December 19, 2024

More Efficient Chicken Production, Functional Teas, and More

News and trends about the food system.

Carolyn Schierhorn

Food Technology Magazine

Fowl efficiency

Imagine a chicken that drinks less and eats less but yields as much or more meat. What sounds like a poultry producer’s pipe dream might soon become a reality, according to research from the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, funded by a $9.95 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). According to NIFA, a line of chickens bred by Sara Orlowski-Workman, an associate professor of poultry science with the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, “could save growers thousands of gallons of water and thousands of pounds of food each month without sacrificing poultry health.”

From the time they were hatched until one month of age, this fifth generation of highly efficient broilers consumed 1.3 pounds less water and approximately 5.7 ounces less feed than standard broilers, which equates to a 32 point improvement in water conversion and a six-point improvement in feed conversion. In other words, a grower with 50,000 water-efficient chickens could save 7,800 gallons of water and 17,800 pounds of feed in that first month, says NIFA.

The impetus for this research is the need for water conservation in agriculture at a time when climate change–related rising temperatures and extreme-heat weather events are causing chickens added heat stress. Published in Physiological Reports, the American Physiological Society’s scientific journal, the study is also applicable to other poultry, including turkeys, quails, and ducks, say the researchers.

The brain’s hypothalamus regulates thirst. The research team found that when exposed to heat stress, the hypothalamus of water-efficient chickens differed from that of standard chickens. The study also indicates that there may be distinct molecular signatures for water efficiency and heat tolerance in chickens.

What’s next for the researchers? “With the selected lines that we have, our next steps are to truly understand the impact of selection for water efficiency on other traits such as egg production, gut health, and overall health of the commercial bird,” Orlowski-Workman told Food Technology.

A tongue for the ages

As the population ages, demand is rising for soft, nutritious, delicious food that can be more easily and enjoyably consumed by elderly individuals with age-related sarcopenia, missing teeth, or problems with salivation or swallowing. Researchers at Paris-based Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation, et l'Environnement (INRAE) and the Fujita Health University in Japan have developed an artificial mouth featuring a silicon tongue that contracts using compressed air and mimics the elasticity, wettability, roughness, and movement of an actual human tongue.

Research published in Scientific Reports indicates that this biomimetic in vitro technology will advance food scientists’ understanding of the oral processing of soft foods, facilitating the development of formulations tailored to specific populations. The device was tested with three commercially available soft foods—a chocolate mousse, a chocolate fondant, and a cream dessert. “The food [boluses] obtained with the artificial mouth were very similar to the in vivo data collected on healthy participants, in terms of firmness, adhesive and cohesive properties, and viscosity,” reports INRAE.

Functional teas please consumers

Consumers favor functional tea drinks over other functional beverages, according to a 2024 consumer survey conducted by Nextin Research, the research arm of marketing strategy firm MarketPlace. Of the 770 U.S. adult supplement consumers surveyed on their better-for-you beverage choices, a plurality (29%) said that they prefer tea drinks compared with the other 14 options listed. Functional sports drinks took second place, with 26% of respondents identifying them as their favorite healthful beverage. In contrast, 15% of consumers identified functional soda as their top choice.

“Brands should keep an eye on bottled teas,” Jon Copeland, research manager for MarketPlace, told Food Technology. “Green tea is already among the top botanicals taken as a supplement, and tea drinks are a preferred format for functional beverages. Teas have a light body and tannins that make them naturally refreshing and complex. They pair nicely with a wide range of citrus and fruit flavors. As tea drinks are infused with additional functional benefits, we expect these drinks to increasingly rival shakes, smoothies, and enhanced waters.”

According to Nextin, the top three flavors preferred for better-for-you beverages (not teas specifically) are chocolate (33% of respondents), vanilla (32%), and orange (28%).

Sorghum-based scaffolding for lab-grown pork

According to a study published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers from China and Singapore have developed a new type of plant-based scaffolding for lab-grown pork: kafirin proteins isolated from red sorghum grain.

Cultured meat relies on animal cells grown in a lab on porous protein scaffolds.

Previously, soy protein, wheat gluten, and pea protein have been used predominantly for this scaffolding. But these water-soluble plant proteins require an additional treatment step and can be problematic for people with allergies or gluten intolerance. Kafirin is a gluten-free and major-allergen-free alternative for plant protein scaffolding that is also water-insoluble.

