Food biodiversity is defined as "the diversity of plants, animals and other organisms used for food, covering the genetic resources within species, between species and provided by ecosystems." Food biodiversity can be considered from two main perspectives: production and consumption. From a consumption perspective, food biodiversity describes the diversity of foods in human diets and their contribution to

dietary diversity Dietary diversity is the variety or the number of different food groups people eat over the time given. Many researchers might use the word ' dietary diversity' and ‘dietary variety’ interchangeably. However, some researchers differentiate the d ...

, cultural identity and good

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

. Production of food biodiversity looks at the thousands of food products, such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, meat and condiments sourced from agriculture and from the wild (e.g. forests, uncultivated fields, water bodies). Food biodiversity covers the diversity ''between species,'' for example different animal and crop species, including those considered neglected and underutilized species. Food biodiversity also comprises the diversity ''within species,'' for example different varieties of fruit and vegetables, or different breeds of animals. Food diversity, diet diversity nutritional diversity, are also terms used in the new diet culture spawned by Brandon Eisler, in the study known as Nutritional Diversity.

Consumption of food biodiversity

Food biodiversity, nutrition, and health

Promoting diversity of foods and species consumed in human diets in particular has potential co-benefits for public health as well as

sustainable food systems A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable a ...

perspective. Food biodiversity provides necessary nutrients for quality diets and is an essential part of local food systems, cultures and

food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...

. Promoting diversity of foods and species consumed in human diets in particular has potential co-benefits for sustainable food systems. Nutritionally, diversity in food is associated with higher micronutrient adequacy of diets. On average, per additional species consumed, mean adequacy of

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably bet ...

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...

folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

, and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

increased by 3%. From a conservation point of view, diets based on a wide variety of species place less pressure on single species. Furthermore, food biodiversity, as measured by the absolute number of biological species in the usual diet, was negatively associated with total mortality rate and cause-specific deaths due to cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease, and digestive disease among ~450,000 adults from nine European countries.

Production of food biodiversity

Role of biodiversity in production systems

Conservation and management of broad-based

genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...

within the domesticated species have been improving agricultural production for 10,000 years. However, diverse natural populations have been providing food and other products for much longer. High biodiversity can maximize production levels, which are sustained through beneficial impact of

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. Th ...

for agricultural, modified and natural ecosystems. Conversely, reliance on a narrow portfolio of crops or crop varieties can jeopardize food production systems. This is illustrated by the Great Famine of Ireland. Potatoes were introduced into Ireland from the New World in about 1600 and they became the major food source of most Irish people. The wind-borne Potato blight fungus spread throughout the country In 1845-1847 and caused almost complete failure of the potato crop. It is estimated that 1 million people died of starvation, cholera and typhoid.

Ecosystem services

A wide range of biologically diverse populations in natural ecosystems and in / near agricultural ecosystems maintain essential ecological functions that are critical for the production of food. Such populations contribute positively to, for example,

nutrient cycling A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of inorganic and organic matter back into the production of matter. Energy flow is a unidirectional and noncyclic pathway, whereas the movement of mineral nutrients is cycli ...

decomposition Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is e ...

of organic matter, crusted or degraded

soil rehabilitation Soil regeneration, as a particular form of ecological regeneration within the field of restoration ecology, is creating new soil and rejuvenating soil health by: minimizing the loss of topsoil, retaining more carbon than is depleted, boosting biodi ...

, pest and disease regulation,

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

maintenance, and

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

. Maintaining species diversity, while building on and enhancing ecosystem functions, reduces external input requirements by increasing

nutrient availability A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excre ...

, improving water use and

soil structure Soil structure describes the arrangement or the way of soil in the solid parts of the soil and of the pore space located between them. It is determined by how individual soil granules clump, bind together, and aggregate, resulting in the arrangem ...

, and controlling pests.

Traits

Genetic diversity within food species is a source of useful genes with a variety of benefits. For example: * Wild subspecies of tomatoes (''

Solanum lycopersicum The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

chmielewskii'') were

crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

with cultivated tomato species. After 10 generations, new tomato strains with larger fruits were produced. There was a marked increase in pigmentation. The content of soluble solid, mainly

fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galacto ...

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...

and other sugars increased. H.H.Iltis (1988). "Serendipity in the Exploration of Biodiversity." In:

E. O. Wilson Edward Osborne Wilson (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, entomologist and writer. According to David Attenborough, Wilson was the world's leading expert in his specialty of myrmecology, the study of an ...

, editor. ''Biodiversity''. National Academy Press. 98-105. * A barley plant from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

provides a gene that protects the barley crop from the lethal yellow dwarf virus.M.J.Plotkin. 1988. ''The Outlook for New Agricultural and Industrial Products from the Tropics''. In: E.O. Wilson, Editor. Biodiversity. National Academy Press * Host resistance gene, Xa21, from ''

Oryza longistaminata ''Oryza longistaminata'' is a perennial species of grass from the same genus as cultivated rice (''O. sativa''). It is native to most of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. It has been introduced into the United States, where it is often regarded ...

'' is integrated into the genome of ''

Oryza sativa ''Oryza sativa'', commonly known as Asian rice or indica rice, is the plant species most commonly referred to in English as ''rice''. It is the type of farmed rice whose cultivars are most common globally, and was first domesticated in the Yan ...

'' for a broad range resistance to rice blight disease caused by ''

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae ''Xanthomonas oryzae'' pv. ''oryzae'' is a bacterial pathovar that causes a serious blight of rice, other grasses, and sedges. Background The genus ''Xanthomonas'', which mostly comprises phytopathogenic bacteria, is a member of the family Xa ...

'' Rice Genetics Newsletter, Vol. 20: Evaluation of durable resistance of transgenic hybrid maintainer line IR58025B for bacterial blight disease of rice
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References

External links

Facilitating Mechanism of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
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Bioversity International Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food and nutrition security, wor ...

Biodiversity Nutrition Food and drink