Food Science Articles and Links

[heidih]

Clearly I did mpt thoroughly read the article. Thanks for clarifying.

Edited April 17, 2023 by heidih (log)

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, chromedome said:

My net takeaway from the reporting was that there's considerable institutional resistance to outcomes that run counter to the expected.

That was my take as well.  I thought it was a pretty balanced article discussing the issues with dietary research on human subjects.  It's so hard -  we're just not good lab rats!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

"Blessed are the cheese makers."

 

[chromedome]

Now there's a thing... Indian researchers have successfully created a seedless mango, it appears.

 

https://www.andnowuknow.com/behind-greens/seedless-mangos-have-been-developed-indian-scientists/andrew-mcdaniel/42275

 

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, chromedome said:

Now there's a thing... Indian researchers have successfully created a seedless mango, it appears.

 

https://www.andnowuknow.com/behind-greens/seedless-mangos-have-been-developed-indian-scientists/andrew-mcdaniel/42275

 

Not like you to miss the date line. 

[chromedome]

15 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Not like you to miss the date line. 

LOL Good catch, that went right past me. Clearly things did not go to plan.

[chromedome]

Researchers attempt to identify the flavor compounds at play in fermented coffee (apparently it's trendy?):

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/the-chemistry-of-fermented-coffee/

[heidih]

8 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Researchers attempt to identify the flavor compounds at play in fermented coffee (apparently it's trendy?):

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/the-chemistry-of-fermented-coffee/

Or this poop process which we discussed somewhere  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak  I am so not in the game I will drink NesCafe   

[chromedome]

I guess medicine and epidemiology count as science, so I'll put this here. A look at the cost of "presenteeism" in the restaurant world:

https://qz.com/paid-sick-leave-for-workers-could-prevent-40-of-restau-1850506870

[chromedome]

Well, now. This is a line of research I hadn't stumbled across before, and it's certainly intriguing. If they can figure it out, it will provide a new path to hybridization that could create stable crops with seeds that can be saved for reuse.

 

https://www.science.org/content/article/game-changer-scientists-are-genetically-engineering-crops-clone-themselves

[heidih]

Interesting if used to address food shortage across countries. UC Davis has been a leader in food genetics and it is a big deal behind the scenes of what we eat again globally. We shall see. And plant cloning for non edibles is long time in place. Ya know those cheap Trader Joe orchids - yup   But not at the level or methodology of the article. 

[Alex]

Good article about taste preferences

 

This was new information for me: 

 

Quote

In my laboratory at the University of Michigan, we are diving deeply into one specific aspect, which is how consuming too much sugar dulls the sense of sweetness. 

 

[chromedome]

There's an interesting new study been published in Nature Communications. The authors have done something that's unusual and difficult in dietary research; they've constructed a controlled experiment comparing and contrasting two very specific diets. One was a version of the much-maligned "standard Western diet," the other was a diet high in fiber and resistant starches. The result, after analysis, was that the high-fiber diet resulted in fewer calories being consumed by the host (ie, the human) and more being consumed by the gut's microbiota. Here are links to the study itself, and to a layperson-friendly explanation on WaPO:

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38778-x

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/06/13/weight-loss-calories-fiber-microbiome/

 

A number of caveats apply, including the small number of test subjects (17 total) and the short duration of the study (22 days), but given the inherent difficulty in getting volunteers to live in confinement and eat a measured diet, those are probably unavoidable. Given the constraints, the researchers did a pretty remarkable job of identifying and coping with potentially confounding factors (the research equivalent of HACCP, if you will). It's at most a foundation for future research to build on, but it's a good foundation methodologically.

[chromedome]

An industry-facing view of the challenges facing the "cell-cultured meat" industry, for anyone who's interested in seeing how it's perceived from that side of the counter.

 

https://www.crbgroup.com/insights/food-beverage/cultured-meat#:~:text=Cultured meat—also known as,a variety of meat products.

