Location: Functional Foods Research
2023 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Innovate processes to improve the properties of underutilized crops such as sorghum, millet, and hemp seed (SMHS), and their byproducts to enable increased commercial use.
•Sub-objective 1A: Enhance the health-promoting and commercially important functional properties of SMHS flours, fractions or extracts such as proteins, and byproducts by thermomechanical processing treatments alone or in combination to obtain new components and composites.
•Sub-objective 1B: Enhance the health-promoting and commercially important functional properties of SMHS flours, fractions or extracts such as proteins, and byproducts by chemical/enzymatic treatments alone or in combination with either thermomechanical processing.
•Sub-objective 1C: Enhance the health-promoting and commercially important functional properties of SMHS flours, fractions or extracts such as proteins, and byproducts by addition of other grain- or legume-based ingredients for functional composite formation, nutritionally complete diets, and flavor, texture, or structure improvement of food matrices.
Objective 2: Integrate the digestive health attributes of various SMHS components and their composites following innovative applications to improve process economics of food products and develop bioproduct ingredients using SMHS components.
•Sub-objective 2A: Develop food applications from SMHS components and conduct digestive health study.
•Sub-objective 2B: Develop non-food applications from SMHS components.
Approach
The dietary benefits of sorghum, millet, and hemp seed (SMHS) are well established and are increasingly recognized as valuable sources of protein, starch, fiber, antioxidants, and other nutrients. These crops are also drought resistant. They are, however, underutilized and used mainly for animal feed and biofuel production (sorghum) in the Unites States. The overall goal of this project plan is to convert these underutilized crops and their byproducts from milling and biofuel production into value-added food products and bio-products based upon their nutritional, physiochemical or chemical properties. There exist two primary challenges facing wider utilization of SMHS: 1) consumption barrier that stems from characteristics of SMHS and perception; 2) byproducts of biofuel (sorghum) and milling of SMHS could be better utilized to defray production cost. We will focus on identifying the effects of synergistic thermomechanical and biological treatments on SMHS grains, flours, and fractions and developing processing strategy based upon understanding of SMHS component interactions and information of in vitro and in vivo digestive health studies to enhance the nutritional, structural and functional properties of SMHS based food products. The processed SMHS materials will be incorporated into standard food formulations with the aim of maximizing the content of SMHS-based ingredients with marketable sensory properties. Non-food applications will also be investigated based on physical and chemical properties of the end products. The outcomes of this research will expand domestic and international markets for SMHS crops and therefore contribute to the sustainability of US agriculture in the era of climate change.
Progress Report
Research conducted during the current reporting period has generated knowledge and technologies for developing new functional food opportunities, functional food ingredients, market applications, and products with increased health benefits. Under Objective 1: sorghum, millet, and hemp seed (SMHS) flours were created from commercial whole seeds and milled in our laboratory and further processed into different fractions and in many instances treated with thermomechanical processes. Thermomechanical processes such as steam jet cooking, steam explosion, and polytron were applied to induce structural changes in the flours of SMHS and physicochemical and sensory properties of significant importance to the food industry. The products were also examined after treatments and our data analysis indicates the property change from processing of SMHS grains enables SMHS fractions/components to be used in existing formulations of a wide range of baked goods including cookies, noodle, cakes, and gluten-free breads.
Hemp research presents a unique issue. Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the Cannabinaceae family. The cannabinoids are accumulated in the glandular trichomes found on the flowers. Due to regulations in the United States, it is critical to harvest the flowers at or near the maximum concentrations of Cannabidiol contents, while not exceeding the 0.3% total Tetra hydro-cannabinolic acid (THC) limit as defined by the federal regulations. Current methods being developed for measuring cannabinoids are time-consuming and require expensive equipment, solvents, and expertise. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) has shown promise for quick and easy means to different components in agricultural products. We conducted a feasibility study using 477 hemp flower samples to measuring various cannabinoid fractions using NIR.
Research on silflower (Silphium integrifolium Michx), a perennial herb native to the central prairie region of the United States, with significant amounts of proteins, oil, and carbohydrates, started in fiscal year 2023. We are evaluating the functional properties of defatted silflower seed meal, extracted starch protein, and oil fractions. Our studies have created healthful alternative ingredients for gluten intolerant consumers but also for providing food products that deliver improved health benefits for consumer markets. Research was also conducted by adding healthy legumes or their byproducts to these processed fractions or flours that can achieve nutritionally complete goals for the existing food products and meet the requirements of commercial scale production.
