{"title":"Advances in breeding for enhanced iron and zinc concentrations in common bean in eastern Africa.","authors":"Paul M Kimani","doi":"10.1093/jxb/eraf009","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Micronutrient malnutrition is one of the most serious health challenges facing vast sectors of the population of Africa, particularly resource-poor women and children. The main deficiencies include iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and vitamin A. Plant breeding has frequently been advocated as the most sustainable strategy to provide varieties of different food crop species with enhanced micronutrient density to combat the global hidden hunger problem which affects >2 billion people. However, there are few research programmes which have implemented this approach, from concept stage to finished products, which can be widely disseminated and commercialized to create meaningful impact. The east African bean biofortification programme offers a case study of such a programme. The aim of this programme was to develop well-adapted, high-yielding, Fe- and Zn-rich bush and climbing bean cultivars and agronomic approaches that enhance expression of the high mineral trait. The objective of this review is to provide a synthesis of the progress made in the last 22 years, with a focus on genetic diversity, inheritance, bioavailability of Fe and Zn, and cooking quality, as well as to identify research gaps and suggest future directions.</p>","PeriodicalId":15820,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Botany","volume":" ","pages":"1390-1407"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11906304/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Experimental Botany","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf009","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Micronutrient malnutrition is one of the most serious health challenges facing vast sectors of the population of Africa, particularly resource-poor women and children. The main deficiencies include iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and vitamin A. Plant breeding has frequently been advocated as the most sustainable strategy to provide varieties of different food crop species with enhanced micronutrient density to combat the global hidden hunger problem which affects >2 billion people. However, there are few research programmes which have implemented this approach, from concept stage to finished products, which can be widely disseminated and commercialized to create meaningful impact. The east African bean biofortification programme offers a case study of such a programme. The aim of this programme was to develop well-adapted, high-yielding, Fe- and Zn-rich bush and climbing bean cultivars and agronomic approaches that enhance expression of the high mineral trait. The objective of this review is to provide a synthesis of the progress made in the last 22 years, with a focus on genetic diversity, inheritance, bioavailability of Fe and Zn, and cooking quality, as well as to identify research gaps and suggest future directions.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Experimental Botany publishes high-quality primary research and review papers in the plant sciences. These papers cover a range of disciplines from molecular and cellular physiology and biochemistry through whole plant physiology to community physiology.
Full-length primary papers should contribute to our understanding of how plants develop and function, and should provide new insights into biological processes. The journal will not publish purely descriptive papers or papers that report a well-known process in a species in which the process has not been identified previously. Articles should be concise and generally limited to 10 printed pages.