Three researchers in blue lab coats looking closely at green plants in a glasshouse.

The Food Futures Flagship team that developed plants with DHA in their seeds.

Future grains, grain based foods and feed

The Food Futures Flagship is researching ways to develop novel, high value grains, and oilseeds, to provide substantiated health benefits to consumers.

  • 2 December 2005 | Updated 9 July 2012
  1. Overview
  2. Cereal carbohydrates and nutrition
  3. Future wheat and barley
  4. Future oilseeds
  5. Publishing History

Overview

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Advanced genetics research

The Food Futures Flagship is engaged in researching new techniques in advanced genetics with the aim of delivering premium value in food and feeds.

In purely practical terms, this research theme applies advanced genetics to create differentiated grain, food and aquafeed products.

These new grain-based products will deliver:

  • tangible benefits for human health
  • high value food and feed ingredients
  • increased yield and productivity
  • increased oil production for food, feed and feedstocks
  • new sources of omega-3 oils
  • feeds across the livestock and aquaculture sectors.

The future of food

The overall scientific objective of this research is to develop novel, high value grains and resultant oilseeds that are more productive and provide substantiated health benefits to consumers.

Such novel grains are more suited to the needs of the processing industry and address growing consumer demands for healthy foods and raw ingredients.

For the rural economy, they provide the opportunity for Australian farmers to move away from the intensely competitive, low price end of the grain market.

The grain modification technologies developed by the Flagship are of global, economic relevance and will make a contribution to food security at a national and international level.

They will allow Australian farmers to be among the first primary producers to capture emerging, high-value market niches.

The Food Futures Flagship has developed plants that produce DHA, a healthy omega-3 oil component normally only available from fish sources, and vital for human health.


Benefits for our region

The Flagship’s future grains research has three objectives. They are to:

  • provide high value grains and oilseeds that can be exported from Australia, principally to South-East Asian markets
  • license the technologies for grain/oilseeds production and their utilisation in other markets (for example, the USA and Europe)
  • add value through the Australian food industry for both the domestic and export markets.

The research focuses on three principal areas:

  • cereal carbohydrates and nutrition
  • future wheat and barley
  • future oilseeds.
Find out more about the Food Futures Flagship research.