Food Science Commons^™

Threshold Dose For Shrimp: A Risk Characterization Based On Objective Reactions In Clinical Studies, Julie A. Nordlee, Benjamin C. Remington, Barbara K. Ballmer-Weber, Samuel B. Lehrer, Joe L. Baumert, Steve L. Taylor

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

A DBPCFC [double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge] of shrimp-allergic adults was conducted to obtain individual threshold doses. Results of this study and published research were combined and a population threshold for shrimp was determined from dose-distribution modeling. The shrimp-allergic population seems to have a higher threshold compared to other populations for other food allergens. Additional shrimp challenges should be done to confirm these initial results.

Construction And Performance Testing Of A Mixed Mode Solar Food Dryer For Use In Developing Countries, Sean Andrew Foster

Theses and Dissertations

This study details the construction and performance testing of a mixed mode solar dryer using a combination of direct and indirect solar energy to dry food. One major benefit of this dryer design is its construction. It was simple to construct and was made with low cost materials, to make it feasible for use in developing countries. Previous research has identified several design factors that affect performance and efficiency: product loading density, number of trays, position of the absorber, and chimney type. Performance testing showed that chimney air speeds were not affected greatly by modifying the design aspects of the …

Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits To Drosophila Melanogaster, Ria Chhabra, Santharam Kolli, Johannes H. Bauer

Biosciences Research

The ‘‘organic food’’ market is the fastest growing food sector, yet it is unclear whether organically raised food is nutritionally superior to conventionally grown food and whether consuming organic food bestows health benefits. In order to evaluate potential health benefits of organic foods, we used the well-characterized fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. Fruit flies were raised on diets consisting of extracts of either conventionally or organically raised produce (bananas, potatoes, raisins, soy beans). Flies were then subjected to a variety of tests designed to assess overall fly health. Flies raised on diets made from organically grown produce …

The Problem Of Too Many Statistical Tests: Subgroup Analyses In A Study Comparing The Effectiveness Of Online And Live Lectures, David M. Lane

Numeracy

The more statistical analyses performed in the analysis of research data, the more likely it is that one or more of the conclusions will be in error. Multiple statistical analyses can occur when the sample contains several subgroups and the researchers perform separate analyses for each subgroup. For example, separate analyses may be done for different ethnic groups, different levels of education, and/or for both genders. Media reports of research frequently omit information on the number of subgroup analyses performed thus leaving the reader with insufficient information to assess the validity of the conclusions. This article discusses the problems with …

Advantages Of Understanding The Lady Beetle Diet, Jonathan Lundgren

Agricultural Research Magazine

Understanding the feeding behavior of lady beetles will help agronomists develop cropping systems that best use these important beneficial insects as biological controls of insect pests, such as aphids and Colorado potato beetles.

Agricultural Research Service entomologist Jonathan Lundgren at the North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory in Brookings, South Dakota, and former ARS entomologist Michael Seagraves were part of a team of ARS and university scientists that examined how lady beetle diets alter their feeding patterns and physiology.

Appreciated for their ability to eat insect pests, lady beetles also consume nectar, pollen, and other plant tissue. Indeed, most beneficial predators …

Corn Cobs On Deck For Cellulosic Feedstock, Brian J. Wienhold, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

When energy officials proposed using crop residues to produce cellulosic ethanol, concerned soil scientists took to the fields to learn more about how these residues protect soil from erosion and enhance soil quality. Agricultural Research Service soil scientist Brian Wienhold focused on a single component of residue— the corncob.

“We didn’t have data on how postharvest cob residues might protect soil quality,” says Wienhold, who works in the ARS Agroecosystem Management Research Unit in Lincoln, Nebraska. “But corncobs make up 20 percent of residue by weight, which means that the average U.S. production of corn could provide 40 to 50 …

The Real Dirt On Biosolids As Soil Amendments, Eton Codling, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more than 60 percent of dry biosolids—treated wastewater solids that can be recycled or stored—are applied to land, composted, or used to cover landfills. The biosolids have been processed to kill pathogens, and EPA strictly regulates biosolid use to ensure the materials don’t harm the environment, human health, or animal health.

