The University of Rwanda Launch Agribusiness Program in Rwanda

                                                                   Image Credit: MSU
Michigan State University and the University of Rwanda recently launched a new Master of Science degree program in agribusiness in Kigali, Rwanda.  The gender-sensitive degree program will enroll its first cohort of students in February 2015.

The degree program was jointly developed with funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development through the Women’s Leadership Program, implemented globally by Higher Education for Development.

The graduate program prioritizes accessibility to women and midcareer professionals and will incorporate extensive experiential learning opportunities for students. The structure of the program requires all students to partake in an internship, thus better preparing them for leadership and entrepreneurial roles in agriculture in Rwanda. 

“Agriculture is vital to the people and economy of Rwanda, and many of those involved in agriculture are women,” said James McWha, UR professor emeritus and vice chancellor. “Their input to the business of agriculture is essential. It is also important that agriculture adopts a modern business strategy because it is a business and all those involved must learn the relevant skills. This program brings together all the components necessary for a major development of the future of the agriculture and food industries in Rwanda.” 

Using a collaborative approach, the Women’s Leadership Program is designed to support access of women to higher education and advanced degrees, strengthen institutional capacity in research and education on women’s leadership and promote women’s leadership through higher education extension/outreach efforts in underserved communities. 

“The empowerment of women through the expansion of their leadership opportunities and spaces for their voices to be heard is a top priority for USAID globally, including in Rwanda,” said Joseph Lessard, USAID/Rwanda economic growth director. “We really believe this program will give women rich opportunities to share their expertise and play major roles in the country’s economic development. We congratulate the University of Rwanda and Michigan State University on this achievement, and look forward to seeing how it will benefit Rwanda into the future.” 

MSU has a rich history of working collaboratively with the Rwandan government and its institutions of higher education. 

“It has been a great honor to continue the tradition of our two universities working together to advance the agriculture sector in Rwanda,” said Gretchen Neisler, principal investigator on this project from MSU.  “Working collaboratively on the Rwanda Women’s Leadership Program has been very rewarding. I look forward to strengthening our partnership with the UR through the continued development of this degree program.  I am also excited to explore new and innovative ways for our two universities to work together to educate the next generation of thought leaders at both Michigan State University and the University of Rwanda.”

Source: MSU

UT Institute of Agriculture Launches New Branding Campaign

There’s no mistaking the system colors of the University of Tennessee. Everywhere you look, there’s plenty of orange.

However, the UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) is adding new splashes of color to the landscape, along with redesigned logos for the Institute and its four units. All feature the orange “UT” system icon that is so widely recognized. In addition to the new theme colors, UTIA is adopting a new tagline that will serve as its branding promise: Real. Life. Solutions.

“We believe the Institute of Agriculture’s new logo and brand promise best represent our statewide presence in all 95 counties of Tennessee,” says UTIA Chancellor Larry Arrington. “Visual branding is important when telling the story of an organization, and our new look and message will help us better communicate our land-grant mission.”

UTIA’s new logo features the traditional orange with a slate font. UT Extension features a green or “pasture” color. UT AgResearch is represented by a dark blue known as “bluff.” The UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources has a blue “azure” color, and the UT College of Veterinary Medicine features a gray “granite” color. The brand promise will be featured prominently on printed and electronic materials, and be a part of apparel and signage around Tennessee. Images of the new logos can be found on the UTIA Marketing website: ag.tennessee.edu/marketing

"Our brand promise speaks to what the faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters do every day, and that is working to find answers to society's many challenges," says Lisa Stearns, vice chancellor for UTIA Marketing and Communications. "Providing real life solutions that make a positive impact in our state and beyond is our commitment."

The campaign was developed by UTIA’s Marketing and Communications unit over the past year. It included a statewide audit of printed and electronic materials, and consulting an expert to guide a discussion on branding architecture. In addition, the team worked with the UT System Marketing and Communications Office to make sure the direction in which UTIA was moving would help promote the UT brand.

The Institute will begin phasing in the new logos and brand promise immediately, and the goal is to have full implementation by the end of 2015 across Tennessee.

The UT Institute of Agriculture provides instruction, research and outreach through the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, including its system of 10 research and education centers, and UT Extension offices in every county in the state.

