Food & Nutrition Research Briefs, October 2005
Oranges
|
Oil from orange peels contains compounds that
lower blood levels of the "bad" LDL and VLDL cholesterols, studies
with laboratory hamsters have revealed.
Agricultural Research Service scientists and
co-researchers at KGK Synergize, London, Ontario, Canada, found that effect in
tests of peel-based natural chemicals called polymethoxylated flavones, or
PMFs.
Hamster feed containing one percent PMFs
lowered the animals' blood LDL and VLDL levels by 30 to 40 percent, the
scientists report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
(volume 52, pages 2879 to 2886). Followup studies will determine whether PMFs
have the same effect in humans and, if so, may lead to a profitable new use of
juice-processing leftovers.
For details, contact:
John A.
Manthey,
U.S.
Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory, Winter Haven, Fla. (863)
293-4133, ext. 126.
Back to Contents
A display of several grain-based food products.
|
Eating six or more servings of whole-grain
foods like brown rice or whole-wheat toast every week was associated with
slower buildup of artery-narrowing plaque in women already diagnosed with this
heart condition.
Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Mass., analyzed
food records and artery-diameter measurements (angiograms) that were taken from
229 postmenopausal women over a 3-year period. An article in a recent issue of
the American Heart Journal (volume 150, pages 94 to 101) has details.
America's 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommend
eating at least three servings of whole-grain foods every day, but most of us
eat less than a single daily serving.
Good sources of whole grains include
breakfast cereals made with these grains. Other options: oatmeal, brown rice,
barley, popcorn, whole-wheat bread or bagels and bran muffins.
For details, contact:
Alice
H. Lichtenstein, (617) 556-3127; ARS
Jean
Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University,
Boston, Mass.
Back to Contents
Chemist Olusola Lamikanra slices a
cantaloupe.
|
Freshly cut, ready-to-eat cantaloupe may stay
fresh longer, thanks to technologies being developed by ARS scientists at the
Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, La.
Their approaches aim at short-circuiting the
electrical, chemical and hormonal signals that plant cells send to each other
when they detect an injury, such as being sliced.
Slicing the fruit while
it's held under ultraviolet light or under water, for instance, or exposing it
to heat before cutting, thwarts the defense system, to help keep just-sliced
fruit crisp and flavorful (Journal of Food Science, volume 70, pages C53
to C57).
For details, contact: Olusola Lamikanra,
(215) 836-6913; c/o USDA-ARS Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor,
Pa.
Back to Contents
Plant physiologist Gene Lester (right) and a
grower examine melons.
|
Spraying potassium, an essential nutrient, on
honeydew melons and cantaloupes as they grow boosts the fruits' sweetness as
well as levels of potassium, vitamin C and beta-carotene (which the body uses
to make vitamin A).
Scientists with the ARS Kika de la Garza
Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, Weslaco, Texas, and their
coinvestigators also found that adding calcium to the potassium spray improves
the plants' ability to resist attack by diseases, makes melons firmer and
increases the length of time the fruit can be stored without becoming mushy
(Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, volume 130,
pages 649 to 653).
For details, contact:
Gene E.
Lester, (956) 447-6322; USDA-ARS
Kika
de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, Weslaco,
Texas.
Back to Contents
Fresh sliced watermelon.
|
Watermelon that's sliced into chunks and sold
ready-to-eat needs to stay firm and crisp. The best watermelons for these
fresh-cut products might be those that have been grafted to the rootstocks of
either of two close relatives--gourds or squashes.
Grafting watermelons isn't a new idea. But
researchers at the ARS South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, Lane,
Okla., and their university colleagues are taking a new look at it.
They found that grafted melons were 25 to 30
percent firmer than their nongrafted counterparts.
For details, contact:
Benny A.
Bruton, (580) 889-7395, ext. 237; USDA-ARS
South
Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, Lane, Okla.
Back to Contents
Nutritionist Pamela Pehrsson prepares an Alaskan
Arctic char.
|
Nutrients in caribou, seal, brined salmon,
mutton stew and other traditional foods commonly eaten by Alaska Natives or
American Indians now are being analyzed meticulously by ARS Beltsville (Md.)
