A special orchard in Northern California is
home to more than 100 different kinds of figs from around the globe. This fig
genebank ranks as one of the worlds largest living assortments of edible
figs. Most are specialty varieties of Ficus carica. The genebank ensures
that the genes of these figs and their exotic, rare, and oddball botanic
cousins are safeguarded for our future.
The collection is part of whats
formally known as the ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Fruit and
Nut Crops, headquartered at Davis, Calif. In addition to familiar, commercially
grown figs that thrive in warm, dry climates, the repository also includes
heirloom varieties and unnamed specimens known only by numbers.
Among the most distinctive figs at the
genebank: Violette de Bordeaux, which offers purple skin, brilliant-red flesh,
and a taste reminiscent of superb raspberry jam; and Panachée, which
bears beautiful, yellow-skinned, green-striped fruit with a delicate strawberry
flavor.
Fig breeders and researchersalong with
nursery managers interested in finding figs suitable for their climates and
customersare the primary users of the collection. Figs are high in fiber
and are a good source of several essential minerals including magnesium,
calcium, and potassium.
For more information, contact
Charles J. Simon, (530) 752-6504,
USDA-ARS National Clonal
Germplasm Repository for Fruit and Nut Crops, Davis, CA
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A tasty new early-summer blueberry called
Alapaha should be ready next year for backyard gardeners and commercial growers
to plant. Shoppers can expect to see the firm, colorful berries in supermarkets
within a few summers.
Alapaha is a rabbiteye-type blueberry, the
kind grown on 95 percent of the commercial blueberry acreage in the
southeastern United States. But Alapaha has the advantage of blooming late and
ripening early, giving it important protection against late frosts that could
otherwise damage blossomsand thus ruin the harvest.
In fact, Alapaha blooms 10 days later than
Climax, the regions leading rabbiteye, yet bears fruit at about the same
timethat is, late May to mid-June. Named for the scenic Alapaha River in
southern Georgia, Alapaha was developed by plant breeders with the ARS Small
Fruit Research Station in Poplarville, Miss., and their colleagues at the
University of Georgia.
Blueberries are rich in
antioxidantsnatural compounds that have been linked to reduced risk of
cancer. Blueberries also provide beta-carotene and vitamins C and E.
For further information, contact
James M. Spiers, (601) 795-8751,
USDA-ARS Small
Fruit Research Station, Poplarville, MS
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High-tech tactics borrowed from NASA and the
military can help ensure that shoppers get great-tasting apples every time. The
technology measures flavor and firmness, two keys to apple quality. With
further development, the system should be suitable for packinghouses from coast
to coast.
An ARS agricultural engineer in East Lansing, Mich., is now building
a prototype of the imaging spectroscopy system and expects that it can be
easily merged with machine-vision systems already used in packinghouses today.
In work funded by ARS and apple growers in
Washington and Michigan, the scientist developed the mathematical equations
essential for the new system. Heres how it will work, in brief: beams of
light will be focused on apples. The light that bounces back will form a
spectral image that will be captured by the imaging spectroscopy system, then
sent to a computer for analysis. Based on its instantaneous evaluation of these
images, the computer will make decisions about the quality of the fruit.
The technology may be employed for evaluating
not only apples, but also oranges, pears, or peaches, as well.
For more information, contact
Renfu Lu, (517) 432-8062, USDA-ARS Sugarbeet
and Bean Research Unit, East Lansing, MI
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Twelve-year-old girls drink significantly
more milkand less soda beveragesthan 19-year-old females, a new ARS
analysis of food survey data has shown. The review of USDAs Continuing
Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals for the years 1994 to 1996 showed that,
among 732 girls aged 12 to 19, 78 percent of the 12-year-olds drank
milkthe highest intake of any survey participants in the 12- to
19-year-old range. These preteens also consumed the least soda, about 9 ounces
on any given day.
In contrast, only 36 percent of the
19-year-olds drank milk. But teens of that age drank the largest amount of
sodaabout 14 ounces a day.
Teens who didnt drink milk at all fell
short of the daily Recommended Dietary Intake of vitamin A and three minerals
essential for healthy bonescalcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. An article
in the September 2002 Journal of the American Dietetic Association (vol.
102, no. 9, pp. 1234-1239) tells more about the study.
