Andrew S. Ross

An emerging paradigm in public health focuses on enhancing nutrition in existing food staples to reduce chronic disease at the population scale, rather than relying on individuals to change their behavior. This paradigm leverages plant and animal breeding, production practices, and processing to enhance nutrition, whereby foods consumed by millions can be improved at low incremental cost. This article supports and operationalizes this paradigm, illustrating the potential to improve diets through a case study that increases the arabinoxylan fiber content of commodity wheat through classical plant breeding (a non-GMO technology). The approach described in this article proposes to link agricultural and food science with health system implementation to deliver equitable access, improved healthcare outcomes and cost savings, and improved community health. Based on published dose–response relationships, comparative risk modeling indicates that modest fiber increases achieved by the commodity wheat breeding led to reduced population-level risks of 1–3% for cardiovascular disease, 3–4.5% for type 2 diabetes, and 1–3.5% for colorectal cancer, translating into substantial healthcare cost savings when implemented at a national scale. This article outlines possible low-risk pathways for implementing these nutrition increases at the population scale through commodity supply chains and community-level nutrition improvement efforts and evaluates the ranges of potential population-level impacts.

Background and Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate a series of Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) methods for their ability to produce results that were predictive of hand folded Japanese sponge cake (JSC) quality. Two solvents (water and 50% [w/w] aqueous sucrose) and two temperature profiles (Standard 1 [STD 1] and an internal cake temperature profile) were selected to run across a set of flour samples from two crop years. The RVA results were previously analyzed (and published) for their ability to produce results that were predictive of mechanically folded JSC. Due to the continued use of the hand fold method, there was a need to understand how these RVA methods produced results that were predictive of hand folded JSC quality. Hand folded JSC is prepared by manually folding the flour into the egg sugar mixture using a wooden paddle, while the mechanical folding method utilizes a KitchenAid with attached paddle.Findings: Water, 5% lactic acid, 5% sodium carbonate, and 50% sucrose SRC solvents showed no significant correlations with JSC quality. RVA viscosity results from both profiles using water were generally not significantly correlated with JSC quality while the sucrose solvent batter pasting viscosity (BPV) was significantly correlated. RVA BPV run with the internal cake temperature profile using the sucrose solvent showed significant correlations with hand folded JSC volume (r = 0.76, p ≤ 0.05), firmness (r = −0.89, p ≤ 0.01), and overall score (r = 0.79, p ≤ 0.01).Conclusions: The RVA BPV results showed that a 50% (w/w) sucrose solvent, when compared to water, could more accurately be used to predict and screen for JSC quality outcomes. The internal cake temperature profile BPV was better correlated with hand folded JSC quality than the STD 1 profile when using sucrose solvent.Significance and Novelty: This research identified that the RVA BPV employing the internal cake temperature profile, and a 50% sucrose solvent could estimate hand folded JSC quality using less flour and taking less time than a bake test.

Background and Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate a series of Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) methods for their ability to produce results that were predictive of Japanese sponge cake (JSC) quality. Two solvents (water and 50% [w/w] sucrose in water) and two temperature profiles [Standard 1 (STD 1) and an internal cake temperature profile] were selected to run across a diverse set of flour samples from two crop years that possessed variable bake performance. The results were analyzed for predictive outcomes for JSC prepared using a mechanical fold method.Findings: The solvent retention capacity (SRC) results did not show any significant trends with JSC quality. The RVA results from both profiles using water as the solvent did not show a significant correlation with JSC quality while the 50% (w/w) sucrose solvent was significantly correlated (p ≤ .01). The STD 1 and internal cake temperature profile batter pasting viscosity (BPV) using the sucrose solvent showed significant (p ≤ .01) correlations with mechanical folded JSC volume (r = .97), firmness (r = −.88), and overall score (r = .85).Conclusions: The RVA BPV results showed that a 50% sucrose solvent could more accurately be used to predict and screen for JSC quality outcomes. Both RVA profiles could be used with a sucrose solvent to predict JSC quality. JSC volume and overall score showed significant positive correlations with BPV while firmness had a significant negative correlation.Significance and Novelty: This research identified two RVA profiles that when paired with a 50% (w/w) sucrose solvent could be used to screen for JSC quality using less flour and taking less time than a bake test. This test could potentially assist breeders and millers in quicky screening flours for efficient decision making. This is the first time an RVA temperature profile that mimics the internal rise in temperature for a JSC during baking has been used to predict JSC quality. In addition, the STD 1 profile using the 50% (w/w) sucrose solvent has not been previously used to predict JSC quality.