Source: UTIA

UA to Serve Up Fresh Approach to Health

The commitment of the Department of Nutritional Sciences to promoting and adapting Mediterranean diet principles will continue through all three areas of the University’s land grant mission: academic programs, research and Cooperative Extension outreach programs. Credit: UA

The Mediterranean diet has seen growing global popularity as researchers find that the dietary pattern can help prevent or reduce obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Responsive to that popularity, the University of Arizona Department of Nutritional Sciences is hosting a series of events meant to explore and share current research related to the dietary pattern, which focuses on fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts, along with lesser amounts of lean fish, meats, dairy, olive oil and red wine.

"We want to emphasize how this pattern of eating has been demonstrated to contribute to disease prevention," said Donato Romagnolo, a professor in the Arizona Cancer Center and the nutritional sciences department, which is housed in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 

National Geographic Blue Zones speaker Rudy Maxa, a Washington Post reporter and columnist, and five Tucson-area celebrity chefs will kick off the Jan. 28 opening-night reception, "A Food, Wine and Healthy Living Event," at the Tucson Museum of Art.

The 6-8 p.m. event is open to the public and will feature food prepared by the chefs, award-winning wine provided by the Arizona Wine Growers Association and live flamenco and Spanish guitar.

Then the UA will will host the Jan. 29-30 "Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet – Bringing Science to the Plate (With an Arizona Twist!)" scientific conference at the Student Union Memorial Center.

Supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the conference is geared toward public health and nutrition professionals, nurses, physicians, physical therapists and chiropractors, and it is offered for continuing professional credit. The event is also open to students and features a student showcase.

A full agenda and registration for the conference are available online.

Promoting the health benefits of the Mediterranean lifestyle is just one of numerous initiatives sponsored by the UA Department of Nutritional Sciences to advance optimal health and well-being for Arizonans and to focus on ways of preventing and treating chronic diseases. 

After the conference, a four-part, hands-on cooking series will be offered to the public during February and March at the UA Cooperative Extension's Garden Kitchen, "The Many Faces of the Mediterranean Diet: Four Evenings," featuring the cuisines of Spain, France, Morocco and Italy. Information is available online. 

Also, the Mediterranean Diet and Health course will be offered for academic credit during summer 2015 (one week in Tucson and three weeks in Verona, Italy) for students through the UA Global Initiatives Study Abroad Program.

Much of the interest in the Mediterranean diet stems from evidence that it can reduce the risk of death associated with heart disease and cancer. Other research indicates that the diet can reduce the incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Romagnolo, also the program director of the Mediterranean Diet and Health Study Abroad Program, said the benefits are especially important given pervasive health concerns across the nation. He noted that about 60 percent of people in the U.S. are overweight and 30 percent are obese.

"The latter is a risk factor for diabetes, cancer and metabolic syndrome," Romagnolo said.
During the conference, more than 20 presenters from the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the UA College of Medicine, national and international universities, institutes and organizations will talk. 

Presenters will cover four general areas: the Mediterranean diet and regional trends; obesity, diabetes and healthy aging; cancer prevention and control; and methods for translating science to the plate.

Live demonstrations by Arizona growers, vendors and educators will provide attendees with tasting opportunities, meal preparation ideas and information on where to find local products that help make healthful eating easy in the Southwest.

Also, prominent diet researchers from Spain, France and Greece will present current research on the health benefits of the traditional Mediterranean diet and offer ways to adapt it using local agricultural ingredients and cooking techniques. Speakers include:

Lluis Serra-Majem of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, who will present the keynote address on "The Mediterranean Diet as an Intangible and Sustainable Food Culture."

Mariette Gerber of the INSERM-Institut du Cancer de Montpellier, France, who will discuss "Implementing the Mediterranean Diet: The French Perspective." 

Antonia Trichopoulou of the University of Athens, Greece, who will speak on "Mediterranean Diet and Longevity."

"The conference is an opportunity to present ideas and concepts that may be adopted by the food industry, nutritionists, researchers and policymakers to help reduce the burden of these chronic diseases," Romagnolo said. "We want to show people how they can do it on their own and apply the basic tenets of the diet here in Arizona."

