Cheesemaking goes high-tech 

For those in the dairy business, "the power of cheese" lies in the product's profitability. But much of cheese production is still done the old-fashioned--and not very cost-effective--way.

Now, food scientists Luis Rodriguez-Saona and Jim Harper have harnessed the power of science and technology to improve the quality of cheese and the efficiency of the cheese-making process.

The technique they've developed, using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, has been patented, and they've shown it is valuable not only for the cheese industry, but also for wider uses, such as quick measurement of phytochemicals in potatoes, tomatoes, and other plant-based foods, and rapid identification of food-borne pathogens.

With cheese, though, "the main objective is to predict flavor quality," Rodriguez- Saona said. "But we're also very interested in learning the chemical changes that take place during ripening." FTIR more than fills the bill. The technology is important to Ohio, which is first in the nation in Swiss cheese production and ranks in the top 10 for production of all cheese (excluding cottage cheese).

Cheeses get their flavor from a complex matrix of compounds that develop during ripening. Still today, most cheese is graded by sensory panels of specially trained people who smell and taste the product.

"There have been many attempts to use technology to grade cheese," he said. But those methods were costly, time-consuming, and required a substantial amount of skill and laboratory equipment. Using this FTIR technique is quick, and so simple that almost anyone could do it, Rodriguez-Saona said.

The technique is based on the principle that different chemical compounds respond differently when exposed to infrared light. These responses produce a fingerprint spectrum showing the sample's overall chemical composition, including protein, fat, sugars, and moisture content and the type and amount of organic, amino, and fatty acids, all of which affect cheese flavor and texture. Even better: The technology can predict the final product's quality early in the ripening process, which, depending on the cheese, can last for weeks to years.

"We found that most of the changes during cheddar cheese ripening occur between the first 15 to 30 days." Companies can use FTIR during the early stages of ripening to predict which cheeses will end up as high quality, and which will likely have to be diverted to processed cheese products.

"Manufacturers may even be able to take corrective steps to improve the final product," Rodriguez-Saona said. "At the very least, they will be better able to manage their inventory." Much of the research has been made possible by funding from Ohio's cheese industry, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and the Midwest Advanced Food Manufacturing Alliance (MAFMA). For more information on FTIR and its applications, contact Rodriguez- Saona at rodriguez-saona.1@osu.edu or (614) 292-3339. -- Martha Filipic

What drives people to take risks? The answer may lie with genetics 

Playing the stock market, starting a business, changing jobs, returning to school--it's not uncommon to take economic risks for business success or personal satisfaction. But what drives some people to take chances, while others are content to stay the course? Ohio State University economists are using biology to increase the understanding of taking financial risks.

Researchers with the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, and Ohio State's College of Pharmacy, along with colleagues at the University of Missouri and Central Methodist University, are searching for a genetic link to risk behavior. "The economic theory concerning risk behavior is rather underdeveloped. There is the economic notion that much of the risks we take are related to income, experience, knowing the difference between bad outcomes and good outcomes, as well as risk-taking related to age, gender, and even height," said Brian Roe, an Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center behavioral economist. "But what does it all mean? We are trying to go deeper and are looking at the biological mechanisms that distinguish between those who are willing to bear risk and those who aren't."

Researchers are currently studying dopamine levels and the genetic variations that may influence the way dopamine moves in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that, among other things, drives behavior, cognition, motivation, and reward.

"There is a process for receiving dopamine, breaking it down, and transporting it, all potentially driven by genetic variations," said Roe. "What we would like to find is something like this: a genetic variation is tied to say, a certain dopamine receptor that drives differences in the risk behavior of young people, and over time that receptor tends to burn out. We could then make the correlation between a specific biophysical process and why older people tend to take fewer risks." The research is currently being funded through an OARDC SEEDS grant. -- Candace Pollock

BioHio Research Park: An economic engine takes shape 

At a time of great economic challenges and opportunities for Ohio, OARDC is working with government and business leaders to capture and grow the enormous potential of the agricultural biosciences and transform it into new business ventures and jobs.

A unique effort in the Buckeye State, the BioHio Research Park-- a business and technology center aimed at moving ideas and products from the laboratory to the marketplace in areas such as food safety, renewable energy and materials, and environmental remediation--is beginning to take shape on OARDC's Wooster campus.

"BioHio will serve as a catalyst for local and regional development, supporting the creation of an agbiosciences industry cluster in northeast Ohio and propelling an economic shift appropriate to the new century," said Jim Currie, program director for Ohio State's Food and Agricultural Technology Commercialization and Economic Development Program (ATECH). "It will serve as a link to university research, providing space and support for private companies in the agbiosciences arena in addition to public and private laboratories and programs that complement and support this activity."

