LETHBRIDGE – Triticale is a man made crop that exhibits the best qualities of its rye and wheat parents.
Now scientists are using biotechnology to advance a good utility animal feed for ethanol, paper and plastic production.
“It is a beautiful plant, very well adapted to the region and higher yielding than wheat,” said Andre Laroche of Agriculture Canada.
He is part of the 10 year Canadian Triticale Biofuel Initiative promoting the development of this crop for industrial purposes. There are teams across Canada working on improved agronomy, agricultural competitiveness, biosafety of products and biorefining.
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The straw and grain are visually identifiable from other crops and do not naturally hybridize with other crops or wild plants. Triticale is a high yielding grain and biomass cereal that requires few inputs and shows good vigour in harsh conditions.
“We thought it would be a good vehicle for our initiative,” he said during a tour of the Lethbridge Research Centre July 23.
Biotechnical work to introduce new genes is already underway.
The initiative estimates the grain and straw harvested from 1.5 million hectares by 2015 could fuel 10 large biorefineries.
Properties like starch, sugar and wax are already present. Adding new genes to the straw or grain could improve those traits or add new ones.
Different molecules expressed in cereal seed layers through genetic engineering could be separated and concentrated during milling.
“From the starch, we might get some thermo plastics that are biodegradable,” he said.
Triticale contains polyactide, a biodegradable chain of molecules that can form fibres, sheets and 3D shapes. It is also present in corn starch and sugar cane. Other uses might be turning straw fibres into boards and panels for the automotive industry.
Wax extracted from the straw could coat fruit and a starch could be used to make glossy paper.
