The goal of my research is to investigate the relationships between cereal science and technology and human health. My research, in collaboration with nutrition, health and medical professionals, and through partnerships with related industries, will provide fundamental understanding of cereal ingredients and products and their nutritional and health benefits, facilitate development of new processing technologies and products, and ultimately offer solutions to critical health issues.

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RECENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES [Top]
My recent research activities in the food science field primarily deal with physiochemical properties of and heat and mass transfer in different systems (grains, baked, protein, dairy, juice) during different processes (drying, soaking/steeping, baking, heating, fermentation, freezing, storage). Listed below are some research programs in which I have been involved over the years:

• ozone-aided corn steeping process
• structure-function relationships of highly refined cellulose
• functional polysaccharides from lilies
• nuclear magnetic resonance techniques in cereal chemistry research
• ozone treatment for barley malting
• staling of bread
• study of caking in powered foods
• firming of high protein bars, caramel candies
• spectrum analysis of mixing power curves for neural network prediction of dough rheological properties
• non-destructive analysis of sweet corn maturity using NMR
• effect of storage on dry bean soaking
• glass transition in food ingredients and food products 13) estimation of Fusarium scab in wheat using machine vision and a neural network
• temperature mapping in ohmic heating
• inactivation of E. coli O157: H7 in milk using a non-thermal plasma system
• heat and mass transfer in cheese block during cooling
• state of water in set yogurt fermentation
• water distribution in corn kernel during soaking
• water distribution in corn kernel and soybeans during drying
• use of highly refined cellulose to restrict water migration between pizza crust and toppings
• water and fat distribution in bread-cheese bi-layer models

In addition to collaborating with researchers at the University, I had many good experiences in working with researchers in the private sector, for example, The Pillsbury (later purchased by General Mills), General Mills, Cargills, Rahr Malting, Bush Brothers, Land-O-Lake, Lloyd's Barbeque Co, etc. From these collaborations I leaned to appreciate the industry needs for practical problem solving capabilities and at the same time I felt that my research was inspired and my basic knowledge and skills found a place where they can be utilized.

FUTURE RESEARCH INTERESTS [Top]
My research programs will build on my expertise and existing programs, and address the current and emerging issues faced by the industry and consumers. While the four areas described below will be my main interests, my research can be further expanded through collaborations with other faculty members in this and other departments. I believe that I have the technical interfaces necessary for effective and productive collaborations with faculty in the fields of physical and chemical properties, nutrition, health, microbiology, engineering, biology, and grain production.

My first research area will be the study of the structure-function relationships in cereal foods. The structure and functionalities of macromolecules such as starch, other polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and dietary fibers in cereals are greatly affected by their origins, processing conditions, presence of water and small molecules (both are plasticizers), etc, and are very important to the processibility, quality, nutrition, and shelf-life stability of cereal foods. Advanced laboratory techniques will be employed to study the relationships at the molecular level. The understanding of these relationships will help develop better processes, higher quality and nutritional value products with greater shelf stability.

The second area of my research is to explore the nutrition and health benefits of components and compounds in grains. Research has demonstrated enormous health benefits of whole grain foods. My research would look further into the roles of individual components and compounds in grains, e.g., fibers, vitamins and phytochemicals in the bran, resistant starch in the endosperm, and antioxidants, vitamins, unsaturated lipids in the germ. Specific research subjects may include grain screening, development of extraction processes, study of functionality of the extracted components and compounds, study of the relationships between grain products and human or animal systems, human and clinical trials, etc. One particularly interesting subject is resistant starch. One of the critical health issues our nation is facing is obesity, which has been linked to heart disease and diabetes. Resistant starch (non-digestible starch) is thought to be one of the most promising ingredients in health-promoting diets. Some grains contain more resistant starch than others (genetic research may help increased the resistant starch yield of some grains); some forms of resistant starch are more resistant to digestion than others; these differences are inherent properties of starch as well as caused by treatments and interactions with other compounds. Food processes can decrease resistant starch but under appropriate conditions can also increase resistant starch. It would be interesting to investigate the formation of resistant starch from different starch-rich raw materials under different processing regimes including extrusion, baking, and steam cooking, and to characterize the health benefits of the resistant starch produced.

The third area I would like to get into is extrusion process. The department has a twin-screw extruder (provided by General Mills) with which a lot of research of great interest to the industry can be done. My research in this area is aimed at understanding the operating characteristics of extrusion of cereals and their relations to the quality and nutritional values of cereal foods. Extrudate expansion during extrusion is a complex phenomenon, which is a consequence of a number of events such as biopolymer transformation, phase transitions, nucleation, extrude swell, bubble growth and collapse. Although extrusion has been studied extensively in the last two decades, the mechanisms involved in the expansion are still not well understood. My study will be focused on the effects of material and operational parameters, time-temperature-share history and bubble growth and collapse on expansion. Microwave expansion is another interesting subject that needs more studies and has the potential for more publications.

The forth area is process monitoring and modeling. This research is important to process development, improvement and optimization, and will certainly involve industrial interactions. My experience in heat and mass transfer experiments and modeling, mapping of temperature, moisture and fat using non-destructive and non-invasive MRI techniques will allow me to study many grain processes such as soaking/steeping/tempering, heating, extrusion, baking, drying, and storage (staling), and provide timely information to the food industry.

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