Abstract
Micronutrient malnutrition is a major global public health concern. To curtail this, dietary diversity characterized by the consumption of cereals, pulses, vegetables, and fruits is often advised. Herein lies the need for screening of different cultivars of commonly consumed food crops for their inheritability to accumulate Zn and Fe and to evaluate variability present among their gene pools. Edible part of a few food crops (e.g., wheat, lentil, tomato, and mango) representing a broad group of cereals, pulses, vegetables, and fruits along with their available gene pools were sampled for Zn and Fe concentration, given that these food crops are most widely cultivated and consumed on a global scale. The native Zn and Fe accumulation in the edible parts varied significantly (P < 0.05) among the tested food crops, which followed an order: lentil > mango > tomato > wheat, for both the nutrients. Nevertheless, there was limited inherent variation within their respective gene pools. K-means clustering analysis and a study on critical level Zn and Fe content in edible parts through quadrant segregation helped us to screen certain promising genotypes/cultivars for higher Zn and Fe concentration, above their notional baseline concentration, coupled with the high-yielding attribute in the tested food crops. The segregated genotypes/cultivars with low Zn and Fe sequestration potential can serve as important inclusion for agronomic biofortification program, while Zn or Fe efficient cultivars may offer scope for genetic study and development of new elites through breeding interventions to combat Zn and Fe malnutrition in human.
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Acknowledgements
This research was carried out as a part of a PhD dissertation by the first author. We acknowledge the laboratory facilities extended by the ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Micro and Secondary Nutrients and Pollutant Elements in Soils and Plants, BCKV center for the study.
Funding
Partial financial support was received from the Centre for Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology on Conservation Agriculture, National Agricultural Higher Education Project, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi (Sanction No. NAHEP/CAAST/2017–18).
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Conceptualization, B.M., S.S., and S.D.; methodology, B.M., S.D., S.S., and D.S.; investigation, S.D.; experimental materials, A.C., D.M., R.N., and D.K.M.; formal analysis, S.D. and K.S.; data curation, B.M., S.S., K.S., and S.D.; writing (original draft preparation), S.D., S.S., and B.M.; writing (review and editing), B.M., S.S., S.D., D.S., K.B., D.M., and S.M; fund acquisition, B.M., D.S., K.B., and S.M.; and supervision, B.M., S.S., D.S., K.B., and S.M.
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Debnath, S., Saha, S., Mandal, B. et al. Zinc and Iron Profiling in Some Commonly Consumed Food Crops Uncovers Inter- and Intra-crop Variation. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 22, 1768–1777 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-00770-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-00770-7