Modified Sorghum and Corn Vegetative Parts for High-Fatty-Acid Feed
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for vegetative plant parts from important animal feed crops such as sorghum and corn with high total fatty acid content to meet the increasing demand for livestock products, particularly in the developing world, as consumer demands for meat, milk, and eggs grow.
Innovation Solution
The process involves harvesting vegetative plant parts from Sorghum sp. and/or Zea mays plants with enhanced total fatty acid content, processing them to increase fatty acid esterification in triacylglycerols and other lipids, and storing under reduced oxygen conditions to ferment carbohydrates into organic acids, resulting in feedstuffs with increased fatty acid content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If vegetative plant parts from conventional feed crops are used, then the feed is readily available and cost-effective, but the total fatty acid content is insufficient to meet increasing consumer demands for livestock products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the fatty acid composition parameters of vegetative plant parts through genetic engineering, specifically increasing total fatty acid content to 5-15% dry weight (compared to conventional 1-3%), with enhanced triacylglycerol accumulation. This parameter change directly addresses the insufficient fatty acid content while maintaining the plant's usability as feedstuff.
2Use of energy by moving object
If high fatty acid content plant parts are produced through genetic modification, then energy content for animals is increased, but the complexity of plant breeding and modification processes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs preliminary genetic modification of Sorghum sp. and Zea mays plants to establish high fatty acid accumulation capacity before harvest. By pre-modifying the plants with specific genetic traits (overexpression of fatty acid synthesis genes, suppression of lipolysis genes), the complex modification work is completed in advance, allowing conventional agricultural practices to then produce the high-energy feedstuff without requiring complex processing at harvest.
3Quantity of substance
If vegetative plant parts are processed to increase fatty acid esterification in triacylglycerols, then fatty acid content and energy value are enhanced, but the processing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the plant parts to self-accumulate high levels of triacylglycerols through genetic modification of fatty acid metabolism pathways. The modified plants automatically perform the fatty acid esterification process within their own cells during growth and storage, eliminating the need for external industrial processing to increase fatty acid content. This self-service approach converts what would be a complex manufacturing step into a natural biological process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process produces feedstuffs with enhanced fatty acid content, providing animals with increased energy, protein, and nitrogen, addressing the demand for high-energy animal feeds.
Implementation Method 1
storing the harvested plant parts under conditions of reduced oxygen for a period of time such that at least some of the carbohydrates in the plant parts are fermented to organic acids
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates, inter alia, to vegetative plant parts, such as from a Sorghum sp. and/or a Zea mays plant, which comprise a total fatty acid (TFA) content which comprises fatty acids esterified in the form of triacylglycerols (TAG) and fatty acids in the form of lipids other than TAG, wherein the vegetative plant parts comprise greatly increased levels of TFA, for example a TFA content of about 5% (w/w dry weight). The present invention also relates to the use of the vegetative plant parts as a feedstuff, and/or to produce a feedstuff, for animal consumption.