Food Science Commons^™

Lessons Learned From The 2019 Nebraska Floods: Implications For Emergency Management, Mass Care, And Food Security, Eric E. Calloway, Nadine B. Nugent, Katie L. Stern, Ashley Mueller, Amy L. Yaroch

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

This qualitative study aimed to understand the actions, challenges, and lessons learned for addressing the food and water needs of flood survivors, with a special focus on vulnerable populations and the implications for food security, to inform future disaster response efforts in the U.S. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted from January to August 2020 with the local, state, and national stakeholders (n = 27) involved in the disaster response to the 2019 Nebraska floods, particularly those involved in providing mass care, such as food, water, and shelter, for the flood survivors. The challenge themes were related to limited risk …

Prebiotics Enhance Persistence Of Fermented-Food Associated Bacteria In In Vitro Cultivated Fecal Microbial Communities, Chloe M. Christensen, Car Reen Kok, Jennifer Auchtung, Robert Hutkins

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

It is well established that the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota plays a major role in human health. Dietary interventions, and consumption of fermented foods that contain live microbes, in particular, are among the approaches being investigated to modulate the GI microbiota and improve health. However, the persistence of fermented food-associated bacteria (FAB) within the GI tract is typically limited by host factors that limit colonization and competition with autochthonous microbes. In this research, we examined if the addition of prebiotics, dietary substrates that are selectively metabolized by microbes to improve health, would enhance the persistence of FAB. We evaluated the persistence …

Polyploidy Events Shaped The Expansion Of Transcription Factors In Cucurbitaceae And Exploitation Of Genes For Tendril Development, Yu Zhang, Yingchao Zhang, Bing Li, Xiao Tan, Changping Zhu, Tong Wu, Shuyan Feng, Qihang Yang, Shaoqin Shen, Tong Yu, Zhuo Liu, Xiaoming Song

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Cucurbitaceae is one of the most important plant families distributed worldwide. Transcription factors (TFs) regulate plant growth at the transcription level. Here, we performed a systematic analysis of 42 641 TFs from 63 families in 14 Cucurbitaceae and 10 non-cucurbit species. Whole-genome duplication (WGD) was the dominant event type in almost all Cucurbitaceae plants. The TF families were divided into 1 210 orthogroups (OGs), of which, 112 were unique to Cucurbitaceae. Although the loss of several gene families was detected in Cucurbitaceae, the gene families expanded in five species that experienced a WGD event comparing with grape. Our findings revealed …

Host Species And Captivity Distinguish The Microbiome Compositions Of A Diverse Zoo-Resident Non-Human Primate Population, Maya O. Wills, Robin R. Shields-Cutler, Emily Brunmeier, Madison Weissenborn, Tami Murphy, Dan Knights, Timothy J. Johnson, Jonathan B. Clayton

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Vast numbers of microorganisms inhabit the mammalian gastrointestinal tract in a complex community referred to as the gut microbiome. An individual’s microbiome may be impacted by genetics, diet, and various environmental factors, and has been associated with many health states and diseases, though specific explanations are lacking. While these communities are well-studied in human populations, non-human primates (NHPs), in particular zoo-resident or captive NHPs, offer distinct advantages to increasing our understanding of factors that influence gut microbiome composition. Here, we characterize the gut microbiome composition of a phylogenetically diverse cohort of NHPs residing in the same urban zoo. We show …

Differential Progression Of Unhealthy Dietinduced Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Obese And Non-Obese Mice, Emma Hymel, Elizabeth M. Vlock, Kurt W. Fisher, Parashevi A. Farazi

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) ranks first among liver diseases in Western countries. NAFLD is typically associated with obesity and diabetes, however it also develops in lean individuals without metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of lean NAFLD is 7 percent in the U.S. and 25–30 percent in some Asian countries. NAFLD starts with excess liver fat accumulation (NAFL), progresses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The pathogenesis of lean NASH-HCC and how it differs from obese NASH-HCC is not well understood.

