Researchers have identified five superhero foods that will save the world, and incidentally all of them have strong links to the state. Green gram, disease-resistant bananas, drought-tolerant maize, scuba rice and bitter gourd are the top five foods that will not only save the world, but also keep humanity healthy with increased immunity against diseases. One of them, scuba rice, has infact been conceptualised here.
The UK edition of The Readers Digest, in its recent issue, listed these five foods as the ones that will save the world. Researc-hers in the state have been busy working on these foods for several years to improve their nutrition traits on the one hand, and productivity on the other. The city-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has carried out pioneering research in drought-tolerant maize, while the World Vegetable Centre located on the Icrisat campus is busy searching for the ideal bitter gourd with the maximum momordicin content that could fight diabetes effectively, besides building up immunity against a plethora of diseases.
Green gram (moong dal or pesarpappu) is an inseparable ingredient of the Andhra kitchen and state-based research institutes including Icrisat have conducted a number of studies on this nutritious legume. Scuba rice is the brainchild of local farm scientists and the rice variety was tested for the first time in the state. It can survive under flood condition for several days without being damaged. Scuba rice is best suited for flood-hit areas like coastal regions.
The Horticulture Research Centre, Kovvur, has conducted several studies on disease-resistant bananas. It is also conducting research on banana germplasm and improving the nutrition content of the fruit. “Bitter gourd, with compounds that increase insulin sensitivity, lower blood glucose, and help regulate glucose uptake, could provide a cheap way to control rising rates of diabetes, particularly in developing countries," point out scientists at the Centre.