Source: University of Arizona

WHO contemplates reforms after admitting missteps on Ebola

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan addresses the media during a special meeting on Ebola in Geneva on Jan. 25, 2015. Photo by Pierre Albouy/REUTERS.

In a special session on Sunday, the World Health Organization debated how to reform itself after acknowledging the organization had botched its response to the 2014 Ebola emergency. 

“The Ebola outbreak revealed some inadequacies and shortcomings in this organization’s administrative, managerial, and technical infrastructures,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said. At its headquarters in Geneva, Chan presented a series of proposals aimed at ending the current outbreak, as well as reinforcing preparedness globally and guaranteeing the WHO’s ability to address future large-scale outbreaks. 

She stressed the need to streamline recruitment for emergencies, as the current process is “too slow” and emphasized the need for a “one WHO” approach that employs universal operating procedures and tools for responding to emergencies. According to Chan, the current rules for reporting outbreaks – International Health Regulations (IHR) – created to prevent national health emergencies from becoming global crises, are too thin. But the largest lesson she and others at WHO learned during the outbreak fight was that well-trained, and appropriately paid health care workers, are essential to stemming the spread of disease. 

To date there have been more than 21,000 Ebola cases and over 8,400 deaths. “The volatile microbial world will always deliver surprises, Chan said. “Never again should the world be caught by surprise, unprepared.”

Source: WHO

Quest continues for peanut that won't cause allergic reaction

Peanuts (stock image). Scientists must eliminate peanut allergens below a certain threshold for patients to be safe, said Wade Yang, an assistant professor in food science and human nutrition and member of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Credit: © yurakp / Fotolia

University of Florida scientist has moved one step closer to his goal of eliminating 99.9 percent of peanut allergens by removing 80 percent of them in whole peanuts.

Scientists must eliminate peanut allergens below a certain threshold for patients to be safe, said Wade Yang, an assistant professor in food science and human nutrition and member of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

If Yang can cut the allergens from 150 milligrams of protein per peanut to below 1.5 milligrams, 95 percent of those with peanut allergies would be safe. It’s challenging to eliminate all peanut allergens, he said, because doing so may risk destroying peanuts’ texture, color, flavor and nutrition. But he said he’s using novel methods like pulsed light to reach an allergen level that will protect most people.

Yang, whose study is published online in this month’s issue of the journal Food and Bioprocess Technology, cautioned that he has done peanut allergen experiments only in a laboratory setting so far. He hopes to eventually conduct clinical trials on animals and humans.

Dr. Shih-Wen Huang, professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics and Head of the Pediatric Allergy Clinic at UF Health, is familiar with the UF/IFAS research. Huang outlined more steps in the peanut allergen research.

The first is to see if the allergic antibody in the serum of peanut allergy patients will still bind with the residual allergy protein from the refined peanut products. The second is to see if the refined peanut extract would elicit skin-test reactions in peanut allergy patients.

The third step would be to conduct a double blind, placebo-controlled test to see if patients develop allergy symptoms after eating the refined products.

“I am pleased to see their work is progressing well,” Huang said. “However, more challenges are waiting until the final products are accepted from the public, especially the patients with peanut allergies.”

Two years ago, Yang was using his technique on peanut extract. He’s now testing it on the peanut itself. In his 2012 study, he removed up to 90 percent of the allergic potential from peanut protein extracts.

“This process proves that pulsed light can inactivate the peanut allergenic proteins and indicates that pulsed light has a great potential in peanut allergen mitigation,” Yang said.

About 1.9 million people, or 0.6 percent of U.S. residents, are allergic to peanuts, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Reactions can range from skin rashes to anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. Currently, the best way for those allergic to peanuts to stay safe is to avoid them, according to the NIH. Many people carry epinephrine injectors that help offset their allergy symptoms until they reach a hospital.

In the latest study, Yang and his colleagues applied the pulsed ultraviolet light technology to whole peanuts. That makes the findings more useful, because peanut processing usually starts from whole-peanut roasting, and roasted peanuts are then packaged to sell as whole peanuts or made into peanut butter, he said.

“The latest study moves one step closer to the actual production,” Yang said.

