Food Biotechnology Commons^™

Postharvest Quality And Physiology Of ‘Fuji’ Apples Subjected To Phytosanitary Irradiation, Nasim Kheshti, Alan Baquero, Anderson Melo, Anuradha Prakash

Student Research Day Abstracts and Posters

Irradiation is an effective treatment to sterilize and destroy insect pests on fresh fruit. It serves as an alternative to cold treatment and to fumigation which are time consuming and ozone depleting, respectively. In this study, the postharvest quality of Fuji apples was evaluated after irradiation at 400 Gy and 800 Gy. The quality of the apples which were stored at 1˚C for 7 days to mimic ground transportation and distribution and then at ambient temperature for another 7 days to mimic retail storage and consumer use, was assessed. Irradiation caused an immediate decrease in firmness by 12% at ...

Towards The Development Of A Sustainable Soya Bean-Based Feedstock For Aquaculture, Hyunwoo Park, Steven Weier, Fareha Razvi, Pamela A. Peña, Neil A. Sims, Jennica Lowell, Cory Hungate, Karma Kissinger, Gavin Key, Paul Fraser, Jonathan Napier, Edgar B. Cahoon, Thomas Clemente

Faculty Publications from the Center for Plant Science Innovation

Soya bean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is sought after for both its oil and protein components. Genetic approaches to add value to either component are ongoing efforts in soya bean breeding and molecular biology programmes. The former is the primary vegetable oil consumed in the world. Hence, its primary usage is in direct human consumption. As a means to increase its utility in feed applications, thereby expanding the market of soya bean coproducts, we investigated the simultaneous displacement of marine ingredients in aquafeeds with soya bean-based protein and a high Omega-3 fatty acid soya bean oil, enriched with alpha-linolenic and ...

Public Acceptance Of And Benefits From Agricultural Biotechnology: A Key Role For Verifiable Information, Wallace E. Huffman, Abebayehu Tegene

Wallace Huffman

The on-going genetically modified (GM) food and genetically modified organism (GMO) conaovccsy threaten to destroy the near-term market for agbiotech food and inputs and alter greatly the net social benefits that are potentially attainable from agriculcural biotechnology. For example, consider:

1. In February 2000 Greenpeace filed a lawsuit challenging the US Environmental Protection Agency's decision co allow the release of GM insect resistant (Bt) crops. In their news release they stated 'The EPA should stop [GE] polluters before the environment is threatened' (Greenpeace, 2000a).

2. During the week of 23 March 2000 Greenpeace joined over 50 other organizations in ...

An Investigation Into Spent Coffee Waste As A Renewable Source Of Bioactive Compounds And Industrially Important Sugars, Damhan Scully, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam

Articles

Conventional coffee brewing techniques generate vast quantities of spent espresso grounds (SEGs) rich in lignocellulose and valuable bioactives. These bioactive compounds can be exploited as a nutraceutical or used in a range of food products, while breakdown of lignocellulose generates metabolizable sugars that can be used for the production of various high-value products such as biofuels, amino acids and enzymes. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose in SEGs following a hydrothermal pretreatment. A maximum reducing sugar yield was obtained at the following optimized hydrolysis conditions: 4.97 g of pretreated SEGs, 120 h ...

Fermentation-Assisted Extraction Of Isothiocyanates From Brassica Vegetable Using Box-Behnken Experimental Design, Amit Jaiswal, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam

Articles

Recent studies showed that Brassica vegetables are rich in numerous health-promoting compounds such as carotenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and glucosinolates (GLS), as well as isothiocyanates (ITCs) and are involved in health promotion upon consumption. ITCs are breakdown products of GLS, and typically used in the food industry as a food preservative and colouring agent. They are also used in the pharmaceutical industry due to their several pharmacological properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anti-inflammatory, and chemoprotective effects, etc. Due to their widespread application in food and pharmaceuticals, the present study was designed to extract ITCs from York cabbage. In order to ...

Microbes In Rough Rice – Prevalence, Growth Kinetics And Links To Dry Matter Loss, Supriya Thote

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of microorganisms on freshly-harvested long-grain hybrid, long-grain pureline, and medium-grain rice has not been elucidated. The first objective of this two-part study was to determine the relative prevalence of microbes on freshly-harvested, high moisture content rice of different types and cultivars. The total and surface aerobic plate counts (APC) and mold counts were determined in terms of log10 colony forming units per gram of rice (log10 CFU/g) for six rice cultivars over two years. In 2013, among harvested samples of all the studied rice cultivars, the long-grain hybrid cultivars had the lowest APC levels (M = 8.10 ...

