Folate enhancement in staple crops by metabolic engineering

Folate deficiency has profound effects on human health and affects large population groups around the world. Plants are the main source of dietary folate, therefore, the creation of genetically modified crops with higher folate content may contribute to solve the global folate deficiency problem. Current approaches, which have been successfully used for the enhancement of other micronutrients in plants and their potential applicability for folate enhancement, are reviewed. Folate biosynthesis in plants as well as recent advances in methods for folate detection are also discussed.