Methods

In this work, we generated a mouse model of lean and obese NASH-HCC using a …

Hybrid Incompatibility Between Ldrosophila Virilis And D. Lummei Is Stronger In The Presence Of Transposable Elements, Dean M. Castillo, Leonie C. Moyle

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Mismatches between parental genomes in selfish elements are frequently hypothesized to underlie hybrid dysfunction and drive speciation. However, because the genetic basis of most hybrid incompatibilities is unknown, testing the contribution of selfish elements to reproductive isolation is difficult. Here, we evaluated the role of transposable elements (TEs) in hybrid incompatibilities between Drosophila virilis and D. lummei by experimentally comparing hybrid incompatibility in a cross where active TEs are present in D. virilis (TE+) and absent in D. lummei, to a cross where these TEs are absent from both D. virilis (TE−) and D. lummei genotypes. Using genomic data, …

Updated Full Range Of Eliciting Dose Values For Cow’S Milk For Use In Food Allergen Risk Assessment, W. Marty Blom, Joost Westerhout, Joseph L. Baumert, Marie Y. Meima, Paul J. Turner, Motohiro Ebisawa, Noriyuki Yanagida, Benjamin C. Remington, Geert F. Houben

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Access to Eliciting Doses (ED) for allergens enables advanced food allergen risk assessment. Previously, the full ED range for 14 allergenic foods, including milk, and recommendations for their use were provided (Houben et al., 2020). Additional food challenge studies with cow’s milk-allergic patients added 247 data points to the original dataset. Using the Stacked Model Averaging statistical method for interval-censored data on the 697 individual NOAELs and LOAELs for milk generated an updated full ED distribution. The ED01 and ED05, the doses at which 1% and 5% of the milk-allergic population would be predicted to experience any objective allergic reaction, …

Characterizing Isoform Switching Events In Esophageal Adenocarcinoma, Yu Zhang, Katherine M. Weh, Connor L. Howard, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Jennifer Clarke, Kiran H. Lagisetty, Jules Lin, Rishindra M. Reddy, Andrew C. Chang, David G. Beer, Laura A. Kresty

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Isoform switching events with predicted functional consequences are common in many cancers, but characterization of switching events in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is lacking. Next-generation sequencing was used to detect levels of RNA transcripts and identify specific isoforms in treatment- naïve esophageal tissues ranging from premalignant Barrett’s esophagus (BE), BE with low- or high-grade dysplasia (BE.LGD, BE.HGD), and EAC. Samples were stratified by histopathology and TP53 mutation status, identifying significant isoform switching events with predicted functional consequences. Comparing BE.LGD with BE.HGD, a histopathology linked to cancer progression, isoform switching events were identified in 75 genes including KRAS, RNF128, and …

Comparative Assessment Of Human Exposure To Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella Due To The Consumption Of Various Food Products In The United States, Yifan Wu

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Antibiotic resistance (AR) was increasingly recognized as a global and national problem. Prevention efforts are hampered by a lack of complete understanding of how transmission pathways contribute to human AR exposure. Many reports have indicated the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in foods at retail, suggesting that food consumption, animal-derived foods in particular, can represent a significant source of AR exposure among consumers. The presence of Salmonella, including antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, has been frequently reported in terrestrial animal-derived foods such as meat, poultry, and dairy products, as well as in aquaculture products. Identification of the significant food sources that harbor …

The Future Of Synbiotics: Rational Formulation And Design, David Fabian Gomez Gomez, Car Reen Kok, Robert Hutkins

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Synbiotics, mixtures of live microbes and substrates selectively utilized by host organisms, are of considerable interest due to their ability to improve gastrointestinal health. However, formulating synbiotics remains challenging, due in part, to the absence of rational strategies to assess these products for synbiotic activities prior to clinical trials. Currently, synbiotics are formulated as either complementary or synergistic. Complementary synbiotics are made by combining probiotics and prebiotics, with each component acting independently and with the combination shown to provide a clinical health benefit. Most commercial synbiotics as well as those used in clinical trials have been of the complementary type. …

Immobilization Of A Bifidobacterial Endo-Ss-N-Acetylglucosaminidase To Generate Bioactive Compounds For Food Industry, Burcu Pekdemir, Hatice Duman, Ayşenur Arslan, Merve Kaplan, Melda Karyelioğlu, Tolgahan Özer, Hacı Mehmet Kayılı, Bekir Salih, Bethany M. Henrick, Rebbeca M. Duar, Sercan Karav

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Conjugated N-glycans are considered next-generation bioactive prebiotic compounds due to their selective stimulation of beneficial microbes. These compounds are glycosidically attached to proteins through N-acetylglucosamines via specific asparagine residue (AsN-X-Ser/Thr). Certain bacteria such as Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis (B. infantis) have been shown to be capable of utilizing conjugated N-glycans, owing to their specialized genomic abilities. B. infantis possess a unique enzyme, Endo-ß-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EndoBI-1), which cleaves all types of conjugated N-glycans from glycoproteins. In this study, recombinantly cloned EndoBI- 1 enzyme activity was investigated using various immobilization methods: 1) adsorption, 2) entrapment-based alginate immobilization, …

