Rice metabolically engineered to be rich in folates could help alleviate associated health problems of folate deficiency, according to researchers.
Kiekens et al., 2014 - Folates from metabolically engineered rice: A long-term study in rats.
Researchers from the Ghent University in Belgium looked at the impact of the folate rice on folate-deficient rats over a period of 12 weeks.
They said the folate rice – which contained 100 times the folate content of wild rice – alleviated anemia and counteracted hyperhomocysteinemia.
“Locally grown folate rice could be a valuable asset to reduce the health burden caused by folate deficiency in poor rural regions where other ways of sustained supplementation are difficult to implement.”