Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 7.1.
Nutrient groups and nutrients essential for humans and animals.
Groups of nutrients
Essential nutrients
Amino acids
Histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine,
b
methionine,
b
phenylalanine, threonine,
b
tryptophane,
b
valine (semi-essential: arginine, cystine)
Fatty acids
Linoleic acid, linolenic acid
Ca,
b
Mg,
b
P,
b
Na, K, S, Cl
Major elements
Fe,
b
Zn,
b
Cu, Mn, I,
b
Se,
b
Co (cobalamin; vitamin B
12
)
F, B, Mo, Ni, Cr, V, Si, As, Cd, Pb, Li, Sn
Trace elements
Ultra-trace elements
a
Vitamins (fat soluble)
(water soluble)
A
b
(precursor
-carotene), D, E,
b
K
B
1
(thiamin), B
2
(ribofl avin), B
6
(pyridoxin), B
12
b
(cobalamin), pantothenic acid,
niacin, folate,
b
biotin, C (ascorbic acid)
Notes:
a
Essentiality of some elements is unclear (McDowell, 2003); occasionally benefi cial elements (Suttle, 2010);
b
fi rst
limiting nutrients.
enzymes (Zhang
et al
., 2000; Nyannor
et
al
., 2007; Gao
et al
., 2012; see Section
7.7);
antioxidative substances (Sevenier
et al
.,
2002);
et al
., 2004; White and Broadley, 2005;
Sautter
et al
., 2006; Mayer
et al
., 2008;
Gilligan, 2012; see Chapter 12 for further
details).
Many feed additives are available for
animals (see the present EU feed law). Such
additives are mostly cheaper and their
development/production is faster than via
plant bioengineering. Many additives are
produced by GM microorganisms (see
Chapter 11).
Table 7.3 shows some examples of GM
plants with altered composition. Some
fundamentals are described in Chapter 2
and future developments in the i eld of GM
plants are shown in Chapter 12.
Plants with output traits are not
substantially equivalent to their isogenic
counterparts because of substantial changes
in composition and nutritive value (Llorente
et al
., 2011), and the paradigm of substantial
equivalence (OECD, 1993) cannot be used
for the safety and nutritional assessment of
food/feed from such plants. New and
changed procedures are necessary for the
safety and nutritional assessment of food/
feed from the second generation of GM
plants (ILSI, 2007; EFSA, 2008, 2011). h e
higher content of some nutrients in food/
feed is one side of genetic modii cation; their
bioavailability in humans and animals is the
other side.
Apart from the safety assessment of
tDNA and newly expressed protein(s),
nutritional assessments and investigation
into the consequences of changes in nutrient
content should be undertaken (see Bouis
and lower contents of undesirable sub-
stances, such as:
glucosinolates (Vageeshbabu and Chopra,
1997);
gluten (Vasil and Anderson, 1997);
mycotoxins (Munkvold
et al
., 1999;
Duvick, 2001, see also Table 6.1); and
phytate (see Section 7.8).
A similar structure is used by Hirschi (2009)
to characterize biofortii ed crops for human
nutrition. He distinguishes between protein
and amino acids, carbohydrates, micro-
nutrients and functional metabolites on the
one hand and plant components with
suggested functionality such as dietary i bre,
carotinoids, fatty acids, l avonoids, gluco-
sinolates, phenolics, plant sterols, phyto-
oestrogens, suli des and tannins on the
other hand (see also ILSI, 2008; Newell-
McGloughlin, 2008).
Such biofortii cation may be more
important for human nutrition than for
animal nutrition (see Table 7.2). Food from
biofortii ed crops can reach rural populations
for reducing levels of micronutrient mal-
nutrition, as has been discussed and
demonstrated by many authors during the
past few years (DellaPenna, 1999; Dawe
et
al
., 2002; King, 2002; Bouis
et al
., 2003;
Johns, 2003; McKeon, 2003; Zimmermann
