Mission:
The mission of the Research Unit is to enhance the healthfulness and marketability of foods, with emphasis on specialty crops such as legumes, fruits and vegetables, by developing new sustainable technologies to add value to these crops and their co-products. Both fundamental and applied multidisciplinary approaches are used to solve problems and develop new products that benefit the consumer, producer, economy and environment. Applications of new technologies to improve the safety of specialty crops are also under investigation. Environmentally friendly technologies that reduce energy consumption and water use are emphasized. The unit is also embarking on a new research program to reduce allergens in foods through processing. The unit consists of five CRIS projects all coded to NP306, CRIS 5325-41440-006-00D, Processing Technologies to Prevent Weight Gain and Obesity Related Metabolic Diseases; CRIS 5325-41000-063-00D, New Sustainable Processing Technologies to Produce Healthy, Value-Added Foods from Specialty Crops and Their Co-Products; CRIS 5325-41000-053-00D, Optimization of Nutritional, Functional, and Sensory Properties of Raw and Processed Legumes, Grains, and Specialty Crops; CRIS 5325-41430-011-00D, Improved Utilization of Ag. Products through Identification of Nitrogen-Containing Bioactive Components Important to Quality and Human Health; CRIS 5325-41000-055-00D, Reduction of Allergenicity through Food Processing.