Application Of Digital Twin In Evaluating Quality Changes In Tomato Value-Chain In Nigeria, Charles Nwaizu, Taofiq Olayinka Olanrewaju, Iluno Christiana

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Cooling tomatoes after harvesting and keeping them refrigerated during their transportation is a key step toward preserving the quality attributes of tomatoes. This is a challenging task to accomplish in Nigeria, mainly because shipments of tomatoes from the tomato-producing states in northern Nigeria to the non-producing states in southern Nigeria were predominately not transported in a refrigerated ambient condition. To minimize postharvest losses of tomatoes during transportation, quantification of changes in quality would be extremely valuable. For this purpose, a digital tomato twin was developed based on mechanistic physics-based modeling. This digital twin simulated the actual thermal profile of tomatoes …

High-Quality Ice Plant Reference Genome Analysis Provides Insights Into Genome Evolution And Allows Exploration Of Genes Involved In The Transition From C3 To Cam Pathways, Shaoqin Shen, Nan Li, Yujie Wang, Rong Zhou, Pengchuan Sun, Hao Lin, Wei Chen, Tong Yu, Zhuo Liu, Zhiyuan Wang, Xiao Tan, Changping Zhu, Shuyan Feng, Yu Zhang, Xiaoming Song

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum), a member of the Aizoaceae family, is a typical halophyte crop and a model plant for studying the mechanism of transition from C3 photosynthesis to crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Here, we report a high-quality chromosome-level ice plant genome sequence. This 98.05% genome sequence is anchored to nine chromosomes, with a total length of 377.97 Mb and an N50 scaffold of 40.45 Mb. Almost half of the genome (48.04%) is composed of repetitive sequences, and 24 234 genes have been annotated. Subsequent to the ancient whole-genome triplication (WGT) that occurred in eudicots, there has been …

A Review Of Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia Coli (Stec) Contamination In The Raw Pork Production Chain, Manirul Haque, Joseph M. Bosilevac, Byron D. Chaves

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Epidemiological evidence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections associated with the consumption of contaminated pork highlight the need for increased awareness of STEC as an emerging pathogen in the pork supply chain. The objective of this review is to contribute to our understanding of raw pork products as potential carriers of STEC into the food supply. We summarize and critically analyze primary literature reporting the prevalence of STEC in the raw pork production chain. The reported prevalence rate of stx-positive E. coli isolates in live swine, slaughtered swine, and retail pork samples around the world ranged from 4.4 …

Differential Effects Of Protein Isolates On The Gut Microbiome Under High And Low Fiber Conditions, Marissa Behounek

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Protein isolates are a growing market share in the food industry both as food ingredients and as supplements. All dietary habits can influence and alter the gut microbiome; however, little is known about how protein isolates from different sources will change the composition and function of the gut microbiota under high and low fiber conditions. The study aims to determine the microbiome response to plant and animal protein isolates under high- and low-dietary fiber (H/LDF) conditions. Six commercially available protein isolates (beef, egg white, milk, pea, and two soy protein isolates) were subjected to in vitro enzymatic digestion and dialysis …

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Mucosal Attachment And Colonization By Clostridioides Difficile, Ben Sidner

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, anaerobic bacterium which causes gastrointestinal disease and is a leading cause of nosocomial infections. Although infection typically occurs following antibiotic therapy, in recent years there has been an increase in infections which are not preceded by antibiotic use. Additionally, community-associated infections and rates of disease recurrence have increased. While it is understood that a healthy gastrointestinal microbiota provides protection against infection, the molecular mechanisms which underly C. difficile's ability to colonize and persist in the gut are mostly unknown. Building on work from others that suggests C. difficile associates with the outer mucus …

Nanoporous Starch Aerogels Impregnated With Phytosterols And Methods Of Preparing The Nanoporous Starch Aerogels, Ozan Nazim Ciftci

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Formation of low - crystallinity phytosterol nanoparticles via cooling - controlled supercritical carbon dioxide (SC - CO₂) impregnation of phytosterols into biodegradable nanoporous starch aerogels and methods of preparing these aerogels are disclosed . The nanoporous starch aerogels increase water dissolution and bioaccessibility of the phytosterols , thereby making them available for preparation of high nutraceutical value foods .

