New heart-healthy corn due in stores by 2007

Monday, September 15, 2003 Posted: 2:11 PM EDT (1811 GMT)

Researchers have developed a new variety of corn designed to lower bad cholesterol levels, while raising good.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new breed of corn that mixes the conventional seed with a bright-blooming relative offers the promise of helping prevent clogged arteries and reducing harmful cholesterol.

Corn oil and other food products with this heart-healthy strain as an ingredient could appear on supermarket shelves in the world within four years. The breakthrough after 10 years of research could lead plant breeders to develop other healthy varieties such as popcorn and yellow sweet corn.

Scientists bred corn with Eastern gama grass, a purple or orange-bloomed plant, and came up with a corn high in oleic fatty acid -- a type of unsaturated fat that raises levels of good cholesterol to prevent arteries from clogging.

Oleic acid also lowers the bad cholesterol that damages the heart.

Susan Duvick, a plant biologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department who led the project, said conventional corn contains about 20 percent oleic acid and 60 percent polyunsaturated fat, which is considered healthy by nutritionists though not as beneficial as oleic. Conventional corn also has 10 percent of the harmful saturated fat.

The new corn lines contain less polyunsaturated fat -- just 20 percent -- while the oleic acid content climbs to 70 percent, said Duvick, who works in the department's Agricultural Research Service. The new breed still contains 10 percent saturated fat.

Duvick worked on the corn lines with Linda Pollak, a geneticist at the department, and Pamela White, an Iowa State University food scientist.

White said she expects the flavor from the new corn to be similar to conventional corn oil, which is bland. Also, corn with high oleic acid will have a longer shelf-live than conventional corn oil, she said.

Refiners make corn oil by soaking corn in hot water for 40 hours to break down the starch and protein, according to the industry. It is ground to separate the corn germ -- an oval-shaped nub in the kernel -- from which oil is extracted. The residue is saved for making animal feed. The oil is sold to food processors to use as an ingredient for other products or is sold as cooking oil.

Duvick said the team of scientists is waiting for a patent approval, expected next month. After that, seed companies can apply for a license to sell it to farmers, she said.

Gene Grabowski, a food industry consultant, said the high oleic acid corn is a welcome development for food companies.

Controversy over genetically engineered foods makes companies nervous that consumers outside of the United States will reject their products, he said, so there is a push for seed and biotech industries to develop new crops through traditional breeding.

"It just makes it easier for food companies to deal with these kinds of products because they don't raise any added concerns," said Grabowski.

Although Americans have been eating genetically engineered food for years, some consumers worry about their safety. The European Union plans to require labels on food made with genetically engineered ingredients. This means any goods made with biotech corn and soybeans would have to be marked. Processors argue this will turn off consumers.

Food processors also are interested in healthful ingredients that can provide benefits for weight-conscientious consumers.

Courtney Chabot Dreyer, a spokeswoman for the nation's largest seed company, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., said the company is eager to examine the new corn.

She noted that many plants have been genetically engineered to help farmers reduce the use of pesticides or to fend off bugs but few offer consumers added health benefits. She said Pioneer is working to change that by developing its own variety of corn to contain high oleic acid.

Monsanto Co., another large seed and biotech company, is testing a traditionally bred soybean with a reduced percentage of harmful fats, a company spokesman said.