Trio of Food Science Students Place First or Second in Rice and Cereals Research Contests

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — University of Arkansas graduate students Annagret Jannasch and Rebecca Bruce, who are conducting rice research in Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, recently finished first and second in a video contest. Ana Gonzalez won first place in a presentation category.

All three are food science doctoral students and competed in the Cereals and Grains Association virtual annual meeting student competition. Their work contributes to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research programs.

Jannasch and Gonzalez both work under the direction of Ya-Jane Wang, professor of carbohydrate chemistry. Bruce works under the guidance of Griffiths Atungulu, associate professor of food processing and post-harvest system engineering. Wang and Atungulu are members of the Bumpers College faculty and researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Division of Agriculture’s research arm.

Jannasch’s three-minute video presentation was “Limited-Water Parboiling: A Novel and Sustainable Method to Fortify Rice.” Bruce’s four-minute video was “Microwave Drying of Rice.”

Watch their videos here: https://bit.ly/AAES-FDSCcomp

Micronutrient deficiency disorders are common in predominantly rice-consuming countries, especially South Asia. Fortifying rice through parboiling has been shown to increase the retention rate of nutrients while maintaining acceptable sensory characteristics. Still, the conventional soaking step in the process generates large amounts of nutrient-rich wastewater. Without treatment, the wastewater can lead to nutrient overload in soil. Jannasch developed and evaluated a limited-water soaking method to fortify rice with minerals and vitamins.

“The results showed that the limited-water soaking method reduced the amount of effluent by 89 percent and the amount of total solids in wastewater by up to 85 percent, on average, while the uptake of the nutrients was comparable or only slightly lower than the conventional excess-water soaking method,” said Wang. “Therefore, the limited-water soaking method can reduce the cost of fortification and wastewater treatment without affecting rice quality attributes.”

Bruce’s study is part of a USDA-NIFA funded Small Business Innovation Research project with the scope of engineering alternative energy-efficient rice drying systems.

“Rebecca is developing a novel, energy-efficient, material state-gradient controlled, single-pass, 915 MHz microwave-assisted drying technology for freshly-harvested and parboiled rice to improve energy use, recovery of head rice, and preserve overall rice quality,” said Atungulu. “The conventional heated-air rice drying process requires elaborate drying infrastructure and space footprint, uses fossil fuel, which significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and cannot complete drying parboiled or freshly-harvested, non-parboiled rice to safe storage moisture content in a single pass. The more the drying passes and tempering stages used, the larger the drying energy input and longer the drying duration within the constraints of limited rice drying capacity and typical short rice-harvesting ‘window.’ Rebecca’s research is critical to identify alternative energy-efficient drying technology that can help recover higher head rice yields and preserve rice quality.”

Gonzalez won the Best Student Research Presentation Award sponsored by Megazyme Ltd. in the Carbohydrates Division. Her research is “Surface Removal Enhanced the Formation of a Porous Structure in Potato Starch.”

Porous starches attract attention from both food and pharmaceutical industries because their adsorption ability can protect bioactive components sensitive to processing and storage conditions. Porous starches are commercially prepared by digestion of cereal starches with amylases, but not potato starch. The limited amylolytic digestion of potato starch is attributed to its absence of surface pores, granules and crystalline structure. Gonzalez’s study investigated the impact of granule surface on potato starch susceptibility to amylases. After the combination of surface removal and digestion by amylases, Gonzales observed a more defined porous structure in potato starch, which may enhance the degree of binding and hydrolytic activity amylases.

The Cereals & Grains Association Cereals & Grains Association is a global, nonprofit association of nearly 2,000 scientists and food industry professionals working to advance the understanding and knowledge of cereal grain science and its product development applications through research, leadership, education, superior technical service, and advocacy. Its goal is to be the global authority in cereal grain science and technology.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture Research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station  website. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and Instagram at ArkAgResearch.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Media Contact

Fred Miller

U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 575-5647 | fmiller@uark.edu