Summary
This review by Zhao and McGrath, published in Plant and Soil in 2009, examines the interactions between soil nutrient status and biofortification outcomes in crop plants. It likely synthesises evidence on agronomic biofortification — the use of soil or foliar mineral inputs to enhance crop nutritional quality — alongside genetic approaches, assessing the role of soil chemistry, plant physiology, and management in determining mineral accumulation in edible tissues. The paper is considered a foundational reference in the field of crop mineral nutrition and food quality research.
UK applicability
Both authors were based at Rothamsted Research in the UK, and the review draws substantially on UK and European soil and agronomic contexts, making it highly applicable to UK arable systems where selenium and zinc deficiencies in soils are recognised concerns for both crop quality and human nutrition.
Key measures
Crop mineral concentrations (mg/kg); soil nutrient availability; fertiliser application rates; biofortification efficiency
Outcomes reported
The paper examines how soil nutrient availability and management practices influence the mineral concentration of edible crop tissues, with a focus on biofortification approaches to improve human micronutrient intake. It likely reports on the relationships between soil properties, fertiliser inputs, and crop uptake of minerals such as zinc, selenium, and iron.
Topic tags
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