Biosolarization shows promise for conventional and organic farmers
Farmers spend a lot of time and money controlling weeds and other pests, and often have to turn to chemical fumigants to keep the most destructive pests at bay. Farmers also wrestle with what to do with low-value byproducts of crop production, such as skin, seeds and hulls from fruit, vegetable and nut processing.
What if those agricultural waste streams could generate alternatives to chemical fumigants and make farming more productive, profitable and environmentally friendly?
Newborn Baby Jane in Sacramento, California, might have access to the best, most modern medical care, but she’s likely missing something else: Friendly gut microbes. Uniquely adapted to human breast milk, these microbes provide optimal nutrition, keep out hostile infections, and may even stop the spread of disease.
Ellie Yin receives award for doctoral research examining probiotics and health
Xiaochen (Ellie) Yin, who recently completed her Ph.D. in food science, has been awarded the John E. Kinsella Memorial Prize for outstanding research on her doctoral dissertation examining probiotics and health.
Interest in probiotics has grown significantly with consumers in recent years and is now a leading sector of the food supplement market. However, probiotics research is still in its early stages—with promising but sometimes inconsistent outcomes regarding beneficial effects.
The Department of Food Science and Technology is internationally recognized for its advances in making food and beverages more healthful, appealing and safe. It is the only such department within the University of California and is the state’s principle academic food science research group.
UC Davis food chemist says too much linoleic acid could be making us sick
There are good and bad fats, nutritionists say. But not all polyunsaturated fats, the so-called good fats, are created equal. A food chemist at UC Davis is exploring whether eating too much linoleic acid—a type of polyunsaturated fat found mainly in vegetable oils—can cause chronic inflammation, headaches, and other health problems.
Wilbur Curtis Co., an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of coffee-brewing equipment, has pledged $250,000 to the University of California, Davis, to support the university’s expanding Coffee Center. The donation is the first by Wilbur Curtis to a major academic institution.
Sierra Nevada Brewing owners establish endowment in the UC Davis Brewing Program.
Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and his wife, Katie Gonser, have presented UC Davis with a $2 million gift to support the campus’s renowned brewing science program.
The gift establishes an endowment to provide ongoing funding for a full-time staff brewing position, focused on excellence in hands-on brewing education in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology.
New machine simulates human digestion to improve nutrition.
How do humans digest food? It’s a complicated question, with no easy answer. But in a food engineering lab at UC Davis, a mechanical digestive system is churning out information that may help solve the age-old mystery.
Designed and built by engineer and food scientist Gail Bornhorst, the novel device is providing clues that could help people make better decisions about when to eat, what to eat and how to prepare food to meet their own personal nutritional needs.
Findings are key for California, the nation’s largest dairy producer
Fresh, or raw, milk transported from farms to dairy processing facilities in tanker trucks contains a diverse mix of microbes, which varies from season to season, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.
Microbes with the potential to cause disease are destroyed during milk pasteurization, but not all bacteria and their associated enzymes are eliminated by that process. The remaining bacteria retain the ability to cause spoilage and quality defects in dairy foods.
Professor has helped develop curriculum in food technology
Department of Food Science and Technology Professor Glenn Young was awarded the Medal of Honor by the government of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The award was received at the recent 60th Anniversary Celebration of Nong Lam University.
