The challenge
Reducing the incidence of chronic disease with healthier foods
Australian diets are largely lacking in resistant starch, which is known to improve digestive health, protect against the genetic damage that precedes bowel cancer and help combat Type 2 diabetes.
Resistant starch is a type of dietary fibre that feeds the 'good bacteria' that live in our large bowel. These bacteria are part of our microbiome. They can use resistant starch as food because it resists digestion in our small intestine and moves on to the large bowel.
The most popular source of dietary fibre is wheat, eaten by 30 per cent of the world's population, whether it's in bread, pizzas, pastas or tortillas.
Together with our partners, our goal has been to develop a wheat that can provide millions of people with a lot more fibre without having to change their eating habits.
Our response
Wheat with high levels of resistant starch
The research behind high-amylose wheat began in the 1990s.
In 2006, we teamed up with French company Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients and the Grains Research and Development Corporation to work on developing wheat varieties with a higher content of resistant starch. Together we spun out a company called Arista Cereal Technologies Pty Ltd[Link will open in a new window].
Our first breakthrough came when we identified two particular enzymes, that when reduced in wheat, increased the amylose content.
Breeding work then enabled CSIRO scientists to increase the amylose content of wheat grain from around 20 or 30 per cent to an unprecedented 85 per cent.
This was sufficient to increase the level of resistant starch to more than 20 per cent of total starch in the grain compared to less than one per cent in regular wheat.
High-amylose wheat was developed using a conventional breeding approach.
The results
High-amylose wheat: a healthier alternative
High-amylose wheat is already available in the US (as HealthSense), the EU (as LifyWheat) and Japan (as Amuleia). The high-amylose wheat used in Japan is grown in Australia and exported.
In Australia, Arista has partnered with Allied Pinnacle and Australian Grain Technologies to develop Wise Wheat, a new high-amylose wheat product.
Wise Wheat is now available on supermarket shelves across Australia.
Our Collaborators
