Where to find the SOYLEIC® High Oleic Trait Technology

Awareness of the negative health impacts of trans fats once cost soybean oil its place in popular food items. Today, that’s changing thanks to high oleic soy. High oleic technology is an advancement in the soybean market that gives soybean oil greater potential for high temperature and prolonged uses like baking, frying and sautéing in both commercial and home kitchens. Soybean oil with high oleic acid content can be used at high temperatures without hydrogenation or producing trans fats. SOYLEIC^® is the branding associated with the non-GMO high oleic trait technology developed in Missouri through research made possible by soybean farmers, the soybeans containing that technology, and the products made from those soybeans, including soy oil and meal. The beans’ oil contains as much as 80-85 percent oleic acid, significantly exceeding the industry’s 70 percent standard. Click here for a high oleic soybean oil fact sheet.

Where to find the SOYLEIC® High Oleic Trait Technology

Bringing the SOYLEIC^® high oleic trait technology to the marketplace is a priority for all involved – from advancing the genetics developed in the soybean breeding program through commercialization, to integrating SOYLEIC^® soybean oil into consumer products, improving every day items ranging from salad dressings to biodiesel. Today, the SOYLEIC^® high oleic trait technology is growing through closed-loop systems. In those systems, each partner is responsible for every step in production, from producing seed to sales, marketing, crush of the harvested crop, and use of the SOYLEIC^® soybean oil. These smaller, integrated systems provide revolutionary identity preservation for the SOYLEIC^® high oleic trait technology at every stage, from the field to the consumer. The systems are distributed regionally across soybean-growing states, ensuring maximum success for growers using the tailored genetics and maturity groupings. The availability of SOYLEIC^® soybeans continues to change rapidly. For the latest information, contact program staff by clicking here. Want to know more about high oleic soybean oil? Our partners at the United Soybean Board and QUALISOY are ready with information on the latest soybean oil traits, including high oleic. Learn more at qualisoy.com.

History of SOYLEIC^® High Oleic Trait Technology

In the late 2000s, Grover Shannon and the soybean breeding team at the University of Missouri’s Fisher Delta Research Center discovered a non-GMO High Oleic trait from a traditional cross in the field. From the novel cross, Shannon partnered with Kristin Bilyeu, a USDA molecular geneticist housed on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, to evaluate the importance of a non-GMO HO trait. The work of those scientists resulted in several patents and pending patent applications, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,035,129 and 9,198,365. Those patents are owned by USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Curators of the University of Missouri. They exclusively licensed the patents to the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council (MSMC). With support from soybean farmers through their checkoff program, work with the trait has expanded to maturity groups I to VII through partnerships with the University of Arkansas, University of Georgia, University of Illinois, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Tennessee and others. For information technical comparisons involving the trait, click here. SOYLEIC^® is the brand for that non-GMO High Oleic technology, soybeans containing the technology, and products resulting from those soybeans, established in 2018. The SOYLEIC^® logo appears on packages of commercial soybean seed containing the trait. Learn more about recognizing the SOYLEIC^® brand and its brand standards by clicking here. Today, SOYLEIC^® soybeans are growing across the U.S. thanks to strong partnerships and support from soybean farmers.