The Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products National Program will generate new knowledge, technologies, and processes to expand markets for U.S. agricultural products and make U.S. agriculture more competitive in the global economy.  More specific outcomes anticipated during the next 5 years include, but are not limited to: 

• New knowledge derived from improved understandings of the structure, properties, metabolism, and function of crop and animal components, particularly carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, will generate development of a variety of new food, feed, and industrial products.
• Enhanced fundamental knowledge regarding the interactions between harvested commodities and organisms causing disease, spoilage, and quality loss will lead to new and improved technologies for control or elimination of postharvest insects and microorganisms that adversely affect the quality and marketability of agricultural commodities and products.
• Better understanding of the inherent mechanisms that govern quality maintenance and useful storage life in animal products and in harvested horticultural and agronomic crops will allow for genetic manipulation to improve desired traits, plus improved processes to extend the life of desirable traits.
• Improved knowledge regarding the genetic and biochemical control of value-added traits in plants and animals will allow for the development of improved animal products and plant varieties, and also create the potential for high-value designer crops.
• Rapid and improved grading methods will be developed to measure quality parameters and critical processing and end-use properties of agricultural commodities, issues of great importance to the marketing of American farm products.  Better grading technology will provide an expanded basis for marketing by quality, with appropriate pricing for high-quality products.
• Improved products and processes to extend the useful life of products during storage will reduce waste, improve efficiency, and allow new uses that are not now feasible.
• New technologies to convert commodities and processing byproducts into important value-added products such as fat substitutes, high-quality animal feeds, improved textiles, pharmaceutical ingredients, enzymes, and cosmetics will fill demonstrated needs.
• New high-value biomaterials, such as biodegradable plastics, adhesives, lubricants, and natural rubber from domestic plants, will be created and made available.  The new materials will fill specific needs such as reducing the bulk of inert, non-biodegradable plastics currently going to landfills or reducing dependence on imports.  They will also diversify the economic base of agriculture and stabilize income streams for farmers.