Nutritional enrichment of sweet potato with highly bioavailable iron to alleviate anemia and hidden hunger in Central America and the Caribbean

Together, classical plant breeding and modern plant biotechnology methods can greatly contribute to the efficient development of nutritionally enriched crops.

Central America and the Caribbean is a region where the number of undernourished people has increased, moving this region away from meeting the Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 3 (Zero Hunger and Good Health, respectively) by 2030.

The project is carried out in collaboration with Guatemala and Honduras and the goal is to promote the development of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) cultivars with high content of bioavailable iron and help reducing anaemia and hidden hunger.

Sweetpotato lines, selected for having high iron levels, are being tested on the fields of both countries to determine the effect of climate and soil on the content of bioavailable iron.

These plants will be used for omics studies whose result will be used to do an in silico metabolic reconstruction of the metabolism of iron.

Also a CRISPR-Cas genome editing protocol will be developed to target the identified genes associated with the translocation of iron. Finally, the bioavailability of iron will be determined using a human cell model.

In this way, this project will improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the uptake, mobilization, and storage of iron in sweet potato.

It is very likely that the results obtained in this study can also be extended to other plant species, promoting the nutritional enrichment of iron in other crops.