ARS Food and Nutrition Research Briefs Issued

Technology that will allow better evaluation of pork tenderness and color stability in beef and pork is among the new nutrition and health findings noted in the latest issue of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Food and Nutrition Research Briefs (FNRB) and its Spanish-language edition (Informe de investigaciones de alimentos y nutrici•n).

View the English edition here.

The popular online newsletter reports discoveries from researchers at ARS laboratories nationwide.

Among other findings, the current issue reports that:

• Studies have found that an appreciable part of the flavonols in whole cranberries is left behind in cranberry pomace—the stems, skins, seeds, and pulp that are left over when the berries are pressed to make juice or canned products.
• ARS scientists have bred yellow potatoes with carotenoid levels that are two to three times higher than those of the popular Yukon Gold potato.
• Pairing conventional antifungal medicines with natural, edible compounds from plants such as thymol, extracted from thyme, can not only help control aflatoxtin-generating fungi, but also may enhance the healing of fungal infections in people.

FNRB is offered with color photos and illustrations on the web. By clicking the "subscribe" link on the newsletter's home page, readers can sign up for two e-mail options: They can receive the full text of the newsletter by e-mail, or simply an advisory that a new issue has been posted to the web.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief intramural scientific research agency.