Balanced Nutrition: Agriculture University Develops Iron, Iodine Rich Tomatoes

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Sep, 2021 ) :To address issue of deficiency of iodine and iron in human diet, the scientists of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture (MNSUAM) are working on tomato, rich in iodine and iron, by applying agronomic techniques.

This was stated by MNSUAM teacher Nabeel Ikram (Department of Agronomy) while talking t o APP here on Sunday.

He said that micronutrients were key components of balanced nutrition. Deficiency of iron and iodine cause severe problems to human health. He hinted that iodine deficiency caused goiter, mental retardation, laziness and some other health complications.

Similarly, iron deficiency in nutrition also led to different health hazards including anemia, in which blood lacked important red blood cells. Nabeel added that red blood cells were very much important because these carried oxygen to different body parts. Similarly, its deficiency in human diet also led to stunted growth, increased loss in pregnancy and newborn mortality, stated Nabeel Ikram.

According to National Nutritional Survey (NNS 2011), iron deficiency is very high among women and kids, in Pakistan. The available data showed that 45% women and 67% kids were iron deficient in the country.

The lecturer MNSUAM remarked that iodine could be provided through salt but the patients with blood pressure could not use it.

He, however, added that iodine and iron rich tomato could be best nutrition for human health. Salad or katchup of tomato was very much common in the country, he noted.

Nabeel stated that MNSUAM was working on iodine and iron rich tomatoes. For this purpose, the tomatoes were grown at an area of two and half Kanal in the varsity, under supervision of Vice Chancellor Dr Asif Ali.

The tomatoes were made enriched with iron and iodine by applying agronomical methods. A particular quantity of potassium iodide and iron sulphate was mixed in irrigation water. The roots of the tomato plants consumed this particular water and thus developed iron and iodine rich tomatoes, he maintained.

To a query about cost, Nabeel stated that the project was not costly. Nutritious tomatoes have high end market. It is highly profit generating crop, he claimed.

How this enriched tomato is different from other tomatoes, the MNSUAM teacher stated that iron and iodine enriched tomatoes were visually dark-red. Similarly, it has more shelve life. He also added that they achieved an average 12 kilogram tomatoes per plant and termed it remarkable production.