Evaluation of the Nutritional Value of High Lysine Maize

The maize varieties presently cultivated in India contain 10 to 12 per cent total protein. However, the quality of their protein is poor, lacking in the essential amino acids-lysine, tryptophan and isoleucine. Hence production of a hybrid maize in which these amino acids are present in the required quantities will have a direct beneficial effect on improving human nutrition. Such an effort, made in Purdue University, U. S. A. in 1966, resulted in the opaque-2 strain of maize, rich in the amino acids, lysine and tryptophan.