**6. Conclusions and future prospects**

Biofortification is a promising, cost-effective, agricultural strategy to improve the nutritional status of the world's undernourished populations. Strategies for biofortification based on crop breeding, targeted genetic manipulation, and/ or mineral fertiliser application have great potential to address human mineral malnutrition [70–72]. Developing biofortified food crops with improved nutrient content such as increased content of iron, zinc, Se, and provitamin A provides adequate levels of these and other such micronutrients that are often lacking in developed and developing diets. International initiatives, such as the CGIAR centres in collaboration with HarvestPlus and national initiatives, serve as pillars for achieving these objectives. These efforts have resulted in crops with the potential to increase both quantities and bioavailability of essential mineral elements in human diets, particularly in elementary cereal crops such as rice, wheat, maize, cassava, beans, and sweet potatoes. However, crop biofortification is a challenging task. Collaboration between plant breeders, nutritionists, genetic engineers, and molecular biologists is essential to achieving this. Breeding approaches are generalised and easy to accept and have been used to improve food nutritional qualities sustainably. Although greater emphasis is placed on molecular breeding-based approaches of which success rates are much higher as transgenically fortified crop plants, it faces

**47**

presented in **Figure 3**.

**Figure 3.**

*consumers.*

**Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

*Breeding for Biofortification Traits in Rice: Means to Eradicate Hidden Hunger*

hurdles due to consumer acceptance and costly and time-consuming regulatory approval processes adopted by different countries. Biofortified crops have a very bright future in addition to these challenges, as they have the potential to eliminate micronutrient malnutrition among billions of poor people, particularly in developing countries. Overall developmental process of the biofortified rice variety are

*Flowchart showing development and release of a biofortified variety and its acceptance by farmers and* 

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91144*

*Breeding for Biofortification Traits in Rice: Means to Eradicate Hidden Hunger DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91144*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Agronomy - Climate Change and Food Security*

Phytic acid is an essential constituent in staple foods like legume and cereals, which has been of much concern [57]. In addition to its beneficial effect on human health, it has some anticancer and antioxidant functions and prevents coronary disease, and it is well known that phytic acid acts as strong chelating agent of mineral nutrients such as Ca, Zn, and Fe [65]. It has been seen that due to the presence of complex of phytic acid, in the form of phytate, there is a significant reduction found in bioavailability of nutrient elements [66]. It seems reasonable to control phytic acid contents in edible parts of crops to a level in which the medical and health functions of the food may be

maintained and bioavailability of minerals is not much altered [67].

the accurate evaluation of rice germplasm for phytic acid content.

Liu et al. [68] assayed 72 cultivars for protein content and phytic acid and reported a wide range for phytic acid ranging from 0.685 to 1.03%, with an average of 0.873%. Interestingly, grain phytic acid and protein content were not correlated, which suggests the possibility of breeding rice for phytic acid and high protein content. Furthermore, they also reported a significant effect of varieties, locations, and their interactions on phytic acid content, with the location having the most considerable impact which suggests the necessity of multi-environment trials for

Although sufficient genetic variation for phytic acid has been reported in various studies [68, 69], unfortunately, only one study has been conducted to map the QTLs for phytic acid in rice [18]. Stangoulis et al. [18] identified two QTLs explaining 15.4–24.3% of PVE for grain phytates from an IR64 × Azucena double haploid population. One common QTL for phytate and total P concentrations on chromosome 5 with the (high concentration) allele contributed from Azucena was identified. Furthermore, it was reported that Fe, Zn, and Mn contents in grains have different genetic regulation because the QTLs of phytate were not located on the same chromosomal regions as those found for Fe, Zn, and Mn [18]. So, there is a great possibility to find segregants having a low level of phytic acid and high level of Fe, Zn, and Mn content. Use of molecular marker in the breeding and selection to

reduce grain phytic acid and improving the nutritional value of cereal grains.

in collaboration with HarvestPlus and national initiatives, serve as pillars for achieving these objectives. These efforts have resulted in crops with the potential to increase both quantities and bioavailability of essential mineral elements in human diets, particularly in elementary cereal crops such as rice, wheat, maize, cassava, beans, and sweet potatoes. However, crop biofortification is a challenging task. Collaboration between plant breeders, nutritionists, genetic engineers, and molecular biologists is essential to achieving this. Breeding approaches are generalised and easy to accept and have been used to improve food nutritional qualities sustainably. Although greater emphasis is placed on molecular breeding-based approaches of which success rates are much higher as transgenically fortified crop plants, it faces

Biofortification is a promising, cost-effective, agricultural strategy to improve the nutritional status of the world's undernourished populations. Strategies for biofortification based on crop breeding, targeted genetic manipulation, and/ or mineral fertiliser application have great potential to address human mineral malnutrition [70–72]. Developing biofortified food crops with improved nutrient content such as increased content of iron, zinc, Se, and provitamin A provides adequate levels of these and other such micronutrients that are often lacking in developed and developing diets. International initiatives, such as the CGIAR centres

**6. Conclusions and future prospects**

**5. Phytic acid**

**46**

*Flowchart showing development and release of a biofortified variety and its acceptance by farmers and consumers.*

hurdles due to consumer acceptance and costly and time-consuming regulatory approval processes adopted by different countries. Biofortified crops have a very bright future in addition to these challenges, as they have the potential to eliminate micronutrient malnutrition among billions of poor people, particularly in developing countries. Overall developmental process of the biofortified rice variety are presented in **Figure 3**.