For the study, Yang used a pulsating light system – two lamps filled with xenon, two cooling blowers, one treatment chamber with a conveyor belt and a control module ─ to direct concentrated bursts of light to modify the peanut allergenic proteins. That way, human antibodies can’t recognize them as allergens and begin to release histamines.

Histamines create allergy symptoms such as itching, rashes and wheezing. The pulsing light reduced the allergenic potential of the major peanut proteins Ara h1-h3.

Source: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Roman Gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank a tonic of ashes after training

Anthropology unlocks clues about Roman gladiators' eating habits. Credit: OEAI, Pietsch

Roman gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank ashes after training as a tonic. These are the findings of anthropological investigations carried out on bones of warriors found during excavations in the ancient city of Ephesos.

Historic sources report that gladiators had their own diet. This comprised beans and grains. Contemporary reports referred to them as "hordearii" ("barley eaters").

In a study by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the MedUni Vienna in cooperation with the Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bern, bones were examined from a gladiator cemetery uncovered in 1993 which dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century BC in the then Roman city of Ephesos (now in modern-day Turkey). At the time, Ephesos was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and had over 200,000 inhabitants.

Using spectroscopy, stable isotope ratios (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) were investigated in the collagen of the bones, along with the ratio of strontium to calcium in the bone mineral.

The result shows that gladiators mostly ate a vegetarian diet. There is virtually no difference in terms of nutrition from the local "normal population." Meals consisted primarily of grain and meat-free meals. The word "barley eater" relates in this case to the fact that gladiators were probably given grain of an inferior quality.

Build-up drink following physical exertion

The difference between gladiators and the normal population is highly significant in terms of the amount of strontium measured in their bones. This leads to the conclusion that the gladiators had a higher intake of minerals from a strontium-rich source of calcium. The ash drink quoted in literature probably really did exist. "Plant ashes were evidently consumed to fortify the body after physical exertion and to promote better bone healing," explains study leader Fabian Kanz from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the MedUni Vienna. "Things were similar then to what we do today -- we take magnesium and calcium (in the form of effervescent tablets, for example) following physical exertion." Calcium is essential for bone building and usually occurs primarily in milk products.

A further research project is looking at the migration of gladiators, who often came from different parts of the Roman Empire to Ephesos. The researchers are hoping that comparison of the bone data from gladiators with that of the local fauna will yield a number of differences.

Source: Medical University of Vienna

Mother's diet affects the 'silencing' of her child's genes

An infant from the Gambia. Credit: Felicia Webb

A mother's diet before conception can permanently affect how her child's genes function, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

The first such evidence of the effect in humans opens up the possibility that a mother's diet before pregnancy could permanently affect many aspects of her children's lifelong health.

Researchers from the MRC International Nutrition Group, based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and MRC Unit, The Gambia, utilized a unique 'experiment of nature' in rural Gambia, where the population's dependence on own grown foods and a markedly seasonal climate impose a large difference in people's dietary patterns between rainy and dry seasons.

Through a selection process involving over 2,000 women, the researchers enrolled pregnant women who conceived at the peak of the rainy season (84 women) and the peak of the dry season (83 women). By measuring the concentrations of nutrients in their blood, and later analysing blood and hair follicle samples from their 2-8 month old infants, they found that a mother's diet before conception had a significant effect on the properties of her child's DNA.

While a child's genes are inherited directly from their parents, how these genes are expressed is controlled through 'epigenetic' modifications to the DNA. One such modification involves tagging gene regions with chemical compounds called methyl groups and results in silencing the genes. The addition of these compounds requires key nutrients including folate, vitamins B2, B6 and B12, choline and methionine.

Experiments in animals have already shown that environmental influences before conception can lead to epigenetic changes that affect the offspring. A 2003 study found that a female mouse's diet can change her offspring's coat colour by permanently modifying DNA methylation.1 But until this latest research, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the MRC, it was unknown whether such effects also occur in humans.

Senior author Dr Branwen Hennig, Senior Investigator Scientist at the MRC Gambia Unit and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "Our results represent the first demonstration in humans that a mother's nutritional well-being at the time of conception can change how her child's genes will be interpreted, with a life-long impact."

The researchers found that infants from rainy season conceptions had consistently higher rates of methyl groups present in all six genes they studied, and that these were linked to various nutrient levels in the mother's blood. Strong associations were found with two compounds in particular (homocysteine and cysteine), and the mothers' body mass index (BMI) had an additional influence. However, although these epigenetic effects were observed, their functional consequences remain unknown.

