30th jan,2015 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

30 Jan.2015

Global EXCLUSIVE ORYZA RICE E_Newsletter by RICEPLUS MAGAZINE China Plans to Increase Local Rice Production and Reserves Jan 30, 2015

The Chinese government is planning to increase production of grains, including rice, as well their reserves to improve food security in the country, according to the Economic Times.

The State Council has asked all local governments to take more responsibility in overseeing grains production, maintenance of reserves and their price stability.

The Council noted that going further, grain supplies in the country are likely to "remain tight" due to water and land constraints. It said all the local governments should hold reserves sufficient to cover half month's needs. It also urged the local governments to give more importance to food safety and ensure to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as treat heavy-metal polluted agricultural lands.

So far, the Chinese government has been laying more focus on industrialization and due to that farming accounts to very small part of local GDP. China is the world's largest importer of rice. The East Asian nation has imported around 2.58 million tons of rice in 2014, up about 14% from around 2.27 million tons in 2014, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.

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GM Folate Rice Proves Useful in Folate Deficiencies, Say Researchers Jan 30, 2015 EMAIL SHARE TWEET

Oryza.com Rice that is genetically modified to contain folate can reduce problems associated with folate deficiencies, according to researchers from the Belgium-based Ghent University.

In a paper published in the Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, researchers noted that GM folate rice contains nearly hundred times more folate than that in wild rice and has proved to reduce anaemia and neural tube defects as well as counteracted hyperhomocysteinemia (a condition that leads to inflammation in the blood cells).

According to them, folates from the folate rice are released into the gastrointestinal system, reach the systematic circulation and are absorbed into the red blood cells. The researchers found this through a study on rats.

As part of the study, they divided rats into five groups of twelve rats each and provided each of the groups with either a folate-free diet, a wild-type rice with 0.11 micrograms of folic acid per rat, fortified rice with 3 micrograms of folic acid, or fortified rice with 3.12 micrograms of folic acid.

They found that rats that consumed folate-free or wild rice had decreased percentage of red blood cells in blood and lower folate concentrations in both plasma and red blood cells, leading to death during the study. However, rats that consumed fortified rice had requisite red blood cells in blood and increased folate concentrations in both plasma and red blood cells.

Researchers noted that once these trials are confirmed through human trials, folate rice can serve as a source of folate in regions where children suffer with malnutrition.

Folic acid is considered very important for pregnant women and for the development of fetus.

Usually, at least 400 micrograms of folic acid is prescribed for pregnant women for up to three to five months after conception to prevent neural tube deficiencies in the new born baby.

folate rice could help tackle neural tube defects, say researchers Post a comment

By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn+ 30-Jan-2015 Last updated on 30-Jan-2015 at 14:44 GMT

The rice contained 100 times the folate content of wild rice Related tags: Anemia, Folate, Rice, Folic acid, Red blood cells Related topics: Health claims, Research, Supplements, Whole foods, Infant and children's nutrition, Antioxidants/carotenoids, Dosage forms & delivery formats, Vitamins & premixes, Maternal & infant health, Women's health Rice metabolically engineered to be rich in folates could help alleviate associated health problems of folate deficiency, according to researchers.

Related news: Functional and healthy GM foods have large market potential French issue red yeast rice warning after 25 adverse events in 5 years GM golden rice: Tables turn on Greenpeace Researchers from the Ghent University in Belgium looked at the impact of the folate rice on folatedeficient rats over a period of 12 weeks.

They said the folate rice – which contained 100 times the folate content of wild rice – alleviated anemia and counteracted hyperhomocysteinemia.

“Locally grown folate rice could be a valuable asset to reduce the health burden caused by folate deficiency in poor rural regions where other ways of sustained supplementation are difficult to implement.”

They said regions like the Shanxi province in China suffered a much higher prevalence of neural tube defects compared to more developed regions – amounting to 60.9 out of 10 000 live births or 38% folate deficient individuals, compared to around 2.9 out of 10 000 live births and less than 10% folate deficient individuals, respectively.

Late last year industry and third sector players said the approval of an EU health claim for folic acid supplementation , maternal folate status and the risk of developing neural tube defects would revolutionise the way the nutrient could be communicated to women. The health claim applied to daily supplementation of at least 400 micrograms (μg) of folic acid for at least a month before and up to three months after conception.

The potential public health impact of this had been investigated in the past, but the biological efficacy of the crop now needed to be demonstrated, something which would be a “pivotal step” toward public acceptance. This study therefore aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the rice as a source of folates for organisms.

“All together, we have provided evidence that folates from folate rice are released in the gastrointestinal system following consumption by rats, reach the systemic circulation, are incorporated in red blood cells and are biologically active, as evidenced by folate determination in plasma and red blood cells, the alleviation of anemia and counteraction of pronounced hyperhomocysteinemia. Pending confirmation of these findings in a human trial, locally grown folate rice may serve as a source of folate in regions of the world where traditional fortification techniques are not feasible,” they wrote in the Molecular Nutrition and Food Research published paper.

Sufficient results Five groups of 12 rats were given either: a folate-free diet, a wild-type rice naturally meaning an intake of 0.11 μg of folic acid per rat per day, fortified rice meaning 3.00 μg of folic acid, fortified rice meaning 3.12 μg or a positive rodent control diet meaning a folate intake of 11.4 to 25.0 μg.

The folate-free and wild rice rats suffered from decreased hematocrit – the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood – and lower folate concentrations in both plasma and red blood cells, leading to either serious risk of or actual death during the trial.

However, the animals receiving the fortified rice or the positive control diet all survived and saw their hematocrit normalised, plasma and red blood cell folate concentrations increased as well as seeing a counteraction of pronounced hyperhomocysteinemia – an abnormally high level of amino acid homocysteine in the blood associated with folate deficiency.

Engineering change The GM rice was engineered from the Nipponbare variety with an increased production of folate building blocks. The rice used contained on average 1563 μg folates per 100 g.

This was not the first time rice had been proposed as a delivery mechanism for GM-driven nutrition strategies. Researchers developed the so-called GM golden rice - engineered so that the naturally occurring beta-carotene in the plant’s inedible leaves also occurred in its grains - to tackle vitamin A deficiency. This was a topic which has left opinions divided and saw field trials destroyed in the Philippines.

Source: Molecular Nutrition and Food Research Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201400590 “Folates from metabolically engineered rice: A long-term study in rats”