ATHENS — Summer months in Ga yields a bounty of fresh new fruit and vegetables. In fact, Georgia is just one of the major producers of cantaloupes in the U.S., and Ga-grown watermelons and cantaloupes are the stars of summer season grocery merchants and farmers marketplaces.
Nonetheless, the shelf existence of these fruits is limited. Aside from the fresh new sector, there isn’t yet another outlet for watermelon and cantaloupe growers to sell their deliver. Now UGA researchers are stepping in to aid locate novel utilizes for the juicy orbs.
Foods squander and accessibility to nutritious food items is a growing issue all through the U.S., and the growth of new approaches of processing and price-included items is vital for the future balance of the agricultural market.
To assist Ga growers, researchers in the Section of Food items Science and Technologies at the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are conducting scientific studies to exam new solutions employing these fruits.
“The prolonged-time period aim of our investigate is to prolong the shelf everyday living of fruit juices though preserving purely natural stages of advantageous molecules and sensory quality,” discussed Lida Araghi, the doctoral applicant who is leading the juice examine.
This study examines the use of refrigeration and higher tension processing methodology to make the juice as clean as feasible. Utilizing higher tension rather of other traditional methods makes it possible for for the fruit to keep its wholesome profile.
The examine examines the use of refrigeration and higher-force processing to retain the juice’s nutrients and sustain freshness.
“A nonthermal technology like high-stress processing offers an substitute to conventional thermal processing to meet up with consumer calls for for hassle-free, superior-high quality, normal nutrition and minimally processed items,” Araghi stated.
By discovering a new way to course of action watermelons and cantaloupes, this investigate increases the number of markets for growers to market their make although offering a new way for people to get hold of nutritious food. This multiyear investigation research is a person of the numerous means CAES is carries on to aid Georgians reduce meals squander and create new healthful consumer merchandise to the current market.
For much more facts on research taking place at FST, stop by foodscience.caes.uga.edu/exploration.