High Pressure Processing Of Cashew Milk, Rachel Coggins

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant-based foods are becoming increasingly popular because of changing consumer preferences. Most plant-based milks are not a direct replacement for cow’s milk because they do not have the same nutritional value and physicochemical properties. However, these properties could be modified and enhanced through processing. For example, high pressure processing (HPP) can affect irreversibly protein structure and functionality and potentially enhance enzymatic hydrolysis. HPP is used widely in the beverage industry for cold pasteurization. In this study, the effects of HPP treatment on (a) the inactivation of Listeria innocua, a commonly used surrogate for Listeria monocytogenes in HPP research, in …

Inflammatory Diseases And Resections Of The Digestive Tract Influence The Risk Of Circulating Food-Specific-Igg, Jacques Izard, Walker Carson, Joseph Baumert, Jennifer Clarke

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Individuals affected with inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract or have had surgical removal of sections of the digestive tract are often in need to adjust their diet. The symptomatology associated with food intake issues is often informally reported as food sensitivity. We investigated the circulating food-specific-IgG among ten conditions.

Conclusion: The risk of the having circulating food-specific IgG differed widely among the conditions investigated. The maintenance of a colonic environment might influence the risk of food sensitivity in ostomates.

A Classification System For Defining And Estimating Dietary Intake Of Live Microbes In Us Adults And Children, Maria L. Marco, Robert Hutkins, Colin Hill, Victor L. Fulgoni Iii, Christopher J. Cifelli, Jaime Gahche, Joanne L. Slavin, Daniel Merenstein, Daniel J. Tancredi, Mary E. Sanders

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background:

Consuming livemicrobes in foods may benefit human health. Live microbe estimates have not previously been associated with individual foods in dietary databases.

Objectives:

We aimed to estimate intake of live microbes in US children (aged 2–18 y) and adults (≥19 y) (n = 74,466; 51.2% female).

Methods:

Using cross-sectional data from the NHANES (2001–2018), experts assigned foods an estimated level of live microbes per gram [low (Lo), <10⁴ CFU/g; medium (Med), 10⁴–10⁷ CFU/g; or high (Hi), >10⁷ CFU/g]. Probiotic dietary supplements were also assessed. The mean intake of each live microbe …

Large-Scale Analyses Of Heat Shock Transcription Factors And Database Construction Based On Whole-Genome Genes In Horticultural And Representative Plants, Tong Yu, Yun Bai, Zhuo Liu, Zhiyuan Wang, Qihang Yang, Tong Wu, Shuyan Feng, Yu Zhang, Shaoqin Shen, Qiang Li, Liqiang Gu, Xiaoming Song

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Heat shock transcription factor (Hsf) plays a critical role in regulating heat resistance. Here, 2950 Hsf family genes were identified from 111 horticultural and representative plants. More Hsf genes were detected in higher plants than in lower plants. Based on all Hsf genes, we constructed a phylogenetic tree, which indicated that Hsf genes of each branch evolved independently after species differentiation. Furthermore, we uncovered the evolutionary trajectories of Hsf genes by motif analysis. There were only six motifs (M1–M6) in lower plants, and then four novel motifs (M7–M10) appeared in higher plants. However, the motifs of some Hsf …

Great Northern Beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) Lower Cholesterol In Hamsters Fed A High-Saturated-Fat Diet, An T. Nguyen, Sami A. Althwab, Haowen Qiu, Richard Zbasnik, Carlos A. Urrea, Timothy P. Carr, Vicki Schlegel

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: Dietary interventions for high cholesterol, a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease, are generally considered before prescribing drugs.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of whole Great Northern beans (wGNBs) and their hull (hGNB) incorporated into a high-saturated-fat (HSF) diet on cholesterol markers and hepatic/small intestinal genes involved in cholesterol regulation.

Methods: Each of the 4 groups of 11 male golden Syrian hamsters at 9 wk old were fed a normal-fat [NF; 5% (wt:wt) of soybean oil], HSF [5% (wt:wt) of soybean oil + 10% (wt:wt) of coconut oil], HSF+5% (wt:wt) wGNB, or HSF+0.5% (wt:wt) hGNB diet for 4 …

Evaluation Of Human Microbiota-Associated (Hma) Porcine Models To Study The Human Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Nirosh D. Aluthge

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Research conducted in the past couple of decades has showcased the importance of the gut microbiota in human health and well-being. While many studies have reported on the differences in community membership between a disease state and a healthy state, few have investigated the mechanisms through which an aberrant microbiota contributes to a disease phenotype. One of the primary reasons for this are the many technical and ethical barriers to conducting the necessary studies directly in human individuals. Human microbiota-associated (HMA) porcine models have the potential to become important research tools which can enable the testing of hypotheses regarding host-microbiota …

Inactivation Of Salmonella In Black Peppercorn By Fluidization With Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor, Edel Summers

