Food Chemistry Tip Sheet (from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry)

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Mon., Nov. 17

For further information, contact:
Jim Bohning, 202/872-6041
[email protected]

FOOD CHEMISTRY TIP SHEET

The following research articles will appear in the November issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a monthly peer-reviewed journal published by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF SUGAR FOUND IN GARLIC INCLUDE LOWER CHOLESTEROL AND REDUCED TOOTH DECAY

Up to 25 percent of the weight of fresh garlic is a mixture of different sugars that can be obtained as an odorless crystalline material similar to those isolated from artichoke and chicory. This "garlic sugar" is a soluble dietary fiber that is mildly sweet and has several health benefits, ranging from lowering cholesterol to preventing tooth decay -- offering a wide range of possible uses in foods. Garlic sugar may also partially account for the health protection long associated with the consumption of whole garlic. Other potential health benefits of garlic sugar include improved glucose tolerance for diabetic patients and increased absorption of minerals such as calcium. Garlic sugar is also a unique growth promoter of beneficial intestinal bacteria that can sabotage the growth of and eliminate harmful bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli and carcinogens from the colon.

USING CHEMISTRY TO MAKE CULTIVATED SHRIMP TASTE WILD

Sensory testing has shown that consumers prefer the flavor of wild shrimp to that of their cultivated cousins, even though they sometimes rate the cultivated shrimp higher for texture or sweetness. The lack of a fresh seafood flavor has been noticed in a number of fisheries worldwide. Now a major Australian survey of nine species of wild-harvested shrimp and two species of pond-cultivated shrimp has shown that wild shrimp contain up to 200 times more of some chemicals called bromophenols than their pond- raised counterparts, even within the same species of shrimp. When the diets of commercial shrimp are compared to the diets of wild shrimp, they are found to have a much lower bromophenol content. It therefore appears desirable to increase the bromophenol content of commercial shrimp feed, but initial attempts at simply adding bromophenols to the feed were unsuccessful. Currently under investigation are more sophisticated methods of incorporating bromophenols into the fee! d of aquacultured shrimp. When accomplished, this would assure that the taste of the farmed species would be similar to the marine animals.

For a copy of the full paper, contact the ACS News Service at 202/872-4451, 202/872-4370 (fax), [email protected] (e-mail)

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