Popular peppers like TAM Sweet2 or Pace
103,105, and 106 lend jalapeño flavor to products like
"chunky" salsa but don't add heat that could overwhelm some people's
palates.
The heat-free peppers are specially bred to
be devoid of capsaicin--the compound responsible for adding the flame. Now, ARS
scientists have provided much-needed details about how to best grow these
new-generation peppers.
In studies at the ARS South Central
Agricultural Research Laboratory in Lane, Okla., researchers found that
seedlings of most of the new pepper varieties could be successfully
transplanted from greenhouse to field anytime from mid-April to mid-June and
still yield a profitable crop. Too, the experiments showed that seedlings of
some of the varieties can be planted closer together than is typical on
commercial farms.
Foodmakers can add just the right amount of
piquancy to their products by using the new varieties in combination with
precise quantities of capsaicin extracted from the earlier kinds of
heat-imparting Capiscum peppers.
For more information, contact
Vincent M. Russo, (580) 889-7395,
USDA-ARS South
Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, Lane, OK
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Many pregnant women take prenatal iron
supplements. A new study may determine if they can do that without disrupting
the way their bodies use another vital nutrient--zinc.
The
study is tracking pregnant volunteers, aged 20 to 40, from the beginning of
their pregnancy through the first three months of breastfeeding. The work
builds upon an earlier study which showed that pregnant women who took iron
supplements prescribed by their physicians did not increase zinc absorption
during breastfeeding (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 66,
pp. 80-88). That was in contrast to other volunteers who had not taken iron
supplements.
ARS scientists at the Western Human Nutrition
Research Center, Davis, Calif., along with colleagues from the University of
California at Berkeley, are conducting the experiment. The findings will
indicate whether taking iron supplements affects zinc uptake and use. For the
study, the scientists have divided the volunteers into three groups of 12
participants each. Two groups are taking iron supplements, either in the
morning with breakfast or at bedtime. The other group is not taking iron
supplements.
For further information, contact
Janet C. King, (530) 752-5268,
USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research
Center, Davis, CA.
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Need more calcium? Want to know what foods
are rich in fiber? Now, a new online directory makes it fast and easy to find
that information and more for some 1,147 familiar foods. Users can look up the
amount of a specified nutrient on the electronic directory. Its an
abridged version of the Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, or
SR14, which contains more than 6,000 items. ARS scientists at the Nutrient Data
Laboratory developed SR14 using sophisticated analytical techniques to
determine nutrient content of foods. This large database is the foundation for
most public and private nutrient databases in the United States.
The directory is located on the World Wide
Web at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp.
Once there, users can click on "Reports
by Single Nutrients," located at the left about 10 lines from the top of
the web page. The resulting page has a table listing nutrients such as protein,
calcium, fiber, carbohydrate, cholesterol, or fats. For each nutrient that they
specify, visitors can opt to have the directory "sorted
alphabetically" by names of foods, or "sorted by nutrient
content" from highest amounts, or best sources, to lowest amounts.
For more information, contact
David B. Haytowitz, (301)
504-0714, USDA-ARS Nutrient
Data Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
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New studies of plants mechanism for
storing calcium might reveal ways to increase the amount of this essential
mineral in potatoes, tomatoes, or other popular produce. That may happen in the
future if experiments by plant scientists at the ARS Childrens Nutrition
Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine continue to provide encouraging
results.
For tests, scientists used a tiny plant
called Arabidopsis thaliana as a model. They found that a portion of an
Arabidopsis protein known as CAX1 may be largely responsible for
boosting the plants calcium content.
CAX1 pulls calcium out of cellular fluids and
stashes it in cell storage structures called vacuoles. The scientists envision
the possibility of using CAX1 and other calcium transporters to move more
calcium into vacuoles for storage. Ideally, that would--in turn --set off a
physiological chain reaction, causing plants to pull more calcium out of the
soil.
In earlier studies, the scientists discovered
that turning on the production of CAX1 in the cells of A. thaliana
increased the calcium content of its leaves and roots by 30 to 100 percent.
More recently, scientists removed the segment
of interest from CAX1 and learned that the protein would no longer function. To
further pinpoint the role of the segment, they moved it into another
calcium-transporter protein that "looks" like CAX1. That made the
lookalike protein newly function like CAX1. The team reported its findings in
the Journal of Biological Chemistry (2001, vol. 276, no. 46, pp.
