USA Rice Update

Charting a new frontier

LSU-bred higher-protein, low-glycemic rice variety gains traction.

By Vicky Boyd

Editor

Rice already has a strong nutritional profi le. After all, it is one of the fi rst solid foods recommended for babies because of its ease of digestibility.

Two producers want to take rice’s nutrition to the next level by growing and marketing Frontière, a higher-protein low-glycemic long-grain variety from the Louisiana State University AgCenter breeding program. They also hope to capitalize on the latest “plant-based protein” consumer trend.

Blake Gerard of Cape McLure, Illinois, markets the variety under the Cahokia label, paying tribute to the Cahokia Native American Indian Tribe that made its home in the area. And Michael Fruge of Eunice, Louisiana, promotes the variety under the Parish Rice brand, which gives a shout out to Louisiana. Both producers are doing so under an agreement with Frontière’s lone licensee, Bob Butcher.

Traditional breeding techniques

LSU AgCenter researchers Herry Utomo and Ida Wenefrida several years ago began developing a higher-protein rice to address global malnutrition. Rice is the most widely consumed grain worldwide, yet it only averages between 6% to 7% protein.

“Because of where we come from, we wanted to look at the malnutrition problem,” said Utomo, an LSU Ag Center genetics professor who grew up in Indonesia. “Most of the people who cannot afford anything else depend on rice. We thought maybe we could provide better nutrition from rice.”

But developing higher protein levels along with desirable agronomic characteristics did not come easily. The two researchers used a mutagenesis technique similar to that used to produce semidwarf varieties. As such, plant lines developed with this method are not considered genetically modifi ed organisms, or GMOs.

Utomo and Wenefrida then screened the lines for high lysine levels that indicated higher amounts of protein.

Cypress parentage

The researchers started with Cypress — an LSU AgCenter-bred semi-dwarf long grain known for its excellent grain quality released in 1992. After seven to eight years, the LSU AgCenter released the patented variety, Frontière, in 2017.

It averages 10.6% protein, or 54% more than most conventional long-grain rice varieties. And Utomo and Wenefrida are working to increase protein levels even further in potential future release.