1,044 New 'Promising' Plant Sources Of Vitamin B Identified, But Some Are Already Threatened

Vitamin B is essential for maintaining good health, but many people across the world remain deficient in it. A team of researchers has recently identified more than a thousand plant species that could be a source of vitamin B, but many of them are already threatened.

B vitamins are nutrients that play a unique role in aiding people's health. However, many people from both developed and developing countries are still vitamin B deficient, Imperial College London, noted in a news release. Certain people such as pregnant women, older adults and those with certain conditions are more at risk of vitamin B deficiency, according to Healthline.

In a new study published in Nature Plants, the researchers identified 1,044 plant species that may be "promising" sources of B vitamins.

"Of the approximately 390,000 vascular plant species known to science, thousands have been reported to be edible, yet their nutritional content remains poorly characterized," the researchers wrote. "Here we use phylogenetic information to identify plants with the greatest potential to support strategies alleviating B-vitamin deficiencies."

Among these newly identified plant species are several oat species that can be found in Europe and the U.K. as well as the Ethiopian oat, which Imperial College London described as a "traditional and underutilized food." Many grass species in the Digitaria genus also have great potential to be a source of vitamin B, the university noted.

However, the researchers noted that quite a few of the identified species should be considered "conservation priorities." Sixty-three of them are already threatened in the wild. These include a wild durian species from Borneo as well as the fruits and seeds of several emblematic Baobabs native to Madagascar. Meanwhile, 272 aren't in seed banks.

According to the researchers, many of the "conservation-priority" species even overlap with malnutrition hotspots. Furthermore, more than 350 of the potential sources haven't had their conservation statuses assessed. This could mean that the actual number of species that are threatened may even be higher, Imperial College London noted.

"We need to pay more attention to the incredible diversity of edible plants to better understand how they can contribute to human nutrition and what we need to do to preserve them for future generations," said study lead author, Ph.D. researcher Aoife Cantwell-Jones of Imperial College London, in the university news release. "Our study represents an important step in that direction."

"With more than two billion people suffering from malnutrition and diets homogenizing globally, it is vital to identify and conserve nutrient-rich species that may contribute to improving food security and diversifying diets," the researchers wrote.