The 1996 World Food Summit has defined food security as, ‘when all people, at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life’.
It is no longer breaking news, therefore, that the world is increasingly challenged by climate change, population increase and the need for sustainable agricultural practices.
Hence, the nutritional biochemistry of crops offers a ground-breaking approach to ensure that are agricultural systems not only survive, but thrive.
To enhance food security by leveraging nutritional biochemistry, researchers can unlock the potential embedded in the nutritional biochemistry of crops by focusing on understanding and altering the biochemical processes that control nutrients availability, uptake, and utilisation in crops.
At the core of these processes are enzymatic reactions that control the synthesis and storage of vital micronutrients, which are influenced by both genetic factors and environmental conditions, including soil quality, water availability and light.
Understanding these biochemical processes allows for the development of crops with improved nutrient profiles, better resilience to environmental stressors, and greater efficiency in nutrients absorption.
At the core of these processes are enzymatic reactions that control the synthesis, storage of transport of macro-nutrients such as carbohydrate. Understanding these biochemical mechanisms allows for development of crops with improved nutrient profiles, better resilience to environmental stressors and greater efficiency in nutrient absorption.
By harnessing the power of nutritional biochemistry of crops, researchers can genetically engineer crops that not only thrive amidst harsh weather conditions, but also able to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population.
Below are techniques that researchers can explore:
Bio-fortification
According to the World Health Organisation, bio-fortification is the process by which the nutrient density of food crops is increased through conventional plant breeding, and/or improved agronomic practices and/or modern biotechnology without sacrificing any characteristic that is preferred by consumers or most importantly to farmers. Researchers can improve the nutritional quality of crops by increasing the bio-availability of major nutrients such as zinc, iron and iodine.
By altering biochemical pathways involved in the production and storage of these nutrients, researchers can produce crops that are naturally rich in these nutrients, which are essential for combating malnutrition.
For example, beans have been bio fortified with iron to help address iron deficiency, anemia, particularly in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
The Food Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has estimated that around 792.5 million people across the world are malnourished, out of which 789 million people live in developing countries.
Apart from this, around two billion people across the world suffer from a type of hunger called ‘hidden hunger’, which is due to an inadequate consumption of vital micro-nutrients in their daily diet despite increased crop production. Over time, minerals and vitamins have been provided to the public through nutrient supplementation initiatives, but it did not perform as expected, for the initiative not only sustain on funding that is not certain, but also due to the limiting purchasing power of people that were not able to afford it.
Hence, bio-fortification of different varieties of crops offers a sustainable and long-term solution to ‘hidden hunger’ or ‘malnutrition’ especially in poor and developing countries where diets are dominated by staple foods.
Genetically modification of crops
Genetically modifying crops can enhance food security, as it addresses different challenges related to food production.
By altering the genetic composition of crops, scientists can improve characteristics such as increased nutritional content, tolerance to environmental stressors like temperature and drought and resistance to pests.
Biochemically, genetically modification entails several techniques, primarily using recombinant DNA technology.
This process allows scientists to isolate specific genes responsible for desired traits and insert them into the genomes of plants.
This insertion is achieved using various molecular tools such as restriction enzymes, which cut DNA at specific sequences, and ligase, which joins DNA strands.
One of the most important contributions of genetically modified crops to food security is the increase in agricultural yields.
By enhancing crops traits such as resistance to adverse weather conditions, GM crops can produce higher yields, even under unfavourable conditions.
For example, Bt cotton, which has been genetically modified to express a protein from a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, which is resistant to specific pests, thereby reducing the need for chemical pesticides.
This protein works by disrupting the digestive system of certain insect pests for it is harmless to humans and plants, but harmful to certain insects that feed on the cotton plant.
Mutagenesis
This is a process that involves intentionally causing changes in the genetic composition of crops to produce desirable traits.
This is achieved by exposing the crops to mutagens, which are agents that cause mutation, either physical or chemical, which is capable of causing mutation.
Mutagenesis can alter the biochemistry of crops in different ways enhance their nutritional value thereby contributing to food security. For example, crops can be modified to increase levels of vitamin A (or its precursor, beta-carotene) by inducing mutations in genes involved in its production.
Golden rice is a notable example; it was developed to produce beta-carotene through genetic modification.
In addition to enhancing the nutritional content of crops, mutagenesis can also improve crops ability to cope with environmental stressors that might impact its nutritional profile.
Cross-breeding
This one of the oldest techniques in crop science is to enhance the nutritional biochemistry of crops; it utilises the natural genetic diversity within crop species, which can be harnessed to enhance their biochemical properties.
It entails the intentional crossing of two genetically different crops to combine specific desirable traits from each parent plant into the offspring through the selection of two crops, which are the parents’ crops that exhibit complementary desirable traits, such as enhanced yield and better stress tolerance. By selecting the offspring that exhibit the best combination of these traits, scientists can gradually improve the nutritional value of crops over subsequent generations.
In conclusion, leveraging biochemical approaches to enhance food security is an innovative strategy that can help address the complex challenges of catering for a growing population.
By harnessing the power of biochemical research, crops that are not only resilient to environmental stressors, but also packed with essential nutrients to combat malnutrition, can be developed.
As researchers and scientists continue to unravel the power embedded in nutritional biochemistry of crops, they are a step closer closer to ensuring that everyone, everywhere, irrespective of financial status, has access to nutritious food, thereby laying a solid foundation for a healthier and bright future.
Active journalism costs huge sums of money. To ensure quality and rich agricultural journalism, the support of readers and friends of the publication is required. Donations can be made in Nigerian Naira (NGN). Kindly provide relevant information during transactions and be assured that funds received will be used judiciously and appropriately. For donation to FarmingFarmersFarms, kindly click the link below, call or send message to: +2348095451987.