Farmers who follow pre- and post-application management regulations can obtain permits to use biosolids for amending fields where food and feed crops are grown. Now, research by an Agricultural Research Service scientist is helping to clarify the long-term effects that biosolid …

With Hot Air Treatment, Bacteria Fly The Coop, Rosalie Marion Bliss, Mark E. Berrang

Agricultural Research Magazine

While being transported in hauling coops on trucks, poultry that have been colonized with bacteria such as Campylobacter can contaminate, through fecal shedding, pathogen-free poultry. Those pathogens can also be passed on to the next group of birds during the next trip, and so forth, unless the cycle is broken.

That’s where Agricultural Research Service microbiologists Mark Berrang and Richard Meinersmann and colleague Charles Hofacre at the University of Georgia in Athens come in. The team has reported a treatment that reduces poultry cross-contamination from transport-cage flooring.

Campylobacter are foodborne pathogens that can be present in raw or undercooked poultry. …

Drainage Ditch Research Reveals Opportunities For Cleaning Up Runoff, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

There is no typical drainage ditch,” says Agricultural Research Service ecologist Matt Moore. “And until recently, farmers just thought of them as something they need to drain water off their fields. But we can use these ditches to minimize pesticide and nutrient losses in runoff—and it can be done without taking any cropland out of production.”

Moore, who works at the ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory in Oxford, Mississippi, has been wading through edge of- field drainage ditches since he was a boy planting rice on his family’s farm in Arkansas. The ditches—as common in agricultural landscapes as the fields they …

Going Beyond The Barnyard To Stop Stable Flies, David B. Taylor, J.J. Zhu, Sandra Avant

Agricultural Research Magazine

Livestock producers may not be able to see the difference between stable flies and other flies at a distance, but they can definitely see the stable flies’ effect on their cattle as the animals stop grazing and bunch together to minimize the number of bites they’re getting.

Stable flies are among the most important arthropod pests of cattle in the United States. Their painful bites can reduce milk production in dairy cows, decrease weight gain in beef cattle, and reduce feed efficiency.

Generally, insecticide sprays are used to help keep stable flies off animals, especially their legs, where the flies …

Citrus Greening: A Puzzle With Many Pieces, Gail Wisler

Agricultural Research Magazine

Finding the solution to some crop diseases is like solving a jigsaw puzzle. The solution has many pieces, and fitting them together can be a challenge. Citrus greening, also known as “Huanglongbing” (HLB), is just such a disease. HLB is costing Florida citrus growers millions of dollars each year in lost revenue from unproductive trees. It continues to spread and is the most serious threat to the U.S. citrus industry in history. The disease was recently confirmed in commercial groves in Texas and in a homeowner’s yard in California. Both states are important citrus producers, and if HLB spreads in …

Helping Citrus Growers Deal With A Nasty Invader, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

Growers battling a devastating citrus disease may soon benefit from a one-two punch from Florida researchers. Two Agricultural Research Service scientists at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce are using two very different strategies to help citrus growers and processors deal with Huanglongbing (HLB), a disease that poses a major threat to the survival of the citrus industry and is costing it millions of dollars each year.

Elizabeth Baldwin, research leader of the Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Unit, is leading a team developing technology that orange juice processors can use to determine whether their product has the …

New Technology For Harvesting The Power Of Beneficial Fungi, Mark Jackson, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Biopesticides containing beneficial fungi are often grown on grains or other solids, but Agricultural Research Service scientists have found that a liquid diet might be cheaper and better. The approach, known as “liquid culture fermentation,” offers several advantages, including lower material costs and increased yields of certain forms of pestkilling fungi like Isaria or Metarhizium that can be sprayed directly onto crop plants or applied to soil as a biological alternative to using synthetic pesticides.

For decades, biopesticide makers have cultured fungi like these on moistened grains or other solid substrates to prompt them into churning out billions of specialized …

January 2013- Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

The Agricultural Research Service has about 100 labs all over the country.