Passion, Crowdfunding And A Sichuan Pepper Gin, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

A husband-and-wife team turns passion into a craft distillery business

Characterization Of Extraction Methods To Recover Phenolic-Rich Extracts From Black Beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris) That Inhibit Alpha-Amylase And Alpha-Glucosidase Using Response Surface Approaches, Mazen Alharbi

Nutrition & Health Sciences Dissertations & Theses

Black beans contain high phenolic contents that are considered potent antioxidants. Relatively little is known about their ability to inhibit the carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes α-amylase and α-glucosidase from releasing glucose from starch and/or disaccharides. The objective of this project was to determine the optimum procedures for extracting total phenols (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and total condensed tannins (TCT) from black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), and then to determine the ability of the phenolic rich extracts to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Due to their high phenolic levels, it was hypothesized that black beans would be an effective inhibitor of α-amylase and α-glucosidase ...

Behavioral Determinants Of Biofortified Food Acceptance: The Case Of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato In Ghana, Chinonso E. Etumnu

Master's Theses

Biofortified foods are being introduced in sub-Saharan Africa as an important strategy to help address micronutrient malnutrition. However, there has been little research on factors that could play decisive roles in their successful introduction. This paper investigates the determinants of consumer acceptance of biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) using data from a choice experiment conducted in Ghana. I find that OFSP is preferred to traditional white-fleshed and yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes as indicated by consumers' marginal willingness to pay for the three varieties. I also find that respondents' socio-economic characteristics do not have a significant effect on consumer acceptance of OFSP ...

Evaluation Of Qualitative Food Allergen Detection Methods And Cleaning Validation Approaches, Rachel C. Courtney

Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research in Food Science and Technology

Allergen control plans are increasingly used by the food industry to prevent allergen cross-contact and validation of these plans involves methods to detect allergen protein residues. A commonly used rapid allergen detection method is lateral flow devices, although research about their validation is lacking. The objective of this research was to investigate lateral flow devices, their specificity and sensitivity to milk proteins and milk-derived ingredients, swabbing conditions, and applications in cleaning validation.

Several lateral flow devices advertised to detect total milk did not detect whey proteins or whey-derived ingredients. The overload level of the kits was highly variable (ranging from ...

Feasibility, Safety, Economic And Environmental Implications Of Whey-Recovered Water For Cleaning-In Place Systems: A Case Study On Water Conservation For The Dairy Industry, Yulie E. Meneses

Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research in Food Science and Technology

Several countries around the world are facing the challenge of producing food with limited water resources for a growing population. This reality is forcing all sectors involved in the food supply chain to look for water conservation strategies that contribute to assure global food security. Besides water consumption, the food industry has to deal with wastewater generation; therefore, water reconditioning and reuse is an attractive solution to address both issues. The goal of this research was to demonstrate that high quality water can be recovered from whey, a by-product of the cheese making process, and reused in cleaning-in place (CIP ...

Effects Of Delayed Drying And Storage Conditions On Milling, Color, And Viscosity Properties Of Rice, Kathryn Nicole Haydon

Theses and Dissertations

Head rice yields (HRYs), kernel discoloration, and functional properties are three hallmarks of rice quality, and can be impacted after harvest by storage conditions. This study evaluated impacts on rice quality due to controlled storage at moisture contents (MCs), temperatures, and storage durations that may be incurred during Mid-South rice farming practices. Three hybrid, long-grain cultivars, harvested in Arkansas in 2014 and 2015, were stored in rough rice form at 4 MCs (12.5%, 16%, 19%, and 21%), and 5 temperatures (10°C, 15°C, 20°C, 27°C, and 40°C), for 16 weeks, with samples taken every 2 ...

Reducing The Potential For Acrylamide Formation In Wheat Products, Amy Hauver, P. Stephen Baenziger, Mary J. Guttieri

UCARE Research Products

Acrylamide, a chemical formed from free asparagine and reducing sugars during high-temperature cooking via the Maillard reaction (i.e. frying or baking) of high starch foods is deemed ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ based on its affect in mice. In April of 2002, a group of Swedish researchers reported findings that presented evidence that heat-treated, starch-rich foods contained high levels of acrylamide, later linking the production of acrylamide to the Maillard reaction. A number of other studies have been done to link dietary intake of acrylamide to human cancers and other health effects, although many have had inconclusive results. Nevertheless, the ...

Use Of The Mitochondrial Control Region As A Potential Dna Mini-Barcoding Target For The Identification Of Canned Tuna Species, Jacquelyn K. Mitchell, Rosalee S. Hellberg

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this study, a DNA mini-barcoding methodology was developed for the differentiation of species commonly found in canned tuna. Primers were designed to target a 236-base pair (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial control region (CR) and a 179-bp fragment of the first internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the ability to differentiate 13 tuna species on the basis of the CR mini-barcode, except in a few cases of species introgression. Supplementary use of ITS1 allowed for differentiation of introgressed Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga), while differentiation of introgressed Atlantic bluefin tuna and Pacific ...