For more information, contact
Shanthy A. Bowman, (301) 504-0619,
USDA-ARS Beltsville Human Nutrition
Research Center, Beltsville, MD
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New moms who eat more carbohydrates in
relation to fats during the months they are breastfeeding may have higher
levels of a hormone known as leptin in their blood. That's in contrast to
lactating moms who eat more fats than carbs.
Higher leptin levels may be an advantage for
women who want to trim pounds that they gained during their pregnancy. Leptin,
made by the body's fat cells, is thought to help contribute to satietya
feeling of fullness. The study is part of an ongoing effort by scientists at
the ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, Calif., to uncover
more about leptin's relation to appetite and weight management.
The lactation findings come from a
statistical review, known as a multivariate analysis, of food records and blood
leptin levels of 47 lactating women, aged 20 to 40 years. These women were
volunteers in a study that the ARS scientists conducted in collaboration with
investigators from the University of California at Davis and University of
Maryland at College Park.
The results agree with those from an earlier
study in which other researchers evaluated the food choices and leptin levels
of 19 normal-weight, non-pregnant females, aged 20 to 43 years. But the
lactating moms experiment apparently is the first to look at leptin levels in
post-partum womenan at-risk population for weight gain.
Women who, during pregnancy, exceed the rate
and total amount of weight gain recommended in guidelines from the National
Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine are at increased risk of retaining
the excess weight. Overweight has been linked to greater incidence of diabetes
and heart disease.
For more information, contact
Janet C. King, (530) 752-5268,
USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research
Center, Davis, CA
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Colds, flu, arthritis, or even recent surgery
can skew results of the standard test used to estimate the bodys store of
vitamin A. Scientists with the ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center,
Davis, Calif., reached that conclusion after analyzing data from 11,729 women
and 10,617 men who participated in NHANES III, the third National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey.
An assay used in NHANES measures serum levels
of retinolthe principal form of vitamin A found in the blood. The test is
an indicator of vitamin A reserves in the liver, the bodys main storage
depot for the vitamin. Another NHANES assay measures levels of whats
known as serum C-reactive protein, or CRP, which is elevated by inflammatory or
infectious diseases.
Serum retinol was low in survey participants
with CRP levels greater than 10 milligrams per liter, the researchers found.
The data showed that 14 percent of women in their 60s had elevated CRP, as
compared with 8 percent of women in their 20s. Women between 20 and 69 were
twice as likely to have elevated CRP as were men.
The findings, reported in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000 (vol. 72, pp. 1170-1178), should be
useful not only for improving the interpretation of NHANES dataa
foundation for Americas daily Recommended Dietary Intakes of essential
nutrientsbut also for more accurately assessing the results of
intervention programs used to boost vitamin A levels of people in developing
countries.
For more information, contact Charles B. Stephensen, (530)
754-9266, USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition
Research Center, Davis, CA
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Tomorrows applesand oranges or
other fruits, toomight be better protected from rot-causing microbes,
thanks to findings from ARS researchers and their industry co-investigators.
Scientists at the ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, W.Va.,
have now won a patent for their novel combination of a hardworking yeast
called Candida saitoana and an enzyme known as lysozyme.
The dynamic duo fights existing colonies of
rot organisms on the skin or peel of apples, oranges, and other fresh produce
and also helps protect against new attacks, the researchers have found. C.
saitoana is harmless to humans and occurs naturally on many kinds of
produce. The lysozyme enzyme that the scientists paired with this yeast is from
chicken eggs.
Scientists with Micro Flo Company, Memphis
Tenn., intend to employ the yeast and enzyme in a powerful new biofungicide
that they plan to market under the name Biocure.
For more information, contact
Charles L. Wilson, (304)
725-3451, USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit
Research Station, Kearneysville, WV
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A study with laboratory rats provides new
evidence that iron, zinc, and calcium may prevent unwanted buildup of another
mineralcadmium. ARS scientists at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition
Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D., reported their work in the July 2002 issue
of Environmental Science and Technology (vol. 36, no. 12., pp.
2684-2692).
For the experiment, scientists put rats on a
rice-based regimen and marginal amounts of iron, zinc, or calciumalong
with cadmium at levels that occur naturally in foods. They found that these
rats showed an unhealthy increase in cadmium.
