UPLB has encouraged the consumption of rice-corn (RiCo) blend among its constituents at the “Formal Launching of the Rice-Corn Blend in UPLB” on 22 October at Baker Hall. Students, personnel, university scientists, and food concessionaires attended the launch.
The Business Affairs Office of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (BAO-OVCCA) initiated the rice-corn blend campaign as part of its 18th year anniversary celebration.
In his message during the launch, Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. said that the initiative was UPLB’s latest contribution to food security and nutrition.
“While corn has a stigma of being a ‘poor man’s food,’ we are confident that with proper endorsement, we can help make it a major part of every Filipino’s daily diet,” Chancellor Sanchez added.
Also present at the launch was Dr. Artemio M. Salazar, research professor at the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), who headed the team that developed the IPB Quality Protein Maize (QPM Var. 6) that is used in the RiCo blend.
Dr. Wilma Hurtada, a professor at the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food of the College of Human Ecology, developed the RiCo blend. She gave a talk on the nutritional benefits of the QPM corn and how to prepare the RiCo blend.
QPM Var 6, developed in 2006, contains 66.2 percent more lysine than the normal white corn. It also has more protein-building minerals such as tryptophan and amino acids. Furthermore, it contains more dietary fibers and anti-oxidants than rice alone.
After the program, the BAO also held a food festival participated by UPLB food concessionaires. RiCo recipes and food samples were made available for free tasting for the public.
The QPM Var. 6 corn grits are available at the CSC-IPB, CA, UPLB or at Baker Hall under BAO-OVCCA. For more details, please contact (049) 536-7181 or email whitecorn.net.ph@gmail.com. (Joseph Lydio R. Roble III)
Reposted from the UPLB Website
