Development of High-amylose Corn Varieties for Northeast Missouri: a Possible Specialty Crop Opportunity for Local Producers

Overview: Starch is the major component of cereal grains. In corn it makes up approximately 75% of its dry matter. Starch is a polymer with the simple sugar glucose serving as the repeating unit. Normally starch occurs in two forms: amylose, a linear molecule normally making up 25% of the starch, and amylopectin, a branched form comprising the remainder. For Missouri livestock growers, producers of ethanol and other end-users this composition of starch in our modern hybrids serves well and little or no modification is necessary. The purpose of our study is to develop a ‘naturally-modified’ specialty starch corn hybrid adapted to Northeast Missouri, and explore potential niche markets for its domestic use or for export.