Corteva’s new Trusource wheat is designed to be good for the gut, but farmers won’t have trouble stomaching another one of its virtues. It’s designed to be a premium product for a specialty market.
“When there’s consumer demand and we can fulfil it, it creates value for the farmer,” said Loralee Orr of Corteva Agriscience, right after her company announced the unique line of durum in July.
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“We’re looking to improve the overall products that we grow in our fields.”
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Trusource is a durum bred to contain a higher proportion of dietary fibre. That’s not for agronomic reasons, but because dieticians and human medical researchers have been urging people to boost the fibre in their food.
Food companies are keen to embrace the ability to use a high-fibre durum that works as well as regular durum in making pasta and other products.
There are other ways to boost fibre in pasta, Orr acknowledges, but not as effectively. For example, whole wheat pasta has been available for decades and millions have tried it.
“It’s OK, but my kids were never big fans of it,” said Orr.
This new variety should be indistinguishable for the consumer, she said, providing a “white pasta with great mouth feel.”
In August, Corteva didn’t yet know when farmers will be able to grow Trusource. The company wants to line up food companies and other users before getting farmers to grow it.
“We learned with experience, with (enhanced) oils, that the food companies need to work with it to integrate it into their food before we can create that demand and have the farmer fulfil it,” said Orr.
Corteva also markets Nexera canola, which provides high-stability cooking oil, as well as Plenish soybeans, which offer similar qualities to food companies and restaurants.
Trusource wheat will add a third product to its suite of added-dietary-value products.
“If we can meet a consumer demand and create value, we’re interested,” said Orr. “It creates value for the food company and the farmer.”
When Trusource goes into production, farmers will grow it within an identity-preserved system, as they do with similar value-added varieties.
