High carbon dioxide levels mean that plants lack minerals and crops become less nutritious

“What is clear is that the nutritional composition of major crops used worldwide, such as rice and wheat, is negatively affected by increasing levels of carbon dioxide,” said Antoine Martin, corresponding author of the study and researcher at the Center d’nationale. No Scientific Research (CNRS).

“Two essential nutrients for human nutrition could be affected by this phenomenon,” Goujon said. “The first is proteins that are made up of nitrogen. In developing countries, this can be a big problem, because many diets in these countries are not rich in protein. And plants grown in elevated levels of carbon dioxide can produce 20 to 30 percent Less protein The second is iron Iron deficiency already affects an estimated 2 billion people worldwide.

On top of the impact on global food systems, the fact that plants contain fewer minerals at elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to a negative feedback loop – a feedback loop – to mitigate climate change. “Carbon uptake on Earth associated with increased photosynthesis may be limited if most plants are deficient in nitrogen and other minerals. This may prevent any further increase in this uptake from the atmosphere,” Gojon said.

It is not yet clear how elevated levels of carbon dioxide negatively affect the mechanisms by which plants absorb and process minerals.

“We’d really like to understand the mechanisms responsible for the negative effects of elevated carbon dioxide on plant mineral composition,” Martin said. “We are currently studying the natural genetic variation behind these negative effects, which can later be used to improve the nutritional value of crops with future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.”

The researchers’ study has been published in Trends in plant sciences. This article is based on the Hive press release.