This study aimed to understand how genetics and environment influence organic winter naked barley composition and functionality, and to identify traits that might effectively categorize basic physicochemical functionality of food barley. Across three years, two locations, and 15 genotypes, genotype significantly influenced all 10 food-related traits and was the dominant influence for three. Location significantly influenced eight traits and was dominant for three. Year significantly influenced all traits but was dominant only for one. Of the interactions location * year was the most influential and was the dominant effect for two traits. For all interaction terms where genotype was a component, the effect sizes were either small or non-significant suggesting that even with low leverage traits there is the potential for genetic gain by observing trait rankings across environments. Principal component analysis identified six traits that could serve to categorize basic physicochemical functionality of food barley. These were grain protein content, beta-glucan content, flour-water batter flow, water solvent retention capacity, time to peak viscosity of cooked flour, and hardness of cooked intact grains.

Background and objectives: One hard wheat and one semi‐hard wheat were milled on commercial, laboratory, and household‐scale flour mills with rotating elements ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 m in diameter and speeds ranging from 65 to 40,000 rpm. The aim of the study was to assess and compare the quality of the flour from each of mills.Findings: Pasting viscosities, Farinograph development time and stability, and loaf volumes (LVOL) were all markedly influenced by whole‐wheat flour particle size, which differed markedly between mills. LVOLs were acceptable using the flours produced by all the mills. Best flour quality came from the three mills that produced the finest whole‐wheat flour. Of these, the superior flour came from the 1.0‐m‐diameter Osttiroler stone mill. This mill produced whole‐wheat flours with more optimal levels of starch damage and higher water absorption than did the smaller mills. There was no evidence of degradation of gluten functionality even at a flour temperature of 51°C.Conclusions: The mill used affected almost all flour quality traits. However, the characteristics of the wheat applied to the mill were the dominant influence on flour functionality. Starch damage may better indicate milling severity than the heat generated during the milling process.Significance and novelty: This is the only study, that we know of, on the comparative performance of household‐scale flour mills. The study also presents an alternative way of visualizing particle size distributions of flours.

Barley flakes contain higher levels of soluble fiber than oatmeal and can be prepared in a similar manner, giving barley greater satiating and disease reduction potential than oatmeal. However, barley is not commonly consumed as a breakfast cereal, and it is unknown if consumers would accept barley as an oatmeal substitute or how much satiating potential barley offers versus oatmeal. To examine these questions, subjects were enrolled in a crossover study, consuming two meals at least one week apart that were identical except for being served either barley or oatmeal as a breakfast cereal. Subjects came in during breakfast hours after an overnight fast and rated the sensory characteristics of the cereals, both plain and with preferred toppings added. Subjects rated satiety on a visual analog scale before and after consuming the cereal and every half hour during the 4 hr fast that followed and then recorded their next meal. We found no evidence of a difference in preference for sensory characteristics between the barley and oatmeal cereals. Subjects consumed 13% more cereal and toppings during the oatmeal consumption visits compared to barley. Satiety measurements displayed minimal differences at baseline and showed no difference over the 4 hr postconsumption fast. However, approximately 90 more calories were consumed during the postfast meal after consumption of oatmeal than after consumption of barley.

Falling number (FN) values below 300 sec in the apparent absence of preharvest sprouting are periodically observed in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (USPNW). Wheat in the USPNW is predominantly soft‐grained and often grown under conditions conducive to low grain protein concentration (GPC). Our hypothesis is that low GPC per se could be responsible for some low FN results and not elevated α‐amylase from either sprouting or late‐maturity amylase. The relationship between FN and GPC was investigated using grain from the 2011 wheat harvest. Soft white winter wheat samples from six locations in Oregon were tested in duplicate. Across the entire sample set, FN and GPC were positively correlated (r = 0.65, P ≤ 0.001). When putatively sprouted samples (FN < 280 sec) were removed from the analysis, the correlation was still apparent (r = 0.69, P ≤ 0.001). Hardness index was also correlated with FN (r = 0.45, P ≤ 0.001). Our preliminary conclusion is that GPC can be a substantial modulator of FN in the putative absence of elevated amylase in soft white winter wheat grown in the USPNW.