Human Nutrition Research Center scientists. Their assays of the vitamins,
minerals, calories and other components of these ethnic cuisines will be
presented next year in a new, specialized compendium--USDA American Indian
and Alaska Native Foods Database,
Dietitians, physicians and other healthcare
professionals can use the database to help their patients plan healthful meals
and lower their risk of obesity and diabetes.
ARS and the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services Indian Health Service and Office of Research on Minority
Health are funding the project.
For details, contact:
Pamela
R. Pehrsson, (301) 504-0716; USDA-ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
Back to Contents
Rainbow trout.
|
Rainbow trout that yield low-calorie, 8- to
10-ounce dinner fillets--the size many shoppers seek--should now be easier for
fish farmers to produce.
The secret?
Reliable, efficient breeding of trout with
four sets of chromosomes, needed for mating with trout with the usual two sets.
Their fast-growing offspring are sexually sterile. So, food energy that would
otherwise be used for mating is instead converted into tender meat that we can
grill, broil, bake, poach or fry to perfection.
Researchers based in Leetown, W.Va., at the
ARS Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture, and their collaborators
improved production of the four- chromosome parents using precision,
high-pressure treatment of trout embryos very early in development
(Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, volume 36, pages 96 to
102).
For information, contact:
William
K. Hershberger, (304) 724-8340, ext.2101; USDA-ARS
National
Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture, Leetown, W.Va.
Back to Contents
George Inglett tastes products with
C-Trim.
|
Adding "Calorie-Trim" to cookies,
peanut butter, chocolate candies and other foods can cut calories and fat,
while at the same time providing beta-glucan, a healthful fiber.
Derived from whole oats and barley,
Calorie-Trim, or "C-Trim" for short, contains 20 to 50 percent
beta-glucan from these grains.
C-Trim mimics some of the pleasing properties
of fat and carbohydrates in foods without loading the body with the excess
calories, according to C-Trim's developer at the ARS National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill. And, in animal studies, C-Trim
helped control blood-sugar levels and lowered blood cholesterol.
FutureCeuticals of Momence, Ill., has
licensed the technology.
For details, contact:
George
E. Inglett, (309) 681-6363; USDA-ARS
National
Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill.
Back to Contents
Sushi wraps. Image courtesy Origami Foods
LLC.
|
Sushi fillings might soon be encircled with
brightly colored wraps made not from the traditional seaweed but instead from
other vegetables--or fruits. Infrared drying and other leading-edge
technologies are key to creating the new wraps.
The new wraps can enhance the flavors and
textures of familiar sushi fillings as well as trendy, American-style sushi
delicacies. Agricultural Research Service scientists based at the Western
Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif., and research partner Origami Foods
LLC, Pleasanton, Calif., are experimenting, for instance, with a bright-orange,
carrot-based wrap to hold a cucumber, garlic and rice filling; and a deep-red,
tomato and basil wrap for a spicy tuna and rice filling.
The sushi-style treats are ideal for
weight-conscious Americans trying to eat smaller-size servings.
For details, contact:Tara H.
McHugh, (510) 559-5864; USDA-ARS
Western
Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif.
Back to Contents
Foods containing zinc.
|
Zinc in our bodies might best be measured
with a test based on the activity of a gene called ZIP1. Right now,
physicians and nutrition researchers don't have a zinc test that's easy to use,
sensitive and reliable.
But the activity of the ZIP1 gene in
our white blood cells might be inversely correlated with our zinc,
levels. Scientists with the ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis,
Calif., and their colleagues reported this in a 2004 issue of the Journal
of Nutrition (volume 134, pages 1716 to 1723).
The ZIP1 gene contains instructions
that cells use to form a protein of the same name. When a cell needs zinc, the
protein can shuttle the mineral from the bloodstream, through the cell membrane
and into the cell.
An experiment with 25 healthy females, aged
20 to 25 or 64 to 75, showed that the ZIP1 gene was less active in the
white blood cells of volunteers who received an ample supply of zinc--by taking
a 22-milligram zinc supplement every day--than in blood samples from those who
did not take the supplement.
