Nutritional Composition of Drought-Tolerant Transgenic Rice

This study compared the nutritional components (proximate components, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins) between genetically modified (GM) drought-tolerant rice and a parental rice cultivar (Ilmibyeo) as a non-GM control. Both GM and non-GM rices were grown and harvested in two different locations, Gunwi and Suweon in Korea. Proximate components (moisture, starch, protein, lipid, and ash contents) were similar between the drought-tolerant GM rice and the conventional non-GM rice. There were no significant differences between the GM and non-GM rice in most of their nutrient compositions, despite minor locational differences of some amino acids and minerals. These results indicate that transgenic rice with a genetically improved resistance to drought is equivalent to the parental rice cultivar without major changes in its chemical contents.