Enhanced Protein Corn

About

A multi-faceted invention combining high amino acid enhanced corn with increased kernel hardness, offering nutritional and commercial benefits to breeders, producers, and consumers. Advantages Use of corn with increased levels of essential amino acids reduces the need of more costly soybeans and chemically synthesized methi- onine to achieve desired nutrition profiles; it also eliminates the cost of synthetic methionine for feed supplementation. Chemically synthesized methi- onine is also produced as racemic DL-methionine, rather than the natural occurring L-methionine, with less efficacy and possible long-term health concerns. (Some states have considered banning the use of the racemic form for feed.) Unfortunately, corn with higher levels of lysine acquires a softer kernel shell. Now, a single compensatory factor strengthening the kernel shell in the same high-nutrient corn has been discovered. A stronger kernel shell is critical for harvesting, transport and storage of corn, providing less loss and more efficient production.