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Plant Gene Expression Center, Albany, California 1 research unit ■ 12 employees

Corvallis, Oregon 3 research units ■ 133 employees

Davis, California 3 research units ■ 114 employees

San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, California 3 research units ■ 125 employees

U.S. Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, California 2 research units ■ 36 employees

Pullman, Washington 6 research units 136 employees

Fort Collins, Colorado 7 research units ■ 141 employees

Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, Sidney, Montana 2 research units ■ 72 employees …

Orange Juice Amino Acids May Reveal Secrets To Quelling Citrus Greening Disease, Andrew P. Breksa Iii, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Amino acids in orange juice may hold clues to the mostly secret, highly successful attack strategy of a powerful plant pathogen. Recent studies of these compounds may pave the way to a safe, effective, environmentally friendly way to vanquish this orchard enemy.

Known as Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, this microbe causes citrus greening disease, also called “Huanglongbing,” or “HLB.” (See article on page 4).

Agricultural Research Service chemist Andrew P. Breksa III and University of California-Davis professor Carolyn M. Slupsky have compared the amino acid composition of juice from commercially grown oranges. They used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study juice …

Agricultural Research Magazine, January 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Helping Citrus Growers Deal With a Nasty Invader

7 Orange Juice Amino Acids May Reveal Secrets to Quelling Citrus Greening Disease

8 Drainage Ditch Research Reveals Opportunities for Cleaning Up Runoff

11 Crop-Friendly Bacteria Tapped To Battle Fungal Marauders

12 Advantages of Understanding the Lady Beetle Diet

13 New Uses for Sugar Beet Pulp

14 Going Beyond the Barnyard To Stop Stable Flies

16 The Real Dirt on Biosolids as Soil Amendments

17 With Hot Air Treatment, Bacteria Fly the Coop

18 ARS Works Toward Control of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

21 New Technology for Harvesting …

New Uses For Sugar Beet Pulp, Linshu Liu, Rosalie Marion Bliss

Agricultural Research Magazine

More than 1 million tons of sugar beet pulp are generated annually by U.S. beet sugar industries. Finding profitable uses for the biodegradable pulp, which is the leftover residue from sugar extraction, is critical for the long-term economic viability of U.S. agribusiness.

Agricultural Research Service researchers and colleagues have long been studying the potential of sugar beet pulp utilization. Now, chemist LinShu Liu and plant physiologist Arland Hotchkiss, both with the Dairy and Functional Foods Unit at ARS’s Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, and colleagues have found new uses for sugar beet pulp.

In collaboration with professor Jinwen …

Ars Works Toward Control Of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Sharon Durham, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is wreaking havoc in U.S. homes, gardens, and agricultural operations, causing personal and economic woe. Agricultural Research Service scientists are exploring various aspects of monitoring and control of this increasingly important insect pest, which is an invasive Asian species known as a sporadic pest of many tree fruit crops in China, Korea, and Japan. Along with being a household nuisance, it is a major economic threat to producers of orchard fruits such as apple, peach, and pear; garden vegetables and row crops; and many ornamental species.

Since its detection in the northeastern United States …

Guia Tecnica Para La Produccion Artesanal De Semilla De Variedades De Polinizacion Libre De Sorgo En America Central, René Clará Valencia

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

La producción de semilla artesanal de sorgo es un complemento en la producción y uso de semilla certificada y tiene como objetivo el de atender a los agricultores que por diversas razones no acceden a la semilla certificada, pero son sujetos potenciales de producción y desarrollo del cultivo de sorgo. En términos generales son los agricultores de menos recursos, que representan la mayoría de productores de sorgo en América Central, los que se ven limitados a la utilización de las variedades mejoradas. Debemos de meditar sobre la utilización de las variedades mejoradas de polinización libre y probablemente el poco acceso …

Using Stable Isotope Analysis Of Zooplankton To Document Trophic And Biogeochemical Changes In The San Francisco Estuary, Steven C. Westbrook, Julien Moderan

STAR Program Research Presentations

Zooplankton represent a vital link between phytoplankton and fish, like the endangered Delta Smelt. Human interferences (nitrates from waste water, flow alteration, invasive species introduction…) have altered the structure of the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) ecosystem. We use stable isotope analysis to improve our knowledge of the planktonic food web in the SFE and gain insights into its evolution over the past decades. We use the ratios of certain isotopes (Nitrogen, Carbon, Sulfur, etc.) in different species of zooplankton to tell us what it is feeding on as well as the trophic level it feeds in. My research focused on …