43152-43159).
For more information, contact
Kendal D. Hirschi, (713) 798-7011,
USDA-ARS Childrens Nutrition
Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
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Breads that taste great yet are made with
less fat than usual may result from experiments with waxy durum wheat.
Thats according to scientists at the ARS Red River Valley Agricultural
Research Center in Fargo, N.D.
They are breeding and testing promising new
waxy durum wheats in collaboration with researchers from North Dakota State
University. The raised loaves that they made with 20 percent waxy durum flour
in their experiments were soft and light. What's more, the test loaves stayed
as fresh and soft after five days as those made with shortening.
The researchers have been breeding waxy durum
wheat and testing these flours for about five years. They report progress of
their research in Cereal Chemistry (2002, vol. 79, pp. 178-182). The
fat-replacing properties of waxy durum wheat flour likely derive from the
atypical composition of its starch. Waxy durum wheat starch is made up almost
entirely of a compound called amylopectin. In contrast, amylopectin makes up
only about 76 percent of other wheat starch.
For more information, contact
Douglas Doehlert, (701)
239-1413, USDA-ARS Red River Valley
Agricultural Research Center, Fargo, ND
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Herbs are known to be good sources of
antioxidants, but their potency can vary depending on species and growing
conditions. So an ARS researcher with the Fruit Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.,
and a visiting scientist from China evaluated 39 fresh culinary and medicinal
herbs grown under the same environmental conditions at the same location--the
U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.
The antioxidant test that they employed is
known as ORAC, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It measures the
ability of a sample to disarm unwanted oxidizing compounds, which our bodies
naturally generate. The scientists, reporting in the Journal of Agricultural
and Food Chemistry (2001, vol. 49, pp. 5165-5170) found that three
different types of oregano scored highest in antioxidant activity.
Mexican oregano (Poliomintha
longiflora) is used in traditional Mexican and Southwest recipes. Its
flavor is a bit stronger than Italian oregano (Origanum x
majoricum). Also known as hard, sweet marjoram, Italian oregano is a
versatile herb used to season meats, egg dishes, soups, and vegetables. Greek
mountain oregano (O. vulgare ssp. hirtum), provides the piquant
flavor associated with Italian pizza and classic Greek cuisine.
Several other kitchen herbs, including rose
geranium, sweet bay, dill, purple amaranth, and winter savory, also showed
strong antioxidant activity. But, they were only one-third to one-half as
potent as the oreganos. The medicinal herbs generally scored lower in
antioxidant activity.
For more information, contact
Shiow Y. Wang, (301) 504-5776,
USDA-ARS Fruit
Laboratory, Beltsville, MD;
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New, better-looking red beans for tomorrow
are being developed from breeding lines produced by ARS scientists and their
Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station co-researchers. The beans are plumper,
more oval, and a more intense red.
A key ingredient in chili products and mixes,
red beans provide color and texture. They are also a good source of fiber,
folic acid, and carbohydrates. In addition, the flavonoids that give the beans
their bright-red color are antioxidants. The new red bean breeding lines offer
better yields and improved resistance to some diseases. Too, they are more
upright than other lines--a trait that makes them less susceptible to disease
and weather-related damage that can occur in humid bean-growing regions of the
Midwest and New York.
The ARS and Experiment Station scientists are
nationally known for the high-quality, top-performing beans that they have
developed over the past 25 years.
Details are in HortScience (1995, vol.
30, no. 7, pp. 1479-1482 and 2001, vol. 36, no. 7, pp. 1341-1343).
For more information, contact
George L. Hosfield, (517) 355-0110,
USDA-ARS Sugarbeet and Bean Research
Unit, East Lansing, MI
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If parents ate more fruits and vegetables, so
did their daughters, researchers found in a study of 200 5-year-old girls and
their parents.
Scientists at the ARS Childrens
Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues at
Pennsylvania State University conducted this study. An article in the January
2002 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (vol.
102, pp. 58-64) has details.
Conversely, scientists found that parents who
pressured their daughters the most about eating fruits and vegetables were
ironically those who consumed the least of these foods. Their daughters ate 1.6
fewer servings of fruits and vegetables a day than the daughters of parents who
used less pressure.