Influence Of Hierarchical Interfacial Assembly On Lipase Stability And Performance In Deep Eutectic Solvent, Stephanie M. Andler

Masters Theses May 2014 - current

Hierarchical systems that integrate nano- and macroscale structural elements can offer enhanced stability over traditional immobilization methods. Microparticles were synthesized using interfacial assembly of lipase with (CLMP-N) and without (CLMP) nanoparticles into a crosslinked polymeric core, to determine the impact of the highly ordered system on lipase stability in extreme environments. Kinetic analysis revealed the macrostructure significantly increases the turnover rate (k_cat) following immobilization. The macrostructure also stabilized lipase at neutral and basic pH values, while the nanoparticles influenced stability under acidic pH conditions. A greener solvent, choline chloride and urea, was applied to produce sugar ester surfactants. Microparticles ...

Dna Barcoding Reveals Mislabeling Of Game Meat Species On The U.S. Commercial Market, Charles Quinto, Rebecca Tinoco, Rosalee S. Hellberg

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Game meats represent a valuable specialty market in the United States that has high economic incentives associated with mislabeling. However, there is limited information on this topic. The purpose of this study was to conduct a market survey of game meats sold within the United States and identify instances of mislabeling using DNA barcoding. Products were also examined for the presence of threatened or endangered species. Fifty-four samples of whole-cut game meats were collected from online distributors in the United States and sequenced across a 658 base-pair region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. The resulting DNA ...

Novel Advancements For Improving Sprout Safety, Kyle S. Landry

Doctoral Dissertations May 2014 - current

All varieties of bean sprouts (mung bean, alfalfa, broccoli, and radish) are classified as a “super-food” and are common staples for health conscious consumers. Along with the proposed health benefits, there is also an inherent risk of foodborne illness. When sprouts are cooked, there is little risk of illness. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore novel techniques to minimize or prevent the incidence of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of sprouts. Three areas were investigated: 1) the use of a biocontrol organism, 2) the use of a novel spontaneous carvacrol nanoemulsion, and 3) the influence of the ...

Biopolymer Electrospun Nanofiber Mats To Inactivate And Remove Bacteria, Katrina Ann Rieger

Doctoral Dissertations May 2014 - current

The persistence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens remains a primary concern for immunocompromised and critically-ill hospital patients. Hospital associated infections can be deadly and reduce the successes of medical advancements, such as, cancer therapies and medical implants. Thus, it is imperative to develop materials that can (i) deliver new antibiotics with accuracy, as well as (ii) uptake pathogenic microbes. In this work, we will demonstrate that electrospun nanofiber mats offer a promising platform for both of these objectives because of their high surface-to-volume ratio, interconnected high porosity, gas permeability, and ability to contour to virtually any surface. To provide ...

Consumer Demand For Potato Products And Willingness-To-Pay For Low-Acrylamide, Sulfite-Free Fresh Potatoes And Dices: Evidence From Lab Auctions, Katie Lacy, Wallace E. Huffman

Economics Publications

We assess consumer demand for traditional fresh potatoes and processed potato products and willingness to pay for new experimental low-acrylamide and sulfite-free potato products. Demand for fresh potatoes, potato chips, and fries is unaffected by household income or education, but demand for chips and fries is affected by consumer age and exercise habits. Subjects display increased willingness to pay for new potato products after receiving a private company perspective about the technology and risks associated with exposure to acrylamide, a carcinogen, in fried conventional potatoes and a new product, potato dices. We find that consumers are willing to pay for ...

Inactivation Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 And Shiga Toxin Producing E. Coli (Stec) Throughout Beef Summer Sausage Production And The Use Of High Pressure Processing As An Alternative Intervention To Thermal Processing, Eric L. Oliver

Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research in Food Science and Technology

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and six additional serogroups of Shiga Toxin-producing E. coli (STEC-7) have been implicated in foodborne illness outbreaks related to fermented sausage products and are considered adulterants by the USDA-FSIS. The objective of this study was to evaluate high pressure processing (HPP) as an alternative to thermal treatment to reduce STEC-7 meeting the USDA-FSIS performance standards (5.0-log reduction). A rifampicin-resistant, non-pathogenic E. coli (surrogate) cocktail, was used in manufacturing testing. Sausages were fermented at ~42.2°C, slowly increased to 54.4°C internal temperature, cold showered, and chilled for 6 hours. Sampling occurred post-fermentation (PF ...