Most people would have heard that eating fish is good for health.
Vegetarians who cannot eat fish sometimes make do with fish oil capsules, but what about those who want to remain strict vegetarians? There are alternatives like omega-3 oil from algae, but it is expensive and beyond the reach of many people in India. Now there could be an alternative in five years: omega-3-oils from plants.
Omega-3 fatty acids are absolutely essential for health.
Among the many varieties of omega-3 oils, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most essential, as it goes to building cells in the brain, skin and retina. The natural sources of DHA are fish oil, seaweed and mother's milk. Deficiencies in DHA can lead to many diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's. Human beings can synthesise it from other omega-3 oils, but this synthesis is often inadequate.
Vegetarians can be deficient in this important nutrient, a fact that has bothered some scientists. At the Rothamsted Research in the UK, a government-funded research institution, scientists have developed plants that have levels of omega-3 acids comparable to that of fish.
Not all fish contain equal amounts of omega-3. The best are cold water fish like salmon, which get by eating other fish that eat other fish that eat algae. Omega-3 acids get concentrated as they go up the food chain, but algae are the original source.
Rothamsted scientists took a set of genes from marine algae and put them in camelina plants, a relative of canola.
In trials in glass houses, these plant seeds produced omega-3 fatty acids in the right proportion, without producing any unhealthy fatty acids. Field trials are now on, and scientists expect this crop to make fish farming more sustainable, by avoiding other oily fish as inputs.
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Vegetarians who cannot eat fish sometimes make do with fish oil capsules, but what about those who want to remain strict vegetarians? There are alternatives like omega-3 oil from algae, but it is expensive and beyond the reach of many people in India. Now there could be an alternative in five years: omega-3-oils from plants.
Omega-3 fatty acids are absolutely essential for health.
Among the many varieties of omega-3 oils, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most essential, as it goes to building cells in the brain, skin and retina. The natural sources of DHA are fish oil, seaweed and mother's milk. Deficiencies in DHA can lead to many diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's. Human beings can synthesise it from other omega-3 oils, but this synthesis is often inadequate.
Vegetarians can be deficient in this important nutrient, a fact that has bothered some scientists. At the Rothamsted Research in the UK, a government-funded research institution, scientists have developed plants that have levels of omega-3 acids comparable to that of fish.
Not all fish contain equal amounts of omega-3. The best are cold water fish like salmon, which get by eating other fish that eat other fish that eat algae. Omega-3 acids get concentrated as they go up the food chain, but algae are the original source.
Rothamsted scientists took a set of genes from marine algae and put them in camelina plants, a relative of canola.
In trials in glass houses, these plant seeds produced omega-3 fatty acids in the right proportion, without producing any unhealthy fatty acids. Field trials are now on, and scientists expect this crop to make fish farming more sustainable, by avoiding other oily fish as inputs.
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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