“Eating a corn each day keeps the doctor away.”

White corn

QPM enhances one’s memory because of its thiamin content. It also contains pantothenic acid (a B-vitamin), which helps in the functioning of adrenal glands. More importantly, white QPM is an anti-oxidant because of its phenolic compounds. It can protect us from degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart ailments. It also contains two essential amino acids: lysine and tryptophan. On the other hand, the yellow corn is rich in carotenoids which can also minimize cancer.

Despite the many benefits of white QPM, a large portion of the population refuse to eat corn, said Dr. Hurtada. This is accounted to the food behavior of many Filipinos who consider rice as staple food.

As rice cultivation becomes more expensive and malnutrition creeps in, rice composites (also known as RICO or CORI), a mixture of rice and corn were developed. The RICO varieties were studied in terms of their nutritional value and palatability. At present, the variety 70:30 (contains 70% rice and 30% QPM) is found acceptable by consumers. Continuous studies are being conducted in order to promote the consumption of RICO.

Furthermore, Dr. Hurtada explained that substituting rice by 10% corn grits will be enough to fill rice shortage and alleviate malnutrition if non-corn eating Filipinos will learn to eat RICO. Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) can also consider RICO for commercialization that can increase farmers’ income.