage; PVAC: provitamin‐A carotenoids; NPVAC: Non‐provitamin‐A carotenoids.
The present review attempts to critically examine and evaluate research findings on mushrooms as sources of vitamin D and other nutraceuticals. Recently, there is a growing concern about diseases ...associated with the deficiency of vitamin D in humans. As people tend to stay indoors, in present times, due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, vitamin D levels are further affected. Research indicates vitamin D as a promising defensive or therapeutic agent against COVID, making this review more crucial. Mushrooms, as a rich source of vitamin D along with various bioactive compounds, perform a significant role in resolving health issues. Robust analyses of various strategies for enhancing vitamin D content in mushrooms holds significance in this study; moreover, this will help stakeholders of the mushroom industry in enriching the overall mushroom quality and human health. Mushroom‐based medicinal formulations and functional foods serve to deliver vitamins and nutrients to humans, thus helping to combat malnutrition and other health problems, especially in developing countries. Evidence from pre‐clinical and clinical analyses suggests that vitamin D2 bioavailability in mushrooms is comparable with vitamin D from other sources. The review also emphasises molecular findings from mushrooms related to genes responsible for morphology and metabolic production of pro‐vitamin‐D2.
Edible mushrooms: The Potential Game Changer in Alleviating Vitamin D Deficiency.
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