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Posted June 22, 1999

UMaine Student Has One of Top Food Science Papers in U.S.

A research paper by Hannah Osborn, a Senior in the University of Maine Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, has been accepted by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) as one of the five top undergraduate projects in the country. Her work will benefit consumers and food processors by documenting the effects of fortifying cereals with antioxidants known as phenolics.

Osborn will give a presentation at the IFT national meeting in Chicago July 27. She is eligible for cash prizes which are awarded by the organization for the top three papers.

She is from Big Piney, Wyoming and was attracted to UMaine because the university has one of the few IFT-certified food science programs in New England. She plans to graduate in December and enroll in a Ph.D. program.

Her paper is titled “Effect of Phenolic Compounds on Dietary Fiber in Extruded Oats.” It reports the results of her laboratory studies of oat cereals fortified with additions of naturally occurring phenolic compounds. She is concerned with interactions between phenolics and soluble and insoluble dietary fiber compounds such as lignins, starches and sugars.

Food industry interest in phenolics stems from the ability of those compounds to act as antioxidants in the body and retard the oxidation of fats. Antioxidants include a wide range of compounds, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, which can protect health by removing free radicals from the body. Free radicals play a role in cancer and heart disease.

Food manufacturers cannot currently add phenolics to their products, although consumers can purchase some so-called “functional foods” which are high in phenolics.

Working with Mary Ellen Camire, associate professor of food science, Osborn added five different phenolic compounds to extruded oat cereals and then statistically analyzed changes in dietary fiber. She found that four of the five phenolic compounds led to no significant change in the amount of fiber. However, with one type of phenolic, a compound called catechin, the amount of insoluble lignin increased from 1% in an unextruded sample to 10% in an extruded sample.

“The data from this study indicate that food manufacturers can safely add most phenolic compounds or phenolic-rich botanical materials to their extruded foods to reduce lipid oxidation, and therefore improve the health benefits of their product, without altering dietary fiber composition,” says Osborn in her paper.

Osborn, who would like to conduct research in the food industry, credits her interest in food science to nine years she spent in 4-H clubs in her hometown. “I did a lot of cooking in 4-H, but I also had a lot of interest in chemistry,” she says.

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