Parents can set a good example by eating
plenty of fruits and vegetables and by not nagging.
For more information, contact
Jennifer O. Fisher, (713) 798-6766,
USDA-ARS Children's Nutrition Research
Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
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A new biopesticide developed by ARS
scientists may help protect peanuts against aflatoxin, a natural contaminant.
Currently, farmers lack direct means to control this fungal carcinogen. By law,
peanuts with more than 15 parts per billion of aflatoxin cant be used in
foods like peanut butter. The main fungal culprits that produce aflatoxin,
Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, occur naturally in soils.
Scientists at ARS National Peanut
Research Laboratory in Dawson, Ga., have identified benign species of
Aspergillus that compete with their aflatoxin-producing cousins for
space and other resources that both need. Now, the scientists have perfected
methods to grow, formulate, and apply the beneficial Aspergillus spores.
Their approach, called biocompetitive exclusion, involves "seeding"
these spores around the base of peanut plants. By colonizing soils in the
peanut pod zone, the benign spores become a living shield that blocks the
aflatoxin-producing species. Circle One Global, Inc., of Cuthbert, Ga., is
testing commercial-scale methods of producing the biopesticide.
For more information, contact
Joe Dorner, (229) 995-7408, USDA-ARS
National Peanut Research Laboratory,
Dawson, GA
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New data from a study of more than three
dozen healthy men may help scientists learn more about seleniums effects
on the immune, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. And, the investigation
will reveal more details about this essential nutrients influence on body
composition--the relative amount of fat-to-lean in our bodies.
Half of the volunteers in
the experiment are taking a daily capsule that provides five-and-one-half times
the Recommended Dietary Allowance of selenium, in the form of high-selenium
yeast, for the first year of the two-year study. The other volunteers take only
a placebo. All volunteers undergo tests of their health at regular intervals.
Study findings will help determine whether tomorrows breads, pastas, and
other flour-based foods should be fortified with selenium to boost health.
Scientists at the ARS Western Human Nutrition
Research Center, Davis, Calif., are collaborating in the study with colleagues
from the University of California at Davis School of Medicine and Medical
Center and the University of California at San Francisco. The study is a
follow-up to earlier work described in Biological Trace Element Research
(2001, vol. 81, no. 3, pp. 183-213).
For more information, contact
Chris Hawkes, (530) 752-4765,
USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research
Center, Davis, CA
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Pests that would like to munch on packaged
foods such as breakfast cereals might be foiled by strategically placing an
insect growth regulator, called hydroprene, where these pests might be hiding.
That could include small, confined spaces in home pantries or retail stores.
ARS scientists at the Grain Marketing and Production
Research Center in Manhattan, Kan., used hydroprene, sold as Pointsource, in
experiments with red flour beetles and confused flour beetles. In lab studies,
the scientists found that beetle larvae exposed to this compound--known as an
insect growth regulator--often failed to molt to the adult stage. Of the
insects that made it past this stunted-growth hurdle, most were deformed and
soon died.
Pointsource was originally marketed to fight
cockroaches. As a result of the new ARS data, the red flour beetle and confused
flour beetle have been added to the product label, so that Pointsource can now
be used to fend off these pests as well.
For more information, contact
Franklin H. Arthur, (785) 776-2783,
USDA-ARS Grain Marketing and Production
Research Center, Manhattan, KS
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When cold and flu season comes around again,
three vitamins might help bolster your body's defenses.
Scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University report this effect of
vitamins E, B-6, and B-12 in Nutrition in Clinical Care (2001, vol. 4,
no. 4, pp. 188-198). Their strongest evidence concerns vitamin E's effect on
immunity. The scientists found that, when compared to a placebo, vitamin E
supplements significantly improved volunteers' immune systems.
B vitamins are already known to be essential
for a healthy, well-functioning immune system. However, Tufts researchers
indicate that many Americans are deficient in vitamins B-6 and B-12.
Foods that provide B vitamins include
fortified cereals, meat, fish, dairy products, starchy vegetables, and
fruits--except citrus. Nuts, vegetable oils, and green leafy vegetables are
good sources of vitamin E.
For more information, contact
Simin Nikbin Meydani, (617)
556-3129, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA
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