Food composition is fundamental to the cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition

The usefulness of food composition data at the level of the genetic resource (i.e. taxonomic level below species) is becoming increasingly acknowledged. Recent research has provided data to confirm the micronutrient superiority of some lesser-known cultivars and wild varieties over other, more extensively utilized cultivars. Sweet potato cultivars have been shown to differ in their carotenoid content by two orders of magnitude or more; protein content of rice varieties can range from 5 to 13%; provitamin-A carotenoid content of bananas can be less than 1 mcg/100 g for some cultivars to as high as 8500 mcg/100 g for other cultivars. Intake of one variety rather than another can be the difference between micronutrient deficiency and micronutrient adequacy. These data are important for the sectors of health, agriculture, trade and the environment. The importance of nutrition is now recognized by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. At the request of the CBD, FAO is leading the “Cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition,” in collaboration with Bioversity International, and developing or improving compositional databases will form a significant part of the initiative. Once the data are prepared and compiled, they can be used in practically every domain of nutrition: nutrition education, community nutrition, nutrition interventions, food emergencies, nutritional labelling, food consumption surveys, to name but a few. These data should be “mainstreamed” into national and regional food composition databases giving recognition and importance to cultivars, varieties and breeds as foods in their own right.