Professor Andrew Prentice, Professor of International Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and head of the Nutrition Theme at the MRC Unit, The Gambia, said: "Our on-going research is yielding strong indications that the methylation machinery can be disrupted by nutrient deficiencies and that this can lead to disease. Our ultimate goal is to define an optimal diet for mothers-to-be that would prevent defects in the methylation process. Pre-conceptional folic acid is already used to prevent defects in embryos. Now our research is pointing towards the need for a cocktail of nutrients, which could come from the diet or from supplements."

Dr Rob Waterland of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who conducted the epigenetic analyses said: "We selected these gene regions because our earlier studies in mice had shown that establishment of DNA methylation at metastable epialleles is particularly sensitive to maternal nutrition in early pregnancy."

The authors note that their study was limited by including only one blood sampling point during early pregnancy, but estimates of pre-conception nutrient concentrations were calculated using results from non-pregnant women sampled throughout a whole calendar year. The authors also plan to increase the sample size in further studies.

Source: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

People ate mammoth; Dogs got reindeer

Artist's depiction of cave painting of primitive hunt

Biogeologists have shown how Gravettian people shared their food 30,000 years ago.

Předmostí I is an exceptional prehistoric site located near Brno in the Czech Republic. Around 30,000 years ago it was inhabited by people of the pan-European Gravettian culture, who used the bones of more than 1000 mammoths to build their settlement and to ivory sculptures. Did prehistoric people collect this precious raw material from carcasses -- easy to spot on the big cold steppe -- or were they the direct result of hunting for food? This year-round settlement also yielded a large number of canids remains, some of them with characteristics of Palaeolithic dogs. Were these animals used to help hunt mammoths?

To answer these two questions, Tübingen researcher Hervé Bocherens and his international team carried out an analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in human and animal fossil bones from the site. Working with researchers from Brno and Brussels, the researchers were able to test whether the Gravettian people of Předmostí ate mammoth meat and how the "palaeolithic dogs" fit into this subsistence picture.

They found that humans did consume mammoth -- and in large quantities. Other carnivores, such as brown bears, wolves and wolverines, also had access to mammoth meat, indicating the high availability of fresh mammoth carcasses, most likely left behind by human hunters. Surprisingly, the dogs did not show a high level of mammoth consumption, but rather consumed essentially reindeer meat that was not the staple food of their owners. A similar situation is observed in traditional populations from northern regions, who often feed their dogs with the food that they do not like. These results also suggest that these early dogs were restrained, and were probably used as transportation helpers.

These new results provide clear evidence that mammoth was a key component of prehistoric life in Europe 30,000 years ago, and that dogs were already there to help.

Source: Universitaet Tübingen

High milk intake linked with higher fractures and mortality, research suggests

Women who drank more than three glasses of milk a day had a higher risk of death than women who drank less than one glass of milk a day. Credit: © Africa Studio / Fotolia

A high milk intake in women and men is not accompanied by a lower risk of fracture and instead may be associated with a higher rate of death, suggests observational research published in The BMJ this week.

This may be explained by the high levels of lactose and galactose (types of sugar) in milk, that have been shown to increase oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in animal studies, say the researchers.

However, they point out that their study can only show an association and cannot prove cause and effect. They say the results "should be interpreted cautiously" and further studies are needed before any firm conclusions or dietary recommendations can be made.

A diet rich in milk products is promoted to reduce the likelihood of osteoporotic fractures, but previous research looking at the importance of milk for the prevention of fractures and the influence on mortality rates show conflicting results.

So a research team in Sweden, led by Professor Karl Michaëlsson, set out to examine whether high milk intake may increase oxidative stress, which, in turn, affects the risk of mortality and fracture.

Two large groups of 61,433 women (aged 39-74 years in 1987-1990) and 45,339 men (aged 45-79 years in 1997) in Sweden completed food frequency questionnaires for 96 common foods including milk, yoghurt and cheese.

Lifestyle information, weight and height were collated and factors such as education level and marital status were also taken into account. National registers were used to track fracture and mortality rates.