Under Objective 2: We conducted research on applications of newly developed fractions and flours of various specialty grains in various food categories. For some studies, the fractions or flours after processing (thermomechanical and/or biological) were used as healthy replacements for formulations of commercial food products (baked products or noodle as well as beverages); in other studies we blended them with other food materials or nutritionally or/and rheologically complementary grain fractions or extracts/concentrates (e.g., soy proteins, oat bran, legume fractions) to obtain food composite materials that retained consumers’ acceptability and enhanced nutritional and healthful qualities. We have been working on proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) that is drought, pest, and disease resistant compared to other major cereals. We are evaluating the effect of whole grain roasting temperature and time on the phenolics, starch digestibility and functional properties of whole and ground millets. This study will provide the food industry with the opportunity to add this nutritionally interesting and healthy sources of food ingredients to their existing food product lines. We are also following up our success in converting soybean hulls into a biobased cat litter, with milling byproducts of specialty crops, for the development of renewable biobased cat litter.
Accomplishments
1. Improvement in dietary fiber contents through advanced steam explosion processing of buckwheat. Buckwheat, a specialty crop, has grains that are gluten free and a rich source of components such as antioxidants, phenolics, and dietary fiber that can provide health benefits to consumers. However, many of these components are trapped within its cellular structure and not readily digestible. ARS scientists in Peoria, Illinois, modified buckwheat flour using subcritical water coupled with a flash pressure release (SCWF) to improve the availability of the components. Aqueous dispersions of buckwheat flour treated at various combinations of high temperature, pressure, and reaction times were found to increase soluble dietary fiber content, up to 40%, shift soluble and insoluble dietary fiber ratios, and decrease the viscosity of buckwheat flour dispersions. These changes will improve the concentrations of dietary fiber and antioxidants in buckwheat flour and make buckwheat flours a more versatile, healthier food ingredient.
2. Better utilization of navy bean flour in food formulations by understanding the behaviors of navy bean flour suspension. Navy beans are gluten-free and contain heathy sources of nutrients, however, its food uses are limited due to unpredictability of processing behaviors of its suspensions as navy bean flour need s to mix with other flours and water to make dough. In this work, ARS scientists in Peoria, Illinois, compared the behaviors of raw navy bean flour suspensions (RNBFS) and jet-cooked navy bean flour suspensions (JCNBFS). Jet-cooking is a direct-contact heating process employing high-temperature and high- pressure steam for producing food and beverage products. The RNBFS exhibited both fluid and solid behaviors with variations depending on navy bean flour concentration in suspension. All three (8%, 10%, and 12%) (wt.%) jet-cooked navy bean flour suspensions (JCNBFS) displayed gel-like behaviors. The behaviors of JCNBFS were strongly dependent on the concentration of the suspensions. JCNBFS with appropriate concentrations can be incorporated into many existing food formulations to enhance products’ helpfulness without affecting the product quality attributes and sensory profile.
Review Publications
Plumier, B.M., Kenar, J.A., Felker, F.C., Moser, J.K., Singh, M., Byars, J.A., Liu, S.X. 2023. Effect of subcritical water flash release processing on buckwheat flour properties. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 103(4):2088-2097. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.12399.
Xu, J., Selling, G.W., Liu, S.X. 2023. Effect of jet-cooking on rheological properties of navy bean flour suspensions. Food Chemistry Advances. 2. Article 100316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focha.2023.100316.
Mutuyemungu, E., Singh, M., Liu, S.X., Rose, D. 2022. Intestinal gas production by the gut microbiota: A review. Journal of Functional Foods. 100. Article 105367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2022.105367.
Vaughn, S.F., Liu, S.X., Berhow, M.A., Moser, J.K., Peterson, S.C., Selling, G.W., Hay, W.T., Jackson, M.A., Skory, C.D. 2023. Production of an odor-reducing, low-dust, clumping cat litter from soybean hulls and soybean hull biochar. Bioresource Technology Reports. 21. Article 101317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2022.101317.