Thanks to a $3.4 million grant from the Ohio Department of Development's Job Ready Sites program to the city of Wooster, infrastructure improvements--new water, sewer, gas, and electric--are currently being made on the park's main 95-acre site along Secrest Road. This site will eventually offer 540,000 square feet of building space, accommodating offices, labs, greenhouses, and technology development.

Additionally, renovation of Pounden Hall on the OARDC campus is expected to begin in April 2009. Funded by a $744,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Pounden Technology Development Center will provide flexible technology space for labs, offices, and prototype development for start-up firms and existing companies.

BioHio Research Park has also welcomed its first tenant. Clevelandbased Schmack BioEnergy--which develops biogas plants and manages anaerobic digestion of Akron's municipal solid waste--is renting space from OARDC to build lab, demonstration, and testing facilities. The company is collaborating with OARDC's nationally recognized compost experts to optimize new biomass conversion technologies. -- Mauricio Espinoza

Packed with plants and now more people, Secrest turns 100

Secrest Arboretum celebrated its 100th birthday last summer. A big green part of OARDC's Wooster campus, the 125-acre facility houses some 3,000 different kinds of trees, shrubs, and other plants. It supports long-term research on extensive collections: shade trees, crabapples, and rhododendrons among them. And lately it has ramped up its efforts to help more people enjoy the place. Walkers and runners, bicyclists and birdwatchers, children, their parents and grandparents, and others now join with the scientists and gardeners who go there.

"Their benefit is not the plants," Arboretum Program Director Ken Cochran said of the new users. "Their benefit is the well-being in their own lives from interacting with the natural world." He cites Richard Louv's 2005 national bestseller Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder as inspiration. "I took that book seriously," Cochran said. "Children raised in nature are more creative, interactive, and use their minds more."

Among the arboretum's new peoplefriendly features: theme gardens; a paved, meandering walking trail; the John Streeter Garden Amphitheater; the Discovery Pavilion, whose striking design follows the seasons; and the Seaman Orientation Plaza, which includes permanent public restrooms. The arboretum's successful $850,000 Phase II "Growing For You" development campaign helped make it possible. Special events such as Plant Discovery Day (May 2 this year), the Why Trees Matter Forum (Oct. 22), and bird walks and arboretum "walk-abouts" (http://secrest.osu.edu/calendar.asp) further help Secrest to serve and connect.

In 1908, Edmund Secrest of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station (now OARDC) started the Forest Arboretum. His goal: to make Ohioans more treeconscious. He later became station director; the arboretum later was renamed to honor him. Today it nurtures plants and people, and they and the place keep growing better for it. -- K urt Knebusch

OARDC is foremost economy engine in new 'bioeconomy': Battelle Study

The agricultural biosciences are considered a key driver of economic development in the emerging 21st century "bioeconomy." And according to a study conducted by Battelle, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) is "well-positioned for future progress in primary agbioscience opportunity areas" that will help expand Ohio's economic development in the new century.

The Battelle study--which evaluated OARDC's accomplishments and growth strategies in the 2004–2008 period--also concluded that OARDC is the foremost in-state driver of agbioscience research and development and credited the center's efforts with placing Ohio on the forefront of this exciting area of economic opportunity in the United States.

"Because of OARDC and the support of multiple stakeholders across the state, Ohio has moved into an early leadership position in supporting agbioscience R&D as driver for economic development," the report stated. "Since 2004, OARDC has been highly proactive in developing new programs, funding streams, infrastructure, and relationships that drive progress and expanding economic impacts in Ohio's agbioscience economy."

Battelle highlighted OARDC's strategic decision to focus its efforts and resources on three signature research and development areas: Food Security, Production, and Human Health; Advanced Bioenergy and Biobased Products; and Environmental Quality and Sustainability.

A few examples of the multiple ways OARDC is supporting Ohio's economy include:

-- Sustaining growth in Ohio's $11.1 billion food processing sector by developing new functional foods, advanced ingredients, and packaging technologies.

-- Generating $22 million in savings in the Ohio horticulture industry by advancing biocontrol fungicides versus chemical ones.

-- Safeguarding poultry and egg production in Ohio via multiple technologies, thus securing an $861 million industry and 8,700 jobs.

-- Leading the development of a new natural rubber industry with a projected economic impact of $130 million for Ohio.

-- Mauricio Espinoza