Biofortified sweet potatoes as a tool to combat vitamin A deficiency: Effect of food processing in carotenoid content

The supply of food products that present adequate nutritional quality is extremely important for maintaining the health population. Thus, different techniques have been used to obtain biofortified foods, with aim combating malnutrition caused by absence essential micronutrients, especially in poorest populations. This review presents an overview biofortification, emphasis on orange-flesh sweet potatoes (OFSP), and points out effects processing compounds. identification cultivars biofortification actions OFSP conventional breeding are presented as affordable strategies β-carotene alleviate vitamin A deficiency, without having ethical dilemmas related transgenics. Studies using shown promising results obtaining foods high levels carotenoids. However, species must be validated crop production viability, target micronutrient bioavailability bioaccessibility, well effect nutrients, so benefits human effectively achieved.