Yes, smoothie lovers out there take note, there will soon be a new source of omega 3 fatty acids to add to your morning mix. It has been developed from a weedy relative of borage and been given the name Ahiflower.
Reported on the BBC program “Farming Today”, a breeding program has been taking place over the last 12 years that has produced an oil that is high in an omega 3 fatty acid called Stearidonic acid (SDA) that can be converted into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish.
So what you may say, that is also true of linseed, chia or hemp. Apparently, at least according to the website from Nature’s Crops International Ltd. the company that developed the plant, not only does it boost the highest concentration of SDA in non GM plants, it is also in a form that allows the human body to convert more of it to EPA than it can with the SDA present in linseed.
It seems though, that just like other plant sources of omega 3 fatty acids it also lacks the omega 3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that is present in fish oil. Vegans take heart though, it should be possible to get all the omega 3 that you would get from oily fish by consuming this oil along with an algal oil, the actually source where fish get their omega 3 from in the first place.