Navita is a recent start-up with connection to the principals of Schillinger Genetics, a non-GMO soybean seed development focused on varieties with traits which will allow the beans to be used for food for broilers, turkeys, swine and fish and which will expand the shelf life of soy oil. One of the key traits is a trypsin inhibitor which impacts the digestibility of the soybean meal. Schillinger researchers have altered the soybean seed composition to reduce the typsin inhibitor to a level where heating the soy meal to very high temperatures is not require to make it suitable for livestock feed. Also under development are high protein varieties for use with fish and shrimp. The SBIR involved firm Navita is screening and testing 27 Navita varieties, with a particular eye on their adaptability to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
