Bread wheat with enhanced grain carotenoid content: a novel option for wheat biofortification.

Unlabelled: Colored wheat has piqued the interest of breeders and consumers alike. The chromosomal segment from 7E of , which carries a leaf rust resistant gene, , has been rarely employed in wheat breeding operations due to its association with the gene, which gives a yellow tint to the flour. By prioritizing nutritional content over color preferences, consumer acceptance has undergone a paradigm change.

Combining high carotenoid, grain protein content and rust resistance in wheat for food and nutritional security.

Globally, malnutrition has given birth to an alarming predicament, especially in developing countries, and has extensively shifted consumer preferences from conventional high-energy diets to a nutritionally balanced, cost-effective, sustainable, and healthy lifestyle. In keeping with this view and the mandate for developing high-yielding, disease-resistant biofortified staple food (wheat) for catering to the demand-driven market, the current research aimed at stacking together the enhanced grain protein content, carotenoid content, and disease resistance in an elite bread wheat background. The gene () and the gene were used as novel sources for enhancing the grain carotenoid and protein content in the commercial elite bread wheat cultivar HD2967.

Colored wheat and derived products: key to global nutritional security.

Ensuring food and nutritional security of fast-growing population will pose a huge challenge in future. An estimated one-half population who does not go hungry, nonetheless suffers the debilitating effects of unhealthy diets. In view of the nutritional awareness, when the major wheat breeding programs have started shifting to quality, instead of quantity in wheat, the colored wheats give a novel twist of targeting the malnutrition by enhancing the antioxidants such as anthocyanin, carotenoids, flavonoids, polyphenols etc.