A pea-powered innovation that boosts vitamin B12 in salad leaves may help address the growing global demand for the essential vitamin. In a multidisciplinary study, researchers from the John Innes Centre, the Quadram Institute (both Norwich, UK), the University of Bristol and indoor farm specialists LettUs Grow (both Bristol, UK) have used advances in aeroponic technology to fortify pea shoots (Pisum sativum) with vitamin B12. In doing so, they hope to address a major public health need, delivering the recommended daily allowance of B12 within a single portion of pea shoots and offering a commercially viable approach for dietary supplementation that may also work in comparable crops. Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is the only essential vitamin absent in plants. It is produced by bacteria, and humans generally acquire it by eating animal-derived foods, meaning that those following vegetarian and vegan diets without sufficient supplementation are at risk of deficiency, symptoms of which include anaemia and neurological dysfunction. As well as dietary insufficiency, B12 deficiency can arise as a result of genetic factors, autoimmune gastritis, infections, parasites and recreational drug use. Globally, B12 levels are in decline, particularly in populations consuming low amounts of animal-based foods and in older people. Tablets are one solution; however, they may not facilitate optimal absorption, hence the drive for new, bio-accessible ways to sneak the vitamin into our food. To investigate whether this was possible in salad, the team used aeroponics – a method of growing plants without soil that involves suspending roots…
