Wednesday, January 30, 2019

In "vegetarianism is looking a little better" news...

The Illinois State University,  of all places, has developed a high protein rice cultivar:
Utomo and his team developed a high-protein line of rice cultivar, 'Frontière,' which was released in 2017. The rice was developed through a traditional breeding process. It's the first long grain high-protein rice developed for use anywhere in the world, he says. On average, it has a protein content of 10.6%, a 53% increase from its original protein content. It also needs less heat, time, and usually less water to cook. This high-protein cultivar is currently marketed as "Cahokia" rice. It is grown commercially in Illinois.
The article is about how they are not trying to improve yield.

So, how much protein is in food by weight percent, anyway? 

According to this short-ish list from the British Nutrition Foundation, most meats are around 30%;  fish in the low 20's, and beans and other higher protein vegetables around 10% or under.  I'll just copy the whole list:

Meat Chicken breast (grilled without skin)
Beef steak (lean grilled)
Lamb chop (lean grilled)
Pork chop (lean grilled)
32.0
31.0
29.2
31.6
Fish Tuna (canned in brine)
Mackerel (grilled)
Salmon (grilled)
Cod (grilled)
23.5
20.8
24.2
20.8
Seafood Prawns
Mussels
Crabsticks
22.6
16.7
10.0
Eggs Chicken eggs 12.5
Dairy Whole milk
Semi-skimmed milk
Skimmed milk
Cheddar cheese
Half-fat cheddar
Cottage cheese
Whole milk yogurt
Low fat yogurt (plain)
3.3
3.4
3.4
25.4
32.7
12.6
5.7
4.8

Plant protein
Pulses Red lentils
Chickpeas
7.6
8.4
Beans Kidney beans
Baked beans
Tofu (soya bean steamed)
6.9
5.2
8.1
Grains Wheat flour (brown)
Bread (brown)
Bread (white)
Rice (easy cook boiled)
Oatmeal
Pasta (fresh cooked)
12.6
7.9
7.9
2.6
11.2
6.6
Nuts Almonds
Walnuts
Hazelnuts
21.1
14.7
14.1

So this new rice is now up above chickpeas and kidney beans.  And tofu.   Look at almonds though!  Eat a friand and it's getting close to eating a piece of mackerel, protein by weight wise.

And peanuts!  Seems that they are 25% protein by weight.  

Learn something new every day.

1 comment:

not trampis said...

If god had wanted us to be vegetarians he would not have given us red wine