Women were tracked for an average of 20 years, during which time 15,541 died and 17,252 had a fracture, of whom 4,259 had a hip fracture.

In women, no reduction in fracture risk with higher milk consumption was observed. Furthermore, women who drank more than three glasses of milk a day (average 680 ml) had a higher risk of death than women who drank less than one glass of milk a day (average 60 ml).

Men were tracked for an average of 11 years, during which time 10,112 died and 5,066 had a fracture, with 1,166 hip fracture cases. Men also had a higher risk of death with higher milk consumption, although this was less pronounced than in women.

Further analysis showed a positive association between milk intake and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

In contrast, a high intake of fermented milk products with a low lactose content (including yoghurt and cheese) was associated with reduced rates of mortality and fracture, particularly in women.

They conclude that a higher consumption of milk in women and men is not accompanied by a lower risk of fracture and instead may be associated with a higher rate of death. 

Consequently, there may be a link between the lactose and galactose content of milk and risk, although causality needs be tested.

"Our results may question the validity of recommendations to consume high amounts of milk to prevent fragility fractures," they write. "The results should, however, be interpreted cautiously given the observational design of our study. The findings merit independent replication before they can be used for dietary recommendations."

Michaëlsson and colleagues raise a fascinating possibility about the potential harms of milk, says Professor Mary Schooling at City University of New York in an accompanying editorial. However, she stresses that diet is difficult to assess precisely and she reinforces the message that these findings should be interpreted cautiously.

"As milk consumption may rise globally with economic development and increasing consumption of animal source foods, the role of milk and mortality needs to be established definitively now," she concludes.

Source: BMJ-British Medical Journal

Antioxidant capacity of orange juice is multiplied tenfold

Orange juice has greater antioxidant activity than was previously thought. Credit: SINC

The antioxidant activity of citrus juices and other foods is undervalued. A new technique developed by researchers from the University of Granada for measuring this property generates values that are ten times higher than those indicated by current analysis methods. The results suggest that tables on the antioxidant capacities of food products that dieticians and health authorities use must be revised.

Orange juice and juices from other citrus fruits are considered healthy due to their high content of antioxidants, which help to reduce harmful free radicals in our body, but a new investigation shows that their benefits are greater than previously thought.

In order to study these compounds in the laboratory, techniques that simulate the digestion of food in the digestive tract are used, which analyse only the antioxidant capacities of those substances that can potentially be absorbed in the small intestine: the liquid fraction of what we eat.

"The problem is that the antioxidant activity of the solid fraction (the fibre) isn't measured, as it's assumed that it isn't beneficial. However, this insoluble fraction arrives at the large intestine and the intestinal microbiota can also ferment it and extract even more antioxidant substances, which we can assess with our new methodology," José Ángel Rufián Henares, professor at the University of Granada, explains.

His team has developed a technique called 'global antioxidant response' (GAR), which includes an in vitro simulation of the gastrointestinal digestion that occurs in our body, whilst taking into account the 'forgotten' antioxidant capacity of the solid fraction.

The method, the details of which are published in the journal 'Food Chemistry', includes assessments of various physical and chemical parameters, such as colour, fluorescence and the relationship between the concentrations analysed and compounds indicators such as furfural.

Upon applying the technique to commercial and natural orange, mandarin, lemon and grapefruit juices, it has been proved that their values greatly increase. For example, in the case of orange juice, the value ranges from 2.3 mmol Trolox/L (units for the antioxidant capacity) registered with a traditional technique to 23 mmol Trolox/L with the new GAR method.

"The antioxidant activity is, on average, ten times higher than that which everyone thought up until now, and not just in juices, but also in any other kind of food analysed with this methodology," highlights Rufián Henares, who notes its possible application: "This technique and the results derived from it could allow dieticians and health authorities to better establish the values of the antioxidant capacity of foods."

With the help of this method, scientists have also created a mathematical model in order to classify juices according to their natural and storage conditions, which ensures that the correct raw materials and sterilisation and pasteurisation processes are used.

Source: Plataforma SINC

Microbiologists discover how gut bacterial resources are hijacked to promote intestinal, foodborne illnesses

Dr. Vanessa Sperandio. Credit: Image courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern Medical Center microbiologists have identified key bacteria in the gut whose resources are hijacked to spread harmful foodborne E. coli infections and other intestinal illnesses.

