Fortified foods have nutrients added during processing. Biofortified crops are bred to take in more nutrients from the soil–and make the crops more nutritious.
We experience fortified food in items like vitamin D-fortified milk or fortified breakfast cereals. But what is biofortified food? The June 7th Sustainable, Secure Food blog explains what biofortified food is. It also explains how crop scientists are using it to solve malnutrition worldwide.
“Biofortification is the effort to develop new food crop varieties with higher amounts of micronutrients,” says Adam Heuberger, Colorado State University. “The improved food starts with the seeds sown into the field. This allows communities and farmers to grow their own biofortified food product. They can also retain seeds from this year’s crop for next year.”
Some biofortification occurs through the availability of nutrients in a field’s soil and water. However, this can vary from field-to-field and year-to-year.
“The most promising method of biofortification is through genetics,” Heuberger says. “Breeders research the development of a new type of crop that retains all of the good qualities of the parent plants. The goal is to retain the high yield, disease resistance, and good taste of a crop–while increasing nutrient value.”
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