Food & Nutrition Research Briefs, July 2006
Eggs are a good source of choline.
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Getting highor at least
adequatelevels of choline in meals and snacks may help prevent
unhealthful buildup of homocysteine in your blood. High blood homocysteine
levels are thought to increase risk of heart attack, stroke, dementia and
cancer.
Choline powers our brains, converts fat into
energy, and performs other essential biochemical activities.
Scientists at the ARS Jean Mayer USDA Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Mass., and
their co-investigators examined the relation between choline intake and blood
homocysteine levels that were recorded in food questionnaires or blood tests of
1,960 volunteers in the Framingham Offspring Study (American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition,volume 83, pages 905 to 911).
Important choline sources include eggs, liver
and other meats, fish, beans, wheat bran, nuts, dairy products and soy
foods.
For details contact:
Paul
F. Jacques, (617) 556-3322; ARS Jean Mayer USDA
Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston,
Mass.
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A scene as it might be viewed by a person with
normal vision (top) and with age-related macular degeneration. Image
courtesy National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health.
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Female volunteers who ate a high proportion
of "high-glycemic-index" foods over a 10-year period were more than
twice as likely to develop an early indicator of age-related macular
degeneration. This disease is one of the leading causes of irreversible vision
loss among Americans aged 40 or above.
High-glycemic-index foods are rich in the
type of carbohydrates that are quickly digested and absorbed, resulting in a
rapid rise in blood sugar.
Scientists at the ARS Jean Mayer USDA Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Boston, Mass., note that the data do not
establish a cause-and-effect interaction, but instead suggest a new direction
for further studies that may help prevent or delay macular disease.
Results are based on eye tests and food
questionnaires completed by 526 women aged 53 to 73 who did not have a history
of the early form of the disease. An article in the April 2006 issue of the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (volume 83, pages 880 to 886)
tells more.
For details contact:
Chung-Jung Chiu, (617) 556-3157; ARS
Jean Mayer USDA
Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston,
Mass.
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Vitamin D is necessary for healthy bones.
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African-American teenagers tested in a recent
study had a greater incidence of low vitamin D levels than participants in
several earlier investigations. University and Agricultural Research Service
nutrition experts reported that finding in a recent issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition (volume 83, pages 1135 to 1141).
Vitamin D is essential for strong bones. Good
sources include vitamin D-fortified milk and juices as well as fatty fish, and
sunshinewhich converts a natural chemical in skin into vitamin D.
At sites in 14 American cities, the
scientists examined levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in the blood (plasma) of 359
volunteers, predominantly African-American females aged 15 to 19. This form of
the vitamin is a good indicator of total vitamin D stores. The researchers
found that 87 percent of the volunteersan unexpectedly high
numberhad an insufficient amount of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in their
plasma.
For details contact:
Charles
B. Stephensen, (530) 754-9266; USDA-ARS
Western
Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, Calif.
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ARS scientists are using human saliva to evaluate
metabolic responses from exercise, dieting, and dietary supplements.
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Proteins and other molecules that make up our
saliva might change in response to what we eat, how and how often we exercise,
and what nutritional supplementssuch as multivitamin/mineral
tabletswe use. Thats why ARS scientists and their co-investigators
are analyzing the composition of saliva from healthy volunteers.
The information theyre gathering may
someday serve as a standard or baseline for estimating the health of others,
and for assessing an individual's response to a particular food, exercise
regimen or supplement. Then, foods eaten or supplements taken could be adjusted
accordingly, for optimal health.
The research might also yield findings that
food processors and supplement manufacturers could use to develop new and
improved products.
For details contact:
Neil
P. Price, (309) 681-6246; USDA-ARS
National
Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill.
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Fresh Bing cherries.
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Bing cherries may help fight the inflammation
of arthritis, heart disease and cancer, ARS scientists and their colleagues
report in the April 2006 issue of the Journal of Nutrition (volume 136,
pages 981 to 986).
Investigators at ARS Western Human
Nutrition Research Center, Davis, Calif., led the research, which was based on
tests of 18 healthy men and women volunteers, aged 45 to 61, who ate a total of
about 45 fresh Bing cherries throughout the day for 28 consecutive days.
Blood samples indicated that levels of three
telltale indicators of inflammationnitric oxide, C reactive protein and a
marker for T cell activationdropped 18 to 25 percent by the end of the
cherry-eating stint.
However, natural chemicals in cherries
apparently work selectively, suppressing production of these three
inflammation-linked compounds, but not of some three dozen others, the
researchers found.
The grower-sponsored California Cherry
Advisory Board, Lodi, Calif., helped fund the research.
For details contact:
Darshan
S. Kelley, (530) 752-5138; USDA-ARS
Western
Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, Calif.
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Foods rich in zinc include chicken, eggs, cheese,
oysters, beef, beans and peanuts.
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Scientists already know that our muscles need
zinc, but a study from investigators at the Grand Forks (N.D.) Human Nutrition
Research Center provides new details about the key role of a zinc-dependent
enzyme called carbonic anhydrase.
Consuming less than the recommended amount of
zinc reduces the enzyme's activity and makes the heart work harder, the
researchers showed.
Healthy men in their 20s and 30s volunteered
for the 9-week, low-zinc regimen and for another 9-week regimen in which they
received the recommended amount of this essential nutrient.
Workouts during the low-zinc stint left
volunteers panting as their hearts worked harder to carry carbon dioxide to the
lungs, where it is exhaled.
