New frontiers in oilseed biotechnology: meeting the growing global demand for vegetable oils for food, feed, biofuel, and industrial uses.

Journal Article · · Curr. Opin. Biotechnol.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2010.11.006· OSTI ID:1064950

Lu, C; Napier, JA; Clemente, TE; Cahoon, EB

Vegetable oils have historically been a valued commodity for food use and to a lesser extent for non-edible applications such as detergents and lubricants. The increasing reliance on biodiesel as a transportation fuel has contributed to rising demand and higher prices for vegetable oils. Biotechnology offers a number of solutions to meet the growing need for affordable vegetable oils and vegetable oils with improved fatty acid compositions for food and industrial uses. New insights into oilseed metabolism and its transcriptional control are enabling biotechnological enhancement of oil content and quality. Alternative crop platforms and emerging technologies for metabolic engineering also hold promise for meeting global demand for vegetable oils and for enhancing nutritional, industrial, and biofuel properties of vegetable oils. Here, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of oilseed metabolism and in the development of new oilseed platforms and metabolic engineering technologies.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC); Center for Advanced Biofuel Systems (CABS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE SC Office of Basic Energy Sciences (SC-22)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001295
• OSTI ID: 1064950
• Journal Information: Curr. Opin. Biotechnol., Journal Name: Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 22; ISSN 0958-1669
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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