As a Science Daily article explains, the research team extracted kafirin from red sorghum flour. Then they constructed porous three-dimensional scaffolding by placing sugar cubes in the kafirin solution.

“The proteins stuck to the sugar crystals, which were then dissolved using water, leaving behind a cube-shaped support structure,” the article states.

To make the lab-grown pork, the research team introduced pork stem cells to the scaffolding. Twelve days later, the researchers observed that the pork stem cells had already differentiated into pork muscle and fat cells.

Growing in the dark

Photosynthesis is a highly inefficient process, given that barely 1% of the light energy a plant absorbs is converted into useful chemical energy, notes a perspective article published in October in Joule. The authors, who are bioengineers, propose a new method of growing crops sustainably called electro-agriculture, in which photosynthesis is replaced with a solar-powered chemical reaction: the electrochemical transformation of CO₂ into reduced-carbon compounds (namely acetate) “that plants are genetically engineered to ‘eat.’”

Still in the research and development phase, electro-agriculture would allow crops to be grown in the dark within multistory buildings, which, if the process were widely adopted, could potentially reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture by 88%, the researchers contend. More importantly, electro-agriculture uses much less energy than typical vertical farming, which relies on LED lighting and climate-controlled systems to create appropriate growing conditions.

To genetically engineer acetate-eating plants, the researchers are focusing on reactivating a metabolic pathway that allows germinating plants to break down food stored in their seeds. This metabolic pathway, which is ordinarily switched off in adult plants, would enable plants to use acetate rather than photosynthesis as a source of energy and carbon.

Currently growing lettuce and tomatoes using electro-agriculture, the researchers plan to grow sweet potatoes and grain crops in the near future. So far, they have developed plants that use both acetate and photosynthesis for their energy needs but are confident of ultimately being able to engineer plants that rely solely on acetate and, thus, do not require any light.

PFAS find far-flung fish

Worrisome levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been found in fish far from sources of contamination, according to a study by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. These “forever chemicals” have been linked to adverse health effects such as kidney and liver disease, altered immune and thyroid function, lipid and insulin dysregulation, cancer, and poor reproductive and developmental outcomes.

“This study underscores the urgent need for more comprehensive monitoring of PFAS in aquatic ecosystems, particularly in regions where freshwater fishing is an important food source for recreational and subsistence fishers,” said Elsie Sunderland, a professor of environmental chemistry and earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, in a news release. “The public health risks posed by PFAS extend beyond immediate contamination sites and can affect communities living far from known sources. To protect these communities, it is crucial to measure PFAS in fish at sites that are hydrologically connected to known contamination sources and to develop consumption advisories.”

A family of thousands of synthetic chemicals, PFAS are used in a wide range of household and industrial products for their heat-resistant, nonstick, and water-resistant properties. One major application is firefighting foam. Military bases are known for being significant sources of PFAS contamination because of their extensive use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in firefighting training exercises.

The research team examined fish and shellfish species collected from rivers, ponds, and bays on Cape Cod, Mass. They found “alarmingly high” levels of PFAS in fish tissue as far as 8 kilometers “downgradient” from a military base known to be a heavy user of AFFF for fire extinguishment.

Carb cravings’ origins

Researchers at the University of Buffalo and The Jackson Laboratory have discovered that the duplication of the human salivary amylase gene (AMY1)—which initiates the process of breaking down the complex carbohydrate starch in the mouth—may have occurred more than 800,000 years ago, long before the development of farming.

Published in Science, the study points out that Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as humans, had multiple copies of AMY1, which indicates that early duplication of this salivary gene paved the way for the substantial genetic variation in how humans digest starch.

Remembering Daniel Farkas

IFT Fellow and Nicolas Appert Award winner Daniel Farkas, an Oregon State University professor emeritus, passed away on Oct. 18, 2024, at the age of 91. Dr. Farkas was one of the founding members of the IFT Nonthermal Processing Division and served as one of the early division chairs.

His distinguished career included roles as research leader of the Process Development Group at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Western Regional Research Center, chair of the Department of Food Science at the University of Delaware, and vice president of process research and development at the Campbell Soup Co. His research interests included the application of high pressure to food preservation, food preservation by ionizing radiation, and the development of novel equipment for heat sterilization and flash dehydration of foods.ft