Rationale for biofortification of provitamin A in maize grain Global severity of vitamin A deficiency Estimated % of daily calories from maize Can account for more than 50% of total daily calories in African and Latin American countries with high nutritional deficiencies. In these countries, maize varieties typically do not provide grain with adequate daily levels of essential nutrients – Fe, Zn, vitamin A, vitamin E, B vitamins. The tremendous genetic diversity of maize can be potentially harnessed by biofortification to develop nutrient-dense grain. WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1995-2005 Source: FAO, 2011 7 million pregnant women and 127 million preschool-aged children are vitamin A deficient

Nutritional profile of maize grain Highest ProVA Activity Starchy food staple Carotenoids mostly in endosperm The tremendous genetic diversity of maize can be harnessed via biofortification to develop nutrient-dense grain blue, water-soluble; red, fat-soluble Average: 1.7 μg/g Target: 17.0 μg/g Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Alternatives: Chemical fortification Diet diversification Supplementation Diepenbrock and Gore. 2015. Crop Sci. 55:1437-1448

Discovery and design: Maize that fortifies itself Maize Germplasm Phenotypic Data HPLC Quantification Mature Grain (2 yrs) 8 carotenoid traits ~17,000 HPLC runs Carotenoids that accumulate in cereal endosperm tissue are synthesized in amyloplasts

We collaborate with Zambia Our research results flow to HarvestPlus/CIMMYT, enabling MAS for high provitamin A levels in maize grain that surpass target levels HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) CIMMYT - International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center IITA - International Institute of Tropical Agriculture