Zinc-Fortified Rice: Approach to Improve Dietary Zinc Consumption and Effect on Human Health

Abstract

Micronutrient deficiencies are a key limiting factor associated with malnutrition in more than half of the human population worldwide. Micronutrient deficiencies, particularly zinc (Zn) deficiency, are the most prominent in children and pregnant women. To reduce the prevalence of these deficiencies, several different approaches were adopted including food fortification, supplementation, dietary diversification, and biofortification. Rice (Oryza sativa) is a staple food crop worldwide, with long-term sustainability and cost-effectiveness of biofortification comparative to other approaches, makes rice biofortification an interesting target to address micronutrient deficiencies issues. Therefore, about 1.5 million farming households are growing numerous Zn-biofortified rice varieties, indicating that biofortification programs are a reliable approach in various countries. In this review we discussed different strategies to improve consumption and the use of potential Zn biofortification strategies in rice, including the advantage of crop for biofortification, addresses different challenges, and proposed solutions to significantly improve Zn-biofortification program. Plant stem and root cells rely heavily on the OsZIP1 family of zinc finger proteins for zinc transport and distribution. This family includes OsZIP3, OsZIP4, OsZIP5, and OsZIP8. Despite its importance, very few studies have looked into how zinc is transported and used in plant and germline tissues. Attempts to increase grain zinc levels through agronomic treatments have been shown to not always be successful but have a higher chance of success when combined with genetic engineering. Marker-assisted selection might take advantage of the discovered grain Zn main impact and consistent quantitative trait loci (QTLs).