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National & World Ag News Headlines |
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Researchers Shining Light on Food Waste, Freshness
USAgNet - 07/27/2016
From the turnip that falls off the truck to the yucky stuff we scrape off our plates, food waste in the United States accounts for 30 percent to 40 percent of the food supply. That's about 133 billion pounds of food or approximately $161 billion annually.
Ruplal Choudhary, a bioprocess engineer and associate professor of plant, soil and agricultural systems, and other researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are working at several stages of the farm to table (and beyond) cycle to find ways to reduce
waste without sacrificing nutrition and taste.
Choudhary began looking at uses for infrared light in food processing when he was still a graduate student. Near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopes are becoming more common to determine fats, proteins and carbohydrates in nutritional
analysis, but Choudhary also uses the spectroscopes to determine the phytochemical, antioxidant and carotenoid protein make-up of the produce.
Phytonutrients are health-boosting qualities of food occurring naturally in plants that have particular health effects. For example, glucosinolates, a class of phytonutrient, appear in cruciferous (green leaf) vegetables and give those vegetables their odor and flavor.
Research suggests that glucosinolates are useful in slowing or stopping the development and growth of cancer.
Recently he was part of a research team funded with an Illinois Department of Agriculture specialty crop block grant to study Asian greens. Other researchers focused on growing 35 different varieties, including bok choy, bekana and Komatsuna, to determine
which greens will grow best in Southern Illinois and which would prove most appealing to the local palate. Choudhary and a team of graduate student researchers handled the phytonutrient and antioxidant analysis of the greens.
He's building a database of known analyses to "train" the spectroscopes in his lab. As the database grows, use of the spectrometer becomes more efficient.
In addition to the spectroscopes, he uses a camera to record the color and texture of fresh produce. Together with the spectroscope, he can even predict taste qualities such as sweetness or crispness. He hopes that the technology he's using in his lab will find its
way to food processing, making sorting fresh produce more efficient.
In a study, conducted with Alan Walters, professor of plant, soil and agricultural systems, he used the spectroscope in the nutrition lab to help the research team determine how harvest-time affects the nutritional value of produce. The team harvested produce at
various stages of ripeness and found that the more ripe the fruit or vegetable when harvested, the better its nutritional value. In addition, the team checked nutritional levels after harvest at same day, next day, and after a week. They found that post-harvest
nutritional levels declined over time.
This study clearly indicates that for optimum nutritional value, produce should not be harvested early nor should it sit around for a long time in storage. However, that's a problem for major retailers of fruits and vegetables. It takes time to harvest produce and
ship it -- which is why some produce is harvested early and allowed to finish ripening post-harvest. In addition, for a grocery store, quantity and choice is part of marketing -- but that can contribute to fresh produce staying in the store longer than a day, two
days or even a week.
The problem goes beyond declining nutritional benefits. The longer produce sits, the more likely it is to spoil. And that contributes to food waste. Chaudhary is part of a team of SIU researchers that is seeing a different kind of light when it comes to preserving
food freshness.
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