Eastern Regional Research Center

Dr. Sevim Erhan, Center Director
Eastern Regional Research Center, NAA, ARS, USDA
600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania  19038
Phone:  (215) 233-6400   FAX:  (215) 233-6777

In the Spotlight USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visits ERRC Secretary Vilsack visited the Eastern Regional Research Center, NAA, ARS, USDA in Wyndmoor PA on Thursday, July 23, 2009 to review the Center’s pioneering research programs in sustainable bioenergy, food safety, and health-promoting foods.  Accompanying the Secretary was Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development Cheryl Cook.  The Secretary addressed the entire Center staff at the end of the visit and thanked the staff for helping him achieve his objectives in rural development, sustainable agricultural bioenergy, obesity prevention, food safety and security and for making USDA effective and relevant “everyday and everyway.”   Click here to see photos from the event. ___________________________________ BioEnergy BridgeTM Partnership Robert Wallace, Executive Director of Penn State University's BioEnergy Bridge, visits ERRC to describe formation of a state-wide bioenergy research consortium and to invite ERRC to join.  His seminar can be viewed here. ________________________________________ New Methods for Ensuring Food Safety Microbiologist George Paoli inspects antibody-coated magnetic beads and biologist Chandi Wijey analyzes DNA samples in their efforts to develop immunological, microbiological, and genetic-based methdos for detection of Yersinia pestis in food.  (D1452-1) Good news for fans of raw cookie dough.  Researchers at ARS's Eastern Rgional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, have filed a patent on technology that can further protect pasteurized liquid eggs from food safety threats.  These threats include both naturally occurring spoilage bacteria and pathogens such as Salmonella enteritidis, the primary cause of egg-related foodborne illness in the United States.  The technology has also been successfully applied to milk. But don't go running for that dough just yet.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still cautions against consuming any raw, unpasteurized eggs or products that contain them. Read all about it in the May-June 2009 issue of Agricultural Research Magazine. ________________________________________ DPPRU Molecular Modeling Promotes Milk Protein Innovation AlphaS2-Casein (AlphaS2-CN) comprises up to 10% of the casein fraction in bovine milk.  The role of AlphaS2-CN in milk and dairy products has not been studied in detail in part due to a lack of structural information on the molecule. Interest in the utilization of this molecule in dairy products and nutrition has been renewed by work in three areas: biological activity via potentially biologically active peptides, functionality in cheeses and products, and nutrition in terms of calcium uptake. To help clarify the behavior of AlphaS2-CN in its structure-function relationships in milk and its possible applications in dairy products, ERRC scientists have produced a working three dimensional (3D) molecular model for this casein (J. Dairy Science92:1338, 2009).  This effort completes the work on molecular modeling of the caseins.  Molecular models for this protein and for the other three major caseins (AlphaS1-CN β-CN and κ-CN) in pdb format may be downloaded from the DPPRU site. ________________________________________ Career Day Please click here to view photos from the 2009 ERRC Career Day, April 23 and 24. Note:  Password needed ________________________________________ Dairy Team-Up Leverages Research Towards Healthy Ingredients Dairy Management Inc., the National Dairy Council, and the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Program-Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, have partnered with USDA-ARS on a new National Dairy Research Plan, a roadmap for dairy research.  The researchers of the Dairy Processing and Products Research Unit, USDA/ARS/ERRC, will collaborate to develop new milk ingredients, new technologies that enhance the health, safety and functionality of dairy products, and on methods to extend shelf-life. Click here to read the article (PDF). ___________________________________ ERRC Scientists Partners in Successful Development of New Method for Biodiesel Production from Non-Food Feedstock As the use of biodiesel, the renewable and domestically produced replacement for petroleum diesel fuel, expands worldwide, new feedstock supplies are needed to meet increasing demand.  The use of low cost starting materials is particularly interesting, since feedstock cost can constitute 80% of overall production cost when high value, edible fats and oils are used to produce biodiesel. Working in collaboration with BlackGold Biofuels, ERRC researchers have contributed to the successful development of a robust production process that converts trap grease, a low-value waste fat, to high quality biodiesel.  The accompanying article describes the announcement by the city of San Francisco, CA of its issuance of a contract to BlackGold for the first production scale implementation of its technology. Click here to read the article (PDF). ___________________________________  Guayule Go Native with this Promising Biofuel - and Biomedical - Crop Guayule (K1559-3) Perhaps the single most valuable gift the desert-dwelling guayule plant offers us is its superb natural latex. The white, rubber-rich substance, extracted and purified from this southwestern U.S. native shrub (Parthenium argentatum), is ideal for making high-quality gloves, medical devices, and other in-demand natural rubber products. Importantly, latex from guayule (pronounced why-YOU-lee) is free of the proteins responsible for the sometimes-deadly latex allergies caused by the most widely used natural-rubber source, the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis. But guayule may also prove to be an economical, environmentally friendly source of yet another prized commodity: energy. That energy can be made from the ground-up stems and branches, called “bagasse,” that are left after their latex has been removed. Read all about it in the February 2009 issue of Agricultural Research Magazine. ___________________________________ To learn more click here !

Upcoming Events      August 26 - Green Team Meeting, Noon to 1 PM in Room 2006 August 27 - Federal Women's Programs - Women's Equality Day presents WINS Outreach Students in the Auditorium at 10 AM September 7 - Closed for Labor Day September 10 - Employee Picnic - 11:30 am to 1:30 pm on ERRC Grounds - Must Have Ticket September 15 - Awards Ceremony, details to follow 10 Most Recent Publications Additional Publications - We have 7600+ publications online that you can view and print. The following publications are not yet online.  To request a reprint, please email Patti.Durkin@ars.usda.gov with your name, address, and reprint number.   REPRINT TITLE AUTHOR 8113 Radiation D10-values on thawed and frozen catfish and tilapia for finfish isolates of Listeria monocytogenes K.T. Rajkowski 8112 Percent moisture and see coat characteristics of alfalfa seeds after artificial inoculation K.T. Rajkowski 8111 Inhibition of Shigella sonnei by ultraviolet energy on agar, liquid media and radish sprouts K.T. Rajkowski 8110 Effect of gamma or beta radiation on Salmonella DT 104 in ground pork K.T. Rajkowski, S.E. Niebuhr, and J. Dickson 8109 Effect of alfalfa seed washing on the organic carbon concentration in chlorinated and ozonated water K.T. Rajkowski and E.W. Rice 8108 Simplified qualitative method for canavanine in seeds and sprouts K.T. RAjkowski 8107 Effects of milling on the fibrous structure and mechanical behaviors of a collagen material - leather C.-K. Liu and N.P. Latona 8106 Microscopic observations on leather looseness and its effects on mechanical properties C.-K. Liu, N.P. Latona, J. Lee, and P.H. Cooke 8105 Energy-dense liquid fuel intermediates by pyrolysis of guayule (Parthenium argentatum) shrub and bagasse A.A. Boateng, C.A. Mullen, N.M. Goldberg, K.B. Hicks, C.M. McMahan, M.C. Whalen, and K. Cornish 8104 Microwave heating of TV-dinner type products L. Huang, and J. Sites

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