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) at inactivating Salmonella inoculated in whole black pepper when used as fluidizing gas media. HPV treatment was conducted at two different temperatures (45°C and 60°C) and two dwell times (30 min and 60 min). Microbial reduction and residual hydrogen peroxide were measured at three storage times: 0 h (immediately after treatment), 24 h and 48 h post-treatment. The effect of HPV on the quality of whole black peppercorn was evaluated 48 h post-treatment based on changes in piperine content, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, total …

Evaluating The Microbial Quality And Use Of Antimicrobials In Raw Pet Foods, Leslie Pearl Cancio

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) are emerging pet foods that pose food safety risks because of the potential presence of pathogens that could cause illness to humans. In this research, the microbial quality of select RMBD products sold by pet food companies online and the use of chemical antimicrobials to reduce the microbial load in chicken liver, a common RMBD ingredient, were evaluated.

Ground meat blends and livers from four animal species (beef, pork, chicken, turkey) were purchased from four online companies that delivers directly to consumers through parcel businesses. Products were procured at three different times during one year and …

A Cookbook For The Trendy Chef, Katja Roberts

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A Cookbook for the Trendy Chef contains a compilation of recipes which fall under 8 major food trends for 2021. These trends were determined to be vegan, keto, and gluten-free diets, along with “viral foods”, easy recipes, functional foods, international flavors, and comfort foods. These trends were selected based on predictions made by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and the Washington Post.

Knowledge-Informed Data-Driven Modeling Of Microbial Inactivation In Food, Steve Zhang, Firnaaz Ahamed, Hyun-Seob Song

UNL Student Research Days Posters, Graduate

Prevention of the growth of harmful microorganisms in food products is an important requirement for ensuring food safety and quality. Mathematical models to predict the quantitative changes in microbial populations in food to the variations of environmental conditions are useful tools in this regard. Current approaches that use empirical formulation generate arbitrary forms of model equations, impeding systematic analysis towards identifying key factors governing microbial growth and inactivation in food. To address this challenge, we present a data-driven modeling pipeline that enables automatic discovery of model equations (through parsimonious selection of relevant terms in a pre-built library) without having to …

Essential Oil Yield, Composition, And Bioactivity Of Sagebrush Species In The Bighorn Mountains, Valtcho D. Zheljazkov, Charles L. Cantrell, Ekaterina A. Jeliazkova, Tess Astatkie, Vicki Schlegel

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) are dominant wild plants in large areas of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and they include several species and subspecies. The aim was to determine if there are significant differences in essential oil (EO) yield, composition, and biological activity of sagebrush within the Bighorn Mountains, U.S. The EO yield in fresh herbage varied from 0.15 to 1.69% for all species, including 0.25–1.69% in A. tridentata var. vaseyana, 0.64–1.44% in A. tridentata var. tridentata, 1% in A. tridentata var. wyomingensis, 0.8–1.2% in A. longifolia, 0.8–1% in A. cana, and 0.16% in A. ludoviciana. There was …

A Farm-To-Fork Quantitative Microbial Exposure Assessment Of Β-Lactam-Resistant Escherichia Coli Among U.S. Beef Consumers, Yangjunna Zhang, John W. Schmidt, Terrance M. Arthur, Tommy L. Wheeler, Qi Zhang, Bing Wang

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Integrated quantitative descriptions of the transmission of β-lactam-resistant Escherichia coli (BR-EC) from commercial beef products to consumers are not available. Here, a quantitative microbial exposure assessment model was established to simulate the fate of BR-EC in a farm-to-fork continuum and provide an estimate of BR-EC exposure among beef consumers in the U.S. The model compared the per-serving exposures from the consumption of intact beef cuts, non-intact beef cuts, and ground beef. Additionally, scenario analysis was performed to evaluate the relative contribution of antibiotic use during beef cattle production to the level of human exposure to BR-EC. The model predicted mean …

Influence Of Fertilizer Rate On Swollen Stem Formation (“Bulbing”) And Vitamin C Content In Different Kohlrabi Cultivars, Mark Iradukunda, Paul E. Read

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group) is a vegetable crop found in the Brassicaceae, and it is rich in antioxidants such as vitamin C. Vitamin C helps in oxidative damage repair and strengthens the immune system, so exploring vitamin C sources may contribute to improving human health. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different fertilizer rates on kohlrabi yield, in terms of the swollen stem and the vitamin C content, and if those effects are similar in different kohlrabi cultivars. In this greenhouse study, we fertilized four potted kohlrabi cultivars with a common water-soluble greenhouse fertilizer …