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thePeorian.com
Low-fat yogurt is an increas-
ingly popular dairy food. Dr.
Mukti Singh, research food
technologist at NCAUR, is ex-
perimenting with adding small
amounts of beta-glucan, a fiber-
rich component of oats that has
been shown to lower serum-cho-
lesterol and contribute to heart
health. As little as one-quarter
teaspoon can boost the nutrition-
al value of low-fat yogurt without
noticeably affecting the taste or
texture.
Singh’s research is filling in
some of the gaps in the knowl-
edge of how fiber may affect the
yogurt-mix qualities that are
important to both consumers and
producers.
“
It’s important to try things in
research; even those things that
you think may not work because
sometimes, they do work. I like
the quote ‘Aerodynamically, the
bumblebee shouldn’t be able to
fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t
know that, so it goes on flying
anyway.’“
Dr. Singh and her husband live
in Dunlap.
Camelina is an emerging crop
being developed mostly as a
source of oil for making biodiesel
fuel. New uses are needed for the
remaining seed meal to make the
crop successful.
The seed meals are sources of
phytochemicals, the chemical
compounds occurring natu-
rally in plants. Dr. Mark Berhow,
research chemist at NCAUR, is
exploring whether the phyto-
chemicals in camelina have the
potential to be beneficial to hu-
man health. Being able to obtain
high value phytochemicals as an
additional revenue stream from
biofuel production is a significant
advantage in making production
process affordable.
“
During my undergraduate
studies as a pre-med major, I took
a series of biology classes taught
by a botanist. He inspired me
to learn more about plants, and
eventually I went on to gradu-
ate school specializing in plant
chemistry and biochemistry. It’s
incredibly satisfying to extract,
purify, and tease out information
to identify a plant compound –
especially something new.”
Dr. Berhow lives with his wife
in Peoria.
Hydrogenated oils are great
for frying food, but not very
desirable because of the trans
fatty acids they contain. Unfor-
tunately, commodity oils such as
soybean, sunflower and corn that
are processed without hydroge-
nation are not stable enough for
frying oils, nor can they function
as margarines or shortenings.
The Future
Dr. George Inglett, research chemist at NCAUR, is one of the foremost
experts in food science and technology in the world.
Continued on page 44
