Food

Development or improvement of methods, techniques, or processes to maintain or improve quality or functionality, stabilize or preserve foods, or prepare foods for further processing may yield new processing technologies and equipment as well as improved and new food products.

Areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Food physical processes (i.e., thermal and non-thermal pasteurization/preservation, size reduction, separation, concentration).
• Food bioprocesses (i.e., enzyme and microbial applications, genetic engineering of foods and food ingredients).
• Food chemical processes (i.e., salt, sugar, acid, preservatives, antioxidants).
• Food processing efficiencies (i.e., management of energy, water, wastes).
• Improved or new food packaging technologies.
• Food process modeling, automation, and sensors.

Improvement or development of new food products requires knowledge of the factors that influence quality and functionality and how they interact in complex food systems.

Areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Chemical and biochemical reactions in foods.
• Measuring/characterizing food components and functions.
• Identifying, characterizing, and measuring chemical, physical, and sensory properties of foods.
• Determining relationships among the chemistry, structure, and quality parameters of food components and their functionality and end use properties in foods.
• Designing and formulating foods for improved human nutrition or for enhancement of human health (i.e., nutraceuticals, functional foods).
• Quality and safety parameters affecting development of new and improved food products.
• Developing new food products from process stream co-products.

• Live food plants and animals to improve food quality or functionality (i.e., breeding, feeding, cultural, or production management practices). (Use RPA 204 or 308)
• Development of foreign markets. (Use RPA 606)
• Quality maintenance during storing and marketing of food products. (Use RPA 503)
• Utilization of food processing wastes. (Use RPA 403)
• Nutrient composition of foods. (Use RPA 701)

Understanding and minimizing food quality losses during storage, distribution, and marketing can ehance the quantity and quality of foods delivered to consumers, keep food costs low, and enhance profitability for food producers and marketers.

Areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Chemical and biochemical changes after harvest/slaughter or during storage.
• Effective ways to reduce physiological deterioration and losses due to insects, spoilage microorganisms, rodents, and other pests.
• Effects and means of controlling temperature, humidity, and atmosphere in storage and transportation.
• Containerization/packaging or storage and handling methods to maintain optimum conditions for quality maintenance.
• Relationships among variables of handling and storage and loss in quality.

• Prevention, reduction, or elimination of pathogenic microorganisms, mycotoxins, and naturally occurring toxins in foods. (Use RPA 712)
• Characterization of quality parameters and their interactions for new and improved food products. (Use RPA 502)
• Quality maintenance of non-food agricultural and forest products. (Use RPA 512)

Guidelines are necessary to ensure the wholesomeness, nutritional value, taste, and appearance of commercially and home prepared foods. Methods for improved preparation and storage of food that reduce waste and assure quality of food are needed to increase consumer appeal.

Areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Factors affecting quality of food prepared at home or commercially.
• Improving methods of preparing, holding, and serving food, including automation and/or computerization.
• Development of methods to provide effective, efficient management in institutional and commercial food services.
• Product labeling to improve consumer information about product quality, preparation and storage, nutritional values, and unit cost of foods for home and commercial use.

• Safety of commercially and home prepared foods. (Use RPA 711 or 712)

Industrial uses have absorbed significant quantities of agricultural commodities in such consumer products as paper, textiles, fuels, adhesives, and paints. Animal byproducts have traditionally contributed significantly to our livestock economy as raw materials for the textile, leather, soap, feed, pharmaceutical, and other industries. Research on alternate, non-food uses for agricultural commodities and timber products may expand markets for these products, yielding new, improved, or less expensive consumer products and providing additional sources of income to producers, processors, and marketers. Improved wood utilization also provides greater use of low-quality timber and little-used species.

Areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Developing new non-food products from agricultural and forest resources.
• Developing ethanol and biofuels from agricultural materials.
• Identifying, characterizing, and measuring chemical, physical, and sensory properties of non-food products.
• Determining the relationships among the chemistry, structure, and quality parameters of raw materials and their functionality and end use properties in non-food products.
• Development or improvement of applications for non-food products to enhance utilization, including structural wood engineering, performance evaluations, and environmental impacts.
• Development or improvement of methods, techniques, or processes to produce or manufacture non-food products.
• Efficiency in converting agricultural and forest commodities to new and improved non-food products (i.e., management of energy, water, wastes).
• New non-food products from underutilized co-products from process streams.

• Improvements in products through production practices or breeding. (Use RPA 204 or 308)
• Evaluation and utilization of textiles and textile products. (Use RPA 804)
• Utilization of waste materials. (Use RPA 403)
• Development of foreign markets. (Use RPA 606)

This research focuses on maintenance of quality of feeds, seeds, and other non-food agricultural and forest products during handling, storage, and marketing.

Areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Chemical and biochemical changes after harvest/slaughter or during storage.
• Reducing physiological deterioration and losses due to insects, spoilage microorganisms, rodents, and other pests.
• Effects and means of controlling temperature, humidity, and atmosphere in storage and transportation.
• Containerization/packaging or storage and handling methods to maintain optimum conditions for quality maintenance.
• Relationship among variables of handling and storage and loss in quality.
• Seed processing technology, including seed separation, cleaning, storage, and treatment.

• Quality maintenance of food products. (Use RPA 503)