Scientists have successfully bioengineered an important protein in plants to increase the yield of oil from their fruits and seeds — a holy grail for the global agri-food industry. Their patent-pending method can increase oil content in seeds by 15 to 18 per cent, which is a significant improvement since major oil-producing crops such as soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, and peanut, already have a high percentage of oil in their seeds. This innovation can help the world in its quest for sustainability, helping to reduce the amount of arable land needed for oil-yielding crops while increasing the yield to meet the world’s growing demand for vegetable oil.
