Carotenoid-enriched Transgenid Corn in Poultry Nutrition

Díaz Gómez, Joana; Moreno Martínez, José Antonio; Angulo Asensio, Eduardo; Sandmann, Gerhard; Portero Otín, Manuel; Capell Capell, Teresa; Zhu, Changfu; Christou, Paul; Nogareda, Carmina

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Issue date

2015-05-01

Author

Díaz Gómez, Joana

Moreno Martínez, José Antonio

Angulo Asensio, Eduardo

Sandmann, Gerhard

Portero Otín, Manuel

Capell Capell, Teresa

Zhu, Changfu

Christou, Paul

Nogareda, Carmina

Suggested citation

Díaz Gómez, Joana; Moreno Martínez, José Antonio; Angulo Asensio, Eduardo; Sandmann, Gerhard; Portero Otín, Manuel; Capell Capell, Teresa; ... Nogareda, Carmina. (2015) . Carotenoid-enriched Transgenid Corn in Poultry Nutrition. Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) News Report, 2015, p. 8-11. http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/49417.

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most important micronutrient deficiencies globally. It is prevalent throughout the world, but it is particularly severe in Africa and South-East Asia. The main underlying cause of VAD is a chronic insufficient vitamin A intake in the diet, which can lead to disorders such as xerophthalmia, anaemia and weakened resistance to infection. It has been estimated that VAD affects up to one third of the world’s pre-school-age children and up to 15% of pregnant women 1 .Vitamin fortification programs are unsustainable due to poor governance, inefficient food distribution networks, and the prevalence of subsistence agriculture in rural populations 2 . Biofortification of staple crops with organic nutrients is a cost-effective and sustainable approach as exemplified by Golden Rice 3 with high-levels of β-carotene, and Multivitamin Corn 4 accumulating high levels of β-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, lycopene, ascorbic acid, and folate. Vitamin A and carotenoid metabolism in chickens is closely related to the equivalent processes in humans. Consequently chickens are also susceptible to vitamin A deficiency with similar symptoms.