Plants as source of Vitamin-D: A brief review

Vitamin D deficiency has become a global problem contributed by the limited sun exposure for a large portion of the world population. Hence dietary intake of vitamin D becomes very essential for every age group. However, dietary recommendations for vitamin D are difficult to meet because of the limited dietary sources of natural vitamin D. Further advanced research has proven that vitamin-D3 is more necessary in human physiological functions and vitamin-D2 has to convert to D3 for it to be utilized by the body. This revelation has made it more difficult for the vegetarian, vegan, and population with compromised health conditions, who are denied to consume meat to a level that can fulfill their daily need for vitamin-D. Hence exploring other alternative sources for catering to the need of vitamin-D in the ever-growing population and food trends (veganism) has gained popularity in recent days. Though microbial production or extract preparations (from animal sources) are performing promisingly in this era, as the world is heading towards a sustainable ecosystem, these methods will not fit with the principles of a sustainable future. Traditionally, animal products have been considered as the only source of vitamin D3, but today we know that vitamin D3 and its metabolites are present in certain plants also. However our knowledge about these plants is still limited in terms of their numbers, effectiveness, and production mechanisms. Hence this review is an attempt to imply that plants can be an alternative source of vitamin-D production, through the results of the studies conducted on the quantification of vitamin-D (D2 &D3) and its metabolites in plants.