The findings are primarily of concern to
nutritionists and other healthcare professionals in countries where two
conditions occur: first, where the most commonly consumed foods dont
provide enough iron, zinc, or calcium to offset cadmium buildup; and second,
where mining can result in cadmium-contaminated soils. The study is also of use
to U.S. researchers interested in learning more about the roles of each of
these minerals in our bodies.
For more information, contact
Philip G. Reeves, (701)
795-8497, USDA-ARS Grand Forks Human
Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, ND
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Adults and children allergic to any of the
dozens of foods made with soy may be helped by a new, hypoallergenic soybean
now under development by ARS scientists and their university and industry
colleagues. Using a biotech tactic called gene silencing, researchers knocked
out the gene thought to be responsible for a protein called Gly m Bd 30K/P34.
The researchers apparently are the first to succeed in using biotechnology to
remove a major human allergen from a leading food crop.
Earlier ARS research identified the Gly m Bd 30K/P34
gene as the most likely culprit in the soy allergy that affects 1 to 2 percent
of all adult Americans and 6 to 8 percent of infants. Symptoms can range from
diarrhea or itching torarelysevere anaphylactic shock.
Medical researchers are conducting further
tests to ensure that the soybean is completely free of the allergy-causing
protein. Corporate colleagues are monitoring the plant in research fields to
determine if it yields a top-quality crop that growers could produce
profitably.
America's soybean cropworth $12 billion
in the year 2000is used for making soy milk, soy flour, breakfast
cereals, salad dressings, infant formula, and many other food or industrial
products.
For more information, contact
Eliot M. Herman, (314)
587-1292, USDA-ARS
Plant Genetics
Research Unit, St. Louis, MO
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Americas most authoritative source of
information about the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in some 6,000
familiar foods is now better than ever. ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory has
updated the database, which describes up to 117 nutrient categories for each
food item. New data for ground beef, breakfast cereals, and sweets are among
the updates to the compendium.
Called SR15short for the USDA National
Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15the database is
todays version of the nutrient composition publications that began
decades ago as Handbook 8. ARS National Agricultural Library in
Beltsville, Md., hosts the site on the World Wide Web that contains the update.
Its located at:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR15/sr15.html
For more information, contact
David B. Haytowitz, (301)
504-0714, USDA-ARS Beltsville Human
Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, MD
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A delicious new pear called Blakes
Pride is now being offered as budwood to nurseries. Its the newest pear
from fruit breeders at ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station in
Kearneysville, W.Va.
The fruit has a sweet, rich taste and
pleasing aroma. Though the skin is mostly golden and light-yellow, some of it
is attractively patterned with a thin, light-tan russeting like the natural
netting on the familiar Bosc pear.
Importantly, Blakes Pride is resistant
to fire blight, a major disease of pear, apple, and quince trees. Caused by the
bacterium Erwinia amylovora, fire blight gets its name from the
blackened, scorched appearance of afflicted flowers, fruit, shoots, and leaves.
The new pear is suitable for planting in the
United States anywhere that European pears are currently grown.
Nurseries can request Blakes Pride
budwood from the lab, meaning that young trees might be available to
orchardists and backyard gardeners in 2004. If the new pear catches on with
commercial growers, consumers might expect to see Blake's Pride pears in
orchard markets and the produce section of grocery stores.
For more information, contact
Richard L. Bell, (304) 725-3451,
USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research
Station, Kearneysville, WV
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A new rice developed by ARS scientists in
Arkansas and Idaho boasts a nutritional plus. It contains a significantly lower
amount of a compound called phytic acid. An indigestible form of phosphorus,
phytic acid binds to such minerals as iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc. The
result: These minerals become less available for our bodies to take up and use.
In cooperation with the University of
Arkansas, ARS researchers have now made the breeding line, called KBNT
lpa1-1, available to breeders and researchers. The rice is known as a
breeding line because its intended for plant breeders to develop
further.
A first of its kind, the rice was developed
using an approach that an ARS scientist in Idaho invented and patented. The
innovative technology has already been used successfully to breed
low-phytic-acid corn, soybeans, and barley.
KBNT lpa1-1 might be especially
beneficial to people in countries where rice is a staple and mineral
deficiencies are a concern.
For more information, contact
J. Neil Rutger, (870) 672-9300,
USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers National
Rice Research Center, Stuttgart, AR
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