Will New Variety Of Rice Flour Mitigate World Famine?

Japanese researchers have developed a new type of rice flour that may someday rival wheat flour and help alleviate global famine. The researchers tinkered with the amount, structures and properties of rice seed storage proteins, finally determining that a deficiency in one protein (PDIL 1;1) improved the rice flour dough and bread. The new dough is more elastic, less sticky, holds bubbles during fermentation and baking, and retains shape as it inflates. The bread made from the dough has a more flexible texture after baking. The researchers are experimenting with breeding PDIL 1;1-deficient rice plants under a variety of climactic conditions.