Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Apr;28(4):849-869.
doi: 10.1007/s12298-022-01144-0. Epub 2022 Apr 27.

Achieving nutritional security in India through iron and zinc biofortification in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)

Tripti Singhal  1   2 , C Tara Satyavathi  3   4 , S P Singh  1   5 , M Mallik  1 , N Anuradha  6 , S Mukesh Sankar  1 , C Bharadwaj  1 , Nirupma Singh  1
Affiliations
Review

Achieving nutritional security in India through iron and zinc biofortification in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)

Tripti Singhal et al. Physiol Mol Biol Plants. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

The health problems caused by iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) deficiency plague developing and underdeveloped countries. A vegetarian person mainly depends on cereal based diet with low quantity of Fe and Zn. Biofortification is an economical and sustainable approach to challenge the micronutrient malnutrition problem globally. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is one of the nutri-cereals and mostly grown under hot, dry conditions on infertile soils of low water-holding capacity, where other crops generally fail. It contains anti-nutrient compounds like phytic acid and polyphenols which reduce the mineral bioavailability because of their chelating properties. Biofortification of pearl millet is like a double-edged sword which cuts down the economic burden and simultaneously supplies required nutrition to the poor, offering a great scope for food security as well as nutritional security. With this background, this review focus on biofortification of grain Fe and Zn content in pearl millet. Genetic research on Fe and Zn uptake and accumulation in pearl millet grain is crucial in identifying the 'bottlenecks' in biofortification. The review also reveals the need and strategies for increasing bioavailability of Fe and Zn in humans by increasing promoters and decreasing anti-nutritional factors in pearl millet.

Keywords: Biofortification; Fe and Zn; Nutritional security; Pearl millet.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of Fe acquisition and transport in higher plants Abbreviations: DMAS deoxymugineic acid synthase, MAs mugineic acid family phytosiderophores, NA nicotianamine, NAAT nicotianamine amino transferase, NAS nicotianamine synthase, SAM S-adenosyl-l-methionine, TOM1 transporter of mugineic acid family phytosiderophores 1, YS1/YSL YELLOW STRIPE 1/YELLOW STRIPE 1–like, FRDL 1 (Ferric Reductase Defective Like 1)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic representation of zinc acquisition and its transport from soil to grain Abbreviations: ZIP (ZRT- IRT-like proteins), HMA (heavy metal ATPases), MTP (metal tolerance protein), YSL (yellow-stripe-like) transporters
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The map of India presents four major states with cultivation areas and production of pearl millet (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abbaspour N, Hurrell R, Kelishadi R. Review on iron and its importance for human health. J Res Med Sci. 2014;19:164. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahmad Fuzi SF, Koller D, Bruggraber S, Pereira DI, Dainty JR, Mushtaq S. A 1-h time interval between a meal containing iron and consumption of tea attenuates the inhibitory effects on iron absorption: a controlled trial in a cohort of healthy UK women using a stable iron isotope. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017;106:1413–1421. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.117.161364. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ajeesh Krishna TP, Maharajan T, Victor Roch G, Ignacimuthu S, Antony Ceasar S. Structure, function, regulation and phylogenetic relationship of ZIP family transporters of plants. Front Plant Sci. 2020;11:662. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00662. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. AICRP-PM (All India Coordinated Research Project on Pearl Millet). http://www.Aicpmip.res.in/publication .html
    1. Anuradha N, Satyavathi CT, Bharadwaj C, Nepolean T, Sankar SM, Singh SP, Meena MC, Singhal T, Srivastava RK. Deciphering genomic regions for high grain iron and zinc content using association mapping in pearl millet. Front Plant Sci. 2017;8:412. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00412. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources