Current strategies for vitamin E biofortification of crops.
Vitamin E refers to four tocopherols and four tocotrienols that are exclusively synthesized by photosynthetic organisms. While α-tocopherol is the most potent vitamin E compound, it is not the main form consumed since the composition of most major crops is dominated by γ-tocopherol. Nutritional studies show that populations of developed countries do not consume enough vitamin E and that a large proportion of individuals exhibit plasma α-tocopherol deficiency. Following the identification of vitamin E biosynthetic genes, several strategies including metabolic engineering, classic breeding and mutation breeding, have been undertaken to improve the vitamin E content of crops. In addition to providing crops in which vitamin E content is enhanced, these studies are revealing the bottlenecks limiting its biosynthesis.
University of Fribourg, Department of Biology, Chemin du musée, 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. Electronic address: laurent.mene-saffrane@unifr.ch.
Laurent
L
Mène-Saffrané
University of Fribourg, Department of Biology, Chemin du musée, 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
Sébastien
S
Pellaud
D000072759:Biofortification / Q000379:methods*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000378:metabolism*
D014810:Vitamin E