When mixed with wheat flour, the rice-based ingredients help reduce oil uptake by making the dough more tender, consistent and moist. Though less oily, the doughnuts' taste and texture are comparable to traditional cake doughnuts. Tomorrow's tortillas, if made with a newly developed unique corn, may help reduce iron-deficiency anemia. That could be a boon in developing countries where corn-based foods are a part of nearly every meal and in developed nations where iron deficiency is also common. The novel corn has about 66 percent less phytic acid, or phytate, than most common varieties.
Phytic acid is thought to reduce the body's ability to absorb certain nutrients, like iron.