Scientists in Central China's Hunan Province claim they have successfully developed a new species of "high nutrition rice" which can greatly raise the protein intake of Chinese consumers.
Hong Yahui, an associate researcher with the Hunan Agriculture University, said the DH series rice he and his colleagues have cultivated has an average protein content of 13.8 percent. One variety in the series contained 14.9 percent protein.
At present, ordinary rice varieties in China contain only about 8 percent protein.
Meanwhile, a survey has found that the average daily protein intake of the Chinese, who eat rice as their staple food, is merely 67 grams, much lower than the 100 gram level of people in developed countries.
To breed the new rice, researchers took DNA from a high-protein maize variety and combined it with a type of high-quality early rice, said Hong. But he did not reveal when this new rice strain would be introduced to China's rice production.
(China Daily July 5, 2002)
