Good gracious - greater grains!

Research undertaken by Flinders University scientists could help increase the nutritional output of the staple grains of developing countries. The team has shown that they can alter the distribution of micronutrients such as zinc and iron in rice and wheat, creating more nutritious crops. Staple food crops such as wheat and rice form the bulk of diets in poorer countries, but they contain very low levels of essential micronutrients; iron and zinc in particular. Whole grains contain higher levels of micronutrients but most of these are found in the outer layers of the grain which are often removed prior to cooking.

Dr Georgia Guild and researchers from the School of Biological Sciences at Flinders University mapped the spread of micronutrients in both normal rice grains and those that had been developed to produce more of a protein involved in transporting sugars than they usually would. The researchers showed that the modified rice had higher levels of nutrients in the endosperm - the starchy part of the grain that people eat - confirming its potential as a more nutritious alternative to ordinary white rice.

Dr Guild presented the research, ‘Mapping the micronutrient distribution in grains overexpressing the sucrose transporter, HvSUT1 with LA-ICP-MS’, at the recent 23rd Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis and the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Adelaide.