[chromedome]

https://www.reuters.com/science/gene-tech-spares-male-chicks-cull-by-preventing-them-hatching-2023-07-17/

[heidih]

Thanks I  had no idea  of the scope of the culling. I also naively thought the males were used for meat.

[chromedome]

26 minutes ago, heidih said:

Thanks I  had no idea  of the scope of the culling. I also naively thought the males were used for meat.

Laying breeds just don't put on weight fast enough. They wouldn't be cost-effective as a commercial meat bird (dual-purpose birds are typically a backyard or homestead option).

[liuzhou]

Why is cancer striking earlier? One answer could be a diet of ultra-processed foods.

[chromedome]

https://asteriskmag.com/issues/02/read-this-not-that-the-hidden-cost-of-nutrition-misinformation

[chromedome]

Saw this paper while I was having lunch: "Human microbiome myths and misconceptions," published in Nature Microbiology a few days ago.

 

Properly speaking this is more digestive-system related than actual food science, but the two are inextricably linked. I've been keeping an eye on the microbiome research for a couple of decades now (ever since the internet made it practicable to do so without subscribing to medical journals) and I've come across most of these at one time or another.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01426-7.epdf?sharing_token=_RzixqLSHgY8R9kL6FsKXNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MtUJKrqQX_wY1o8_YeHDle4kG1pmdR7fgd4qut1d-o2Qabv6PduxdC5R2hJtZM_x_U8cNxa__3ncGS7-sw49-75JmIMCIsjO0FE2SmDZkvGhX7VO05fjKlkfusG6EZp9euTVDUcXPLroWEtRSL8mEb

[chromedome]

A balanced appraisal of "hydration" mania, something that's been a head-scratcher for me for a long time (like the current fixation on protein).

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/08/drinking-water-hydration-amount-importance/674926/

[heidih]

12 minutes ago, chromedome said:

A balanced appraisal of "hydration" mania, something that's been a head-scratcher for me for a long time (like the current fixation on protein).

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/08/drinking-water-hydration-amount-importance/674926/

Thanks for that. Wish I could get my dad to read it but he wouldn't comprehend it. After major congestive heart failure episode follwed by a bovine valve set in his useless aorta he was put on diuretic and told to limit watter to X oz per day. He prefers to listen to pseudo science soundbites or his stoopid Prevention magazine. Also does not grasp that the 12 oz bottle he lugs around is a "glass and a half" Oh well he will be 101 the 19th - I just don't want another 911 episode. (though the EMTs are lovely)

[chromedome]

An interesting piece (offered with no endorsement express or implied, but the writer is one I have a degree of trust in).

 

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/food-and-farms/chemical-fertilizer-is-a-climate-disaster-can-high-tech-biology-fix-it

[Alex]

3 hours ago, chromedome said:

An interesting piece (offered with no endorsement express or implied, but the writer is one I have a degree of trust in).

 

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/food-and-farms/chemical-fertilizer-is-a-climate-disaster-can-high-tech-biology-fix-it

 

Quote

As I’ve mentioned in every Eating the Earth column since the first one, the farming challenge of the 21st century will be to keep feeding the world but without frying the world, which will require at least 50 percent more food production with at least 75 percent fewer agricultural emissions.

 

As is true for nearly every global problem, at its root is TMP -- Too Many People -- in combination with the same brain we had 50,000+ years ago, one with a default setting that's tribal and emotion-driven.

[heidih]

In todays L.A. Times - a NASA?JPL venture into plant virus detection from space

 

"Cutting-edge NASA imaging technology can detect early signs of a plant virus that, if unaddressed, often proves devastating for wineries and grape growers, new research has found.

While the breakthrough is good news for the wine and grape industry, which loses billions of dollars a year to the crop-ruining disease, it could eventually help global agriculture as a whole.

Using intricate infrared images captured by airplane over California’s Central Valley, researchers were able to distinguish Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines that were infected but not showing symptoms — before the point at which growers can spot the disease and respond."

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-05/nasa-aerial-imaging-wine-grape-disease-vineyard-health