Though many E. coli bacteria are harmless and critical to gut health, some E. coli species are harmful and can be spread through contaminated food and water, causing diarrhea and other intestinal illnesses. Among them is enterohemorrhagic E. coli or EHEC, one of the most common foodborne pathogens linked with outbreaks featured in the news, including the multistate outbreaks tied to raw sprouts and ground beef in 2014.

The UT Southwestern team discovered that EHEC uses a common gut bacterium called Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron to worsen EHEC infection. B. thetaiotaomicron is a predominant species in the gut's microbiota, which consists of tens of trillions of microorganisms used to digest food, produce vitamins, and provide a barrier against harmful microorganisms.

"EHEC has learned to how to steal scarce resources that are made by other species in the microbiota for its own survival in the gut," said lead author Dr. Meredith Curtis, Postdoctoral Researcher at UT Southwestern.

The research team found that B. thetaiotaomicron causes changes in the environment that promote EHEC infection, in part by enhancing EHEC colonization, according to the paper, appearing in the journal Cell Host Microbe.

"We usually think of our microbiota as a resistance barrier for pathogen colonization, but some crafty pathogens have learned how to capitalize on this role," said Dr. Vanessa Sperandio, Professor of Microbiology and Biochemistry at UT Southwestern and senior author.

EHEC senses changes in sugar concentrations brought about by B. thetaiotaomicron and uses this information to turn on virulence genes that help the infection colonize the gut, thwart recognition and killing by the host immune system, and obtain enough nutrients to survive. The group observed a similar pattern when mice were infected with their equivalent of EHEC, the gut bacterium Citrobacter rodentium. Mice whose gut microbiota consisted solely of B. thetaiotaomicron were more susceptible to infection than those that had no gut microbiota. Once again, the research group saw that B. thetaiotaomicron caused changes in the environment that promoted C. rodentium infection.

"This study opens up the door to understand how different microbiota composition among hosts may impact the course and outcome of an infection," said Dr. Sperandio, whose lab studies how bacteria recognize the host and how this recognition might be exploited to interfere with bacterial infections. "We are testing the idea that differential gastrointestinal microbiota compositions play an important role in determining why, in an EHEC outbreak, some people only have mild diarrhea, others have bloody diarrhea and some progress to hemolytic uremic syndrome, even though all are infected with the same strain of the pathogen."

The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets food poisoning; 128,000 are hospitalized;, and 3,000 die of their food-borne disease. EHEC, which also caused a widespread outbreak in Europe in 2011, can lead to bloody diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome, which in turn can lead to kidney disease and failure. EHEC is among the top five pathogens contributing to domestically acquired foodborne illnesses resulting in hospitalization, according to the CDC. Outbreaks in 2014 were reported in California, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Montana, Utah, and Washington.

Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center

Moderate consumption of sugary drinks has little impact on adolescents' metabolic health

Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, are the largest source of added sugar in the diets of adolescents in the United States. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Missouri-Columbia

Sugar-sweetened beverages are the largest source of added sugar in the diets of adolescents in the United States, and young adults ages 15-20 consume more of these drinks than any other age group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adolescent obesity rates, which have quadrupled over the past thirty years, led to widespread scrutiny of added dietary sugars, especially those found in carbonated beverages. Now, MU researchers have found that short-term, moderate consumption of high-fructose and high-glucose beverages has little impact on the metabolic health of weight-stable, physically active adolescents.

"These beverages may not be as unhealthy for adolescents as previously thought, provided that kids stay active," said Jill Kanaley, professor and associate chair in the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. "That physical activity component is really critical in protecting against some of the negative effects of drinking large amounts of sugar-sweetened drinks demonstrated in previous studies."

Kanaley's study measured several aspects of metabolic health, including insulin sensitivity and cholesterol levels, after participants had consumed moderate amounts of either high-glucose or high-fructose beverages every day for two weeks. The high-glucose drink contained 50 grams of glucose and 15 grams of fructose; the high-fructose drink contained 50 grams of fructose and 15 grams of glucose. In comparison, two 12-ounce cans of white soda contain about 50 grams of fructose, although the amount of sugar found in soft drinks varies by brand and type. The researchers used armbands with electronic sensors to monitor physical activity of the participants, all of whom were healthy male and female adolescents ages 15-20.

