Novel Adsorbents from Rice/Soy
Co-Products
The adsorption of minor vegetable oil components by clays and
silicates is an important part of vegetable processing. Dr. Andrew
Proctor used computational chemistry to describe the molecular
adsorption of vegetable oil components on silicates. This
technique is a valuable supplement to traditional laboratory methods.
The
Fourier Transform Spectroscopy
(FTIR)
instrument provides information
on
the chemical functional groups of
bound
molecules and how they are
attached
to an adsorbent.
Publications from IFSE activities 
Sweetness of Baby Foods
Research was conducted by Dr. Ron Buescher to increase the natural
sweetness of carrot, squash and peach baby food products without adding
sugar that would adversely affect consumer acceptance.
Sweetness of carrot and squash products was
effectively enhanced through blending of liquefied carrot and squash
preparations with commercial puree. To enhance the sweetness of
peaches, investigations were conducted to reduce the acid content of the
raw product. This was accomplished by holding unripened peaches in
a modified atmosphere to prevent decay during advancement of
ripening. The treated peaches had substantially less acid than
fruits normally used for commercial processing, and they produced a
substantial improvement in processed product sweetness and overall
flavor.
Dr. Luke Howard directed a
project to
determine the threshold level of the compound responsible for bitterness
in carrots, since bitterness reduces consumer acceptability of processed
carrots. A quick and reliable
method to screen raw carrots for the bitter compound was developed. Information gained from this project will
enable processors to eliminate bitter carrots so that they can consistently control
processed product flavor.
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