Table 1.

Summary of Biofortification of Essential Vitamins and Micronutrients Achieved in Staple Crops

	Crop	Base Level (ppm)	Biofortification Level (ppm)		References
Target Micronutrient/Vitamin			Breeding	GM
β-Carotene (β-C) or total carotenoids (TC)	Rice	0		2–37	Ye et al. (2000) Paine et al. (2005)
	Maize	~0a	14 (β-C); 60 (TC)	10–20	Meenakshi et al. (2007) Naqvi et al. (2009) Harjes et al. (2008) Yan et al. (2010)
	Cassava	0.4 (β-C)a; 0.6–1.5 (TC)a	1.5 (β-C); 6–11.5 (TC)	21.5 (TC); 7 (β-C)	Welsch et al. (2010) Rojas et al. (2009)
	Sweet potato	0	32		Meenakshi et al. (2007)
Potato	2–5a		40 (β-C) 100–200 (TC)	Diretto et al. (2010)
Folate	Rice	<1		17	Storozhenko et al. (2007)
Maize	100		200	Naqvi et al. (2009)
Vitamin C	Maize	18		107	Naqvi et al. (2009)
Iron	Beans	40	80–100		Meenakshi et al. (2007)
	Rice	3	6–8	11–22	Meenakshi et al. (2007) Wirth et al. (2009) Goto et al. (1999) Lucca et al. (2001)
Wheat	38	46–61		Meenakshi et al. (2007)
Zinc	Beans	30	40–50		Meenakshi et al. (2007)
	Rice	13–20	24–35	25–34	Meenakshi et al. (2007) Wirth et al. (2009)
Wheat	30	30	37–55	Meenakshi et al. (2007)

GM, produced by genetic engineering techniques; Breeding, produced using non-GM variation.

^aDepending on variety.