Food products developer Calyxt is generating healthier high-oleic low-linolenic soybean variety with increased oxidative stability and improved shelf life.
The company published a study in BMC Plant Biology describing the use of genome editing technology to modulate soybean oil composition to have increased shelf-life, higher frying stability and improved nutritional characteristics.
Soybean oil usually contains higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic and linolenic acids, with higher oxidative instability. For quite some time, this problem has been tackled through partial hydrogenation process.
But, partial hydrogenation increases the risk of trans-fatty acids. These trans-fatty acids, according to the US Food and Drug Administration, can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Calyxt has made soybean lines that have oil with increased levels of monounsaturated oleic fatty acids and decreased levels of linoleic and linolenic acids. Presence of higher levels oleic acid can eliminate the need for partial hydrogenation.
In the present study, it was highlighted that soybean oil composition was improved further by editing additional genes in the soybean genome.
The newly produced soybean varieties have even higher levels of oleic acid and lower levels of linolenic acid. This can make the soybean oil much more stable at higher temperatures and add to longer shelf-life.
Calyxt COO Feng Zhang said: “This study marks yet another milestone in the commercialization of gene edited foods and demonstrates that gene edited crops can provide significant nutritional benefits to consumers.
“We know that consumers are becoming more and more mindful of the foods they eat, and we are striving to bring healthier foods to consumers.”