Challenges and solutions to improve malnutrition through biofortification of wheat

One of the current problems in the country is the malnutrition caused by the low intake of micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), due to the low diversity of the diet of the people of these countries and the major role of cereals, especially wheat, in energy and micronutrient nutrition. Considering the important physiological roles of Fe and Zn in the body and the low intrinsic of these elements in wheat grain (between 10 to 50 mg/kg), it is necessary to increase these elements in wheat. On the other hand, wheat has anti-nutritional compounds, such as phytic acid, which reduce the absorption of these elements in the body. In the meanwhile, the application of Zn-containing fertilizers as soluble in vegetative and seedling stages, with effect on cell metabolism and its improvement, increased the parameters involved in yield such as number of spikes per area, number of seeds per spike and thousand grain weight which the result of these factors is the increase of grain yield. Improvement of qualitative properties such as increasing the content of micro-elements in grains (Zn and Fe), ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and reducing phytic acid causes the index of phytic acid to Zn molar ratio to degrade in calcareous soils. Also, Zn application can improve the quality of the produced wheat and by increasing the biological value of the protein, will help reduce the malnutrition caused by low protein intake. Therefore, it seems that supplying the Zn with the needs of the plant using agronomic biofortification methods can be proposed as a short-term solution to reduce the nutritional problems caused by Zn deficiency and to improve quantitative and qualitative food safety indicators. On the other hand, wheat has a high genetic diversity in Zn tolerance. This feature has made it possible to achieve genetic biofortification as a long-term solution to achieve higher-yielding genotypes or cultivars to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and improve people's food security.