Although some research has shown that consuming sugary drinks can have detrimental metabolic effects, Kanaley said that the results of these studies have been inconsistent. Previous research often has excluded adolescents and did not measure participants' levels of physical activity. In one of her previous studies, which recently was published in Medicine in Science and Sports, Kanaley found that increased physical activity diminished negative effects associated with high-fructose diets.

"Many parents of adolescents worry about their children's consumption of sweetened beverages," Kanaley said. "I certainly would recommend that they work to reduce their children's intake of sugary drinks, but it also is important for kids to remain active, especially if they are drinking a lot of sugary beverages. In our study, the female adolescents averaged around 8,000 steps per day, and the males averaged about 10,000 steps per day. 

These children weren't athletes, but they had active lifestyles."

Kanaley's article was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source: University of Missouri-Columbia

Sunshade geoengineering more likely to improve global food security, research suggests

New research examines the potential effects that geoengineering the climate could have on global food production and concludes that sunshade geoengineering would be more likely to improve rather than threaten food security. Credit: © Igor Chaikovskiy / Fotolia

Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and gas have been increasing over the past decades, causing Earth to get hotter and hotter. There are concerns that a continuation of these trends could have catastrophic effects, including crop failures in the heat-stressed tropics. This has led some to explore drastic ideas for combating global warming, including the idea of trying to counteract it by reflecting sunlight away from Earth. However, it has been suggested that reflecting sunlight away from Earth might itself threaten the food supply of billions of people.

New research led by Carnegie's Julia Pongratz examines the potential effects that geoengineering the climate could have on global food production and concludes that sunshade geoengineering would be more likely to improve rather than threaten food security. Their work is published online by Nature Climate Change Jan. 22.

Big volcanoes cool the planet by placing lots of small particles in the stratosphere, but the particles fall out within a year and the planet heats back up. One proposal for cooling the planet is to use high-flying airplanes to constantly replenish a layer of small particles in the stratosphere that would scatter sunlight back to space. But such so-called sunshade geoengineering could have unintended consequences for climate, and especially for precipitation.

Although scientists know that climate change in recent decades has negatively impacted crop yields in many regions, the study by Pongratz and colleagues is the first to examine the potential effect of geoengineering on food security. Pongratz's team, which included Carnegie's Ken Caldeira and Long Cao, as well as Stanford University's David Lobell, used models to assess the impact of sunshade geoengineering on crop yields.

Using two different climate models, they simulated climates with carbon dioxide levels similar to what exists today. A second set of simulations doubled carbon-dioxide levels -- levels that could be reached in several decades if current trends in fossil-fuel burning continue unabated. A third set of simulations posited doubled carbon dioxide, but with a layer of sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere deflecting about 2% of incoming sunlight away from Earth. The simulated climate changes were then applied to crop models that are commonly used to project future yields.

The team found that, in the model, sunshade geoengineering leads to increased crop yields in most regions, both compared with current conditions and with the future projection of doubled carbon dioxide on its own. This is because deflecting sunlight back to space reduces temperatures, but not CO2. "In many regions, future climate change is predicted to put crops under temperature stress, reducing yields. This stress is alleviated by geoengineering," Pongratz said. "At the same time, the beneficial effects that a higher CO2 concentration has on plant productivity remain active."

Even if the geoengineering would help crop yields overall, the models predict that some areas could be harmed by the geoengineering. And there are other risks that go beyond the direct impact on crop yields. For example, deployment of such systems might lead to political or even military conflict. Furthermore, these approaches do not solve the problem of ocean acidification, which is also caused by carbon dioxide emissions.

"The real world is much more complex than our climate models, so it would be premature to act based on model results like ours," Caldeira said. "But desperate people do desperate things. Therefore, it is important to understand the consequences of actions that do not strike us as being particularly good ideas."

"The climate system is not well enough understood to exclude the risks of severe unanticipated climate changes, whether due to our fossil-fuel emissions or due to intentional intervention in the climate system," Pongratz said. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is therefore likely a safer option than geoengineering to avert risks to global food security."

Source:  Carnegie Institution