For more information, contact:
Liping
Huang, (530) 754-5756; USDA-ARS
Western
Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, Calif.
Back to Contents
Kernel of Carolina Gold Rice. Image courtesy
Mickey Frank, Texas A&M Research and Extension Center, Beaumont, Texas.
|
Carolina Gold, an
heirloom American rice that was widely sought after in the 1700s, has been
brought back to growers.
Agricultural Research Service rice breeders
in Beaumont, Texas, determined that a distinctive piece of rice DNA known as
RM190 can be used to reliably and rapidly differentiate Carolina Gold and its
derivatives from some 1,600 other kinds of rice. The work led to breeding of a
new, purified variety named "Carolina Gold Select," now being grown
in Texas.
For details, contact:
Anna M.
McClung, (409) 752-5221, ext. 2234; USDA-ARS
Rice
Research Unit, Beaumont, Texas.
Back to Contents
Shenandoah pear. Image courtesy Richard Bell,
ARS.
|
Sweet and juicy, Shenandoah pear boasts an
appealing taste and texture, stores well--if properly chilled--for about four
months, and fends off attack by fireblight, a major bacterial disease of pears.
Shenandoah can be grown in all pear-producing
regions of the United States, but will be especially desirable in areas where
fireblight is prevalent--the East, Southeast and Midwest. There, Shenandoah
trees are ready to harvest from mid- to late September.
Scientists at the ARS Appalachian Fruit
Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va., put Shenandoah through about 20 years
of rigorous testing before making it available to plant breeders and others in
2004 (HortScience, volume 39, page 805).
For details contact:
Richard
L. Bell, (304) 725-3451, ext. 353; USDA-ARS
Appalachian
Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, W.Va.
Back to Contents
Kettleman apricots. Image courtesy Craig A.
Ledbetter, ARS.
|
Juicy, sweet-tart apricots called Kettleman
may soon begin showing up in supermarkets nationwide. The apricot is the newest
in a series of delicious
tree fruits from Agricultural Research
Service scientists based in Parlier, Calif.
The new fruits attractive deep-orange
skin, pleasing taste, smooth texture, alluring aroma and early-season
availability should make it a success with apricot fans.
Scientists tested more than 1,000 Kettleman
trees and fruit before making the new apricot available to breeders,
researchers and fruit growers in 2005.
For details, contact:
Craig
A. Ledbetter, (559) 596-2817; USDA-ARS
San
Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, Calif.
Back to Contents
Beluga black lentils. Image courtesy Indian
Harvest Specialtifoods, Inc.
|
Beluga black lentils, named for the
glistening Beluga caviar that they resemble, contain a previously unknown,
natural pigment called an anthocyanin, Agricultural Research Service scientists
at the Western Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif., have discovered. Now
the researchers want to determine if, like some other anthocyanins, this new
one enhances our health.
The scientists describe the
compound--delphinidin-3-O-(2-O-beta-D-
glucopyranosyl-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside)--in a 2005 issue of the Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry (volume 53, pages 4932 to 4937). This
lentil and other legumes are candidate ingredients for tasty, fiber-rich, low-
calorie snacks for tomorrow.
For details, contact:
Gary R.
Takeoka, (510) 559-5668; USDA-ARS
Western
Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif.
Back to Contents
Nutritionist, left, helps a study participant
recall food portions.
|
If you're shorting yourself on vitamins C, E
and perhaps other essential nutrients, as well, you're not alone,
Americas newest nutrition report card reveals.
Formally titled, "What We Eat in
America, NHANES 2001-2002: Usual Nutrient Intakes From Food Compared to Dietary
Reference Intakes," its available at
www.ars.usda.gov/foodsurvey.
ARS experts based at the Beltsville (Md.)
Human Nutrition Research Center direct the food-consumption interviews of some
6,000 survey participants nationwide. The researchers developed science-based
strategies to streamline the interviews while at the same time increasing the
accuracy and reliability of the information gathered.
For details, contact:
Alanna
J. Moshfegh, (301) 504-0170; USDA-ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
Back to Contents
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis
of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex,
marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation,
genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an
individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all
prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large
print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600
(voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA,
Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA
is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
|
|
|
|