That's "50% more protein than rice per grain," though. Presumably they're talking about white rice, which is one of the lower protein grains. 50% more than that would put it just below oat bran, but still well below e.g. spelt, quinoa, sorghum, amaranth, and others.
> The intro of the paper claims “13% protein”
One study found 13% dry weight protein on average in eelgrass seeds, so this is substantiated: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03043...
Yes but there's a catch, and you can see it in p 24 of the reference you linked.
Legumes are low on Methionine. Grains are low on Lysine. Ideally a consumption of both is needed to balance things out. (Hence why these "protein $thing" stuff on the supermarket is 100% marketing gimmick since they use the cheapest sources available - soy usually)
(Also of course this is the overall proportion, it says nothing about protein/gram. Yes, broccoli is high protein, but how much broccoli do you need to eat to match the content a steak? - answered on p.27 actually)
Edit: "oh look Gorillas and Cows are vegetarian" Cows actually have their intestinal flora make the proteins for them ;)
Is that really the case? There is a difference between something being inherently unhealthy vs excessive in our current diet. We like sugars because our bodies need readily accessible energy. The issue is that today it is to easy and cheap to produce and consume and we don't control ourselves.
Isn’t this well known? It’s the quantities that are vastly different. On the next couple slides it shows that you need 10 cups of broccoli to get 40g of protein, or 2 cups of edamame beans
50% more protein “per grain” is a comparison I’ve heard here first. The intro of the paper claims “13% protein” but its comparison table states “10.1% protein”. In comparison, regular wheat has around 12.6% protein, while Einkorn wheat contains 19.3% protein. [1]
“In addition to essential fatty acids, Omegas 6 and 9, and amino acids not found in other common grains and minerals, it also has significant levels of glucose, making it a superfood with exceptional qualities for a healthy diet.”
* First, we need much more omega-3 and drastically less omega-6, while we get plenty of omega-9, which is not essential as our bodies can synthesize omega-9. [2] [3]
* Glucose and other sugars are one of the handful things that there’s a consensus it’s bad for our health.
* All plant foods contain all 20 amino-acids, essential and non-essential. [4] Naturally, rice does not lack an amino-acid in their comparison table.
[1] research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32246458
[1] summary: https://youtu.be/6fciEfyYyK4
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid
[3] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/omega-3-6-9-overview
[4] https://dci.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Food-and... (page 25)
***
OTOH, this could be an environmental friendly grain if cultivated in open seas on floating platforms instead of disrupting highly vulnerable shallow waters.