Off flavor and texture problems in farm raised catfish affect consumer acceptance and overall demand. This unit works with industry to develop guidelines to improve product uniformity and quality by refining sensory and other characteristics important to U.S. consumers. Additionally, research is underway to utilize by-products and improve the shelf life of frozen catfish products.
Our overall goals are to reduce the number of individuals that develop peanut and tree nut allergy, the number of accidental ingestions and severity of the reactions to nuts. Methods are being developed to improve detection, diagnosis and therapeutics in food allergy and to reduce the allergenic properties of foods via processing and novel plant genetic technologies.
Through applied research, new technologies for converting rice and rice co-products into high value products are being developed to target the following objectives: 1) Enhancement of resistant starch and slowly digestible starch during cooking, and 2) Development of health-beneficial products from rice and rice co-products focused on colonic health.
Soheila Maleki Ph.D. is the lead scientist on the allergy project. She is also the 2018 Distinguished Scientist of the Year for the Agricultural Research Service and a finalist in the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal Recognition (SAMMIES).
Research Projects More...
Food Processing and Sensory Quality Research Unit develops technologies that optimize the nutritional and health benefits, functional properties, and sensory qualities of agricultural commodities, thus, enhancing their utilization. A multi-disciplined team of scientists are meeting these challenges by: 1) obtaining a basic biochemical understanding of the interactions of food components attributed to quality characteristics including flavor (development and deterioration) and functionality properties of the food and its individual components, 2) scientifically defining and measuring sensory and other quality attributes in foods before and after processing, 3) designing cost-effective, environmentally-acceptable processes for converting foods and their separated components into value-added products, and 4) developing technologies for predicting and assessing the nutritional, sensory, and processing quality attributes of foods.
