The recently developed ‘Supergold’ variety of sweetcorn is high in zeaxanthin – a naturally occurring pigment that gives corn its distinctive colour. Studies have demonstrated a link between high intake of foods containing zeaxanthin with a lower occurrence of age-related macular degeneration.
Ausveg spokesperson Jeremy Story Carter said the ‘Supergold’ sweetcorn was a breakthrough achievement for the Australian vegetable industry.
“This new research is an exciting development for our local industry. Zeaxanthin is extremely important for eye health, but ordinarily you would need to eat an unfeasibly high amount of sweetcorn to achieve the levels required to battle macular degeneration.
“This new ‘Supergold’ variety will contain enough of the pigment (20mg per gram) in half a cob to help improve eye-health,” Carter said.
The ‘Superyellow’ variety, which will be put out for commercial tender in 2013, is not designed to replace existing lines of sweetcorn in the market.
Findings from the research have been published in leading industry journal Vegetables Australia.
Source: Ausveg
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