A revved-up sweet potato engineered to contain more vitamin A is a promising new tool in the fight against malnutrition in Africa.
Nature writes that HarvestPlus, which is funded by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), cross-bred Africa’s white and yellow sweet potatoes to create an orange-toned variety rich in beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the human body. The potato is also more tolerant to drought that either of its genetic parents.
HarvestPlus researchers distributed orange sweet potato vines to more than 10,000 farming families in Uganda. Results published last week in the Journal of Nutrition showed that households that grew the crop experienced excellent effect.
Vitamin A deficiency can lead to blindness, compromised immune systems and even death. HarvestPlus notes that up to 500,000 preschool children go blind from lack of vitamin A every year, two thirds of which die within months of losing their sight.
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Tags: food game, food news, fruits and vegetables, healthy eating, natural cures, vitamin A