That's in contrast to the volunteers'
performance during the regimen in which they received the recommended amount of
zinc. The study, reported in 2005, provides the first evidence that the
carbon-dioxide-removing enzyme won't perform normally in people during exercise
if body stores of zinc are too low (American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, volume 81, pages 1045 to 1051).
Chicken, eggs, cheese, oysters, beef, beans
and peanuts are rich in zinc.
For details contact:
Henry
C. Lukaski, (701) 795-8429; USDA-ARS
Grand
Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D.
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Cobb salad with pickles. Image courtesy Pickle
Packers International, Inc.
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Dill pickles sold in plastic pouches could
stay fresh and flavorful longer if packed with turmeric. That spice is already
used to add color to some pickles and certain other foods.
Unlike glass jars, gas-permeable plastic
pouches allow oxygen to seep through, over time. But turmeric proved to be an
effective antioxidant in lab tests that simulated commercial pickle packing
processes, ARS and university researchers have shown (Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, volume 48, pages 4910 to 4912).
Why pack pickles in plastic instead of
glass?
Plastic containers weigh less, dont
break and are easier to open.
For details contact:
Roger
F. Mcfeeters, (919) 515-2990; USDA-ARS
Food
Science Research Unit, Raleigh, N.C.
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Pork is now even leaner. Image courtesy
National Pork Board.
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Eight of nine retail cuts of pork analyzed by
Agricultural Research Service nutrition scientists and their colleagues were
leaner than cuts measured a decade agoyet still provided the same amount
of protein.
The Revised USDA Nutrient Data Set
for Fresh Pork revisits the nutrient content of shoulder blade steak,
tenderloin roast, top loin chop, top loin roast, sirloin roast, loin chop, rib
chop, country style ribs, and spare ribs. View it on the World Wide Web at:
www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=13467.
The data can be used as the basis of
nutrition labels for pork products. The National Pork Board, Des Moines, Iowa,
helped fund the research.
For details contact:
Juliette
C. Howe, (301) 504-0643; USDA-ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
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Black Pearl. Image courtesy U.S. National
Arboretum.
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Black Pearl, an edible ornamental pepper from
Agricultural Research Service scientists in Beltsville, Md., has been named a
2006 All-America Selection. The award recognizes new flowers and vegetables
that demonstrate superior garden performance in trials conducted
throughout the country.
Black Pearl was first offered to growers and
gardeners in 2005, after years of testing. Its black leaves and dense clusters
of round fruits that ripen from black to red make it an especially eye-catching
plant. In addition, it is drought-hardy and tolerant to attack by common insect
and disease pests.
PanAmerican Seed Company, Elburn, Ill.,
helped test the plant and entered it in the national competition.
For details contact:
John R.
Stommel, (301) 504-5583, or
Robert
J. Griesbach, (301) 504-6574; USDA-ARS
Henry
A. Wallace Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
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Marcial Pastor-Corrales, an ARS plant pathologist,
collects spores of the pathogen that causes bean rust.
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Five new kinds of pinto beans shrug off
attack by three major bean diseases.
Known as BelDakMi-RMR and
numbered 19 to 23, the new lines contain a record-setting total of six
disease-resistance genesfour to fend off common bean rust, one to foil
common mosaic virus, and one to resist common mosaic necrosis virus.
Thats unlike most commercial bean
varieties, which typically contain few if any disease-resistance genes.
Whats more, the BelDakMi pintos thwart every known strain of these
pathogens
The beans get their BelDakMi name
from abbreviations of the institutions that collaborated in their
developmentARS Henry A. Wallace Beltsville (Md.) Agricultural
Research Center, and North Dakota State and Michigan State universities.
Pinto beans provide protein, carbs, fiber,
iron and folate.
For details contact:
Marcial
Pastor-Corrales, (301) 504-5745; USDA-ARS
Henry
A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
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Muscadine grapes ripening on the vine.
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There's good news for fans of muscadine
grapes. ARS scientists in Poplarville, Miss., and their University of Florida
colleagues are putting the finishing touches on a new, fresh-market muscadine
that will offer excellent flavor and high levels of compounds known as phenols,
thought to benefit our cardiovascular system.
Muscadines are grown commercially in the
southeastern United States, where they are often called scuppernongs and are
used primarily in juices, wines, jellies and preserves. They are valued for
their high yields8 to 12 tons an acreand for resistance to pests
such as phylloxera, nematodes, fungi, and the microbe that causes Pierce's
disease.
For details contact:
Stephen
J. Stringer, (601) 403-8768; USDA-ARS
Southern
Horticultural Laboratory, Poplarville, Miss.
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Thomcord, a sweet, seedless grape resulted from
crossing a Thompson plant with a Concord.
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Already a hit at farmers' markets in central
California, a specialty grape called Thomcord may begin showing up in
supermarket produce sections across the county within the next few
years.
Agricultural Research Service grape breeders
in California chose two classic grapes, Thompson Seedless and Concord, as
parents of Thomcord. They put the new grape plants through 17 years of testing
before making it available in 2003 to nurseries and plant breeders.
Thomcord has the blue-black skin and whitish
bloom of the Concord, plus a pleasing Concordlike flavor that's lightened by
the sweet, mild taste of its Thompson parent. The fruit is slightly firmer than
Concord and is seedless, ripening in late July through mid-August in
California.
For details contact:
David
W. Ramming, (559) 596-2823; USDA-ARS
San
Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, Calif.
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