Defining Sweetness in Wine

"Sweetness in wine is different than sweetness in a candy bar. As you chew milk chocolate, you are perceiving sweetness. Wine can’t be assessed for sweetness until after the sip is swallowed. What we taste as the wine is in our mouth is fruit. "When I teach about wine, I stress the importance of the 'end,' or finish. The palate’s last impression of a wine helps the brain evaluate the structure, balance, and sweetness of the wine."

Source: Deborah Goldstein, LearnVest

Here's How To... Make Wine
Grapes

A Model for Smoked Salmon Safety

Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a mathematical model providing optimal combinations of temperature, salt and smoke compounds to reduce microbial contamination of smoked salmon.

Typically sold in vacuum packages that have a refrigerator shelf life of about three to eight weeks, smoked salmon can be susceptible to pathogenic microbes such as Listeria monocytogenes can live at refrigerator temperatures.

In their studies, researchers added salt and smoke compounds to cooked salmon, then inoculated the fish with Listeria monocytogenes. Next, the scientists exposed the salmon to a range of temperatures, from 104 degrees Fahrenheit to 131 degrees F to simulate commercial smokehouse processing.

Regarded as mid-range, these temps are higher than those used for cold-smoking, the most popular commercial salmon-smoking process, but are lower than those of the lesser-used commercial hot-smoking procedure.

The researchers determined that every 9 degree F increase in temperature resulted in a 10-fold increase in rates of inactivation of Listeria. They used this and other data from the study to create the mathematical model.

Source: Agricultural Research Service

• Salmon
• Seafood & Fish

100% Fruit Juice Improves Children's Diet

Consumption of 100 percent fruit juice is closely linked to improved nutrient intake and overall diet quality in children and teens, according to researchers at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and Baylor College of Medicine

The researchers used data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to compare the diets of juice drinkers to non-consumers.

According to the findings, children 2-5 years of age who consumed fruit juice had significantly higher intakes of vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium and significantly lower intakes of added sugars compared to non-fruit juice consumers.

In addition, higher intake of fruit juice was directly correlated with increased consumption of whole fruits and whole grains.

Children 6-12 years of age showed a similar positive association between intake of 100 percent juice and higher intakes of the key nutrients, as well as dietary fiber. Overall diet quality, as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index (a measure that evaluates conformance to federal dietary guidance) was higher in all fruit juice consumers assessed.

The researchers reported that a significantly higher percentage of non-fruit juice consumers 2-18 years of age failed to meet the recommended levels for several key nutrients, including vitamins A and C and folate, compared to those who drank 100 percent juice. Comparatively, a greater percentage of those in the fruit juice group exceeded Adequate Intake levels for calcium versus non-consumers.

"One hundred percent fruit juice plays an important role in the diets of children and teens, supplying important nutrients during a key period of growth and development," notes lead researcher Dr. Carol O'Neil. "Drinking 100 percent juice should be encouraged as part of an overall balanced diet."

Source: Juice Products Association

• Beverages
• Juice

Goodbye Nut Allergies

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a way to turn off the immune system's allergic reaction to certain food proteins in mice, a discovery that could have implications for the millions of people who suffer severe reactions to foods, such as peanuts and milk.

The findings, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, provide hope that the body could be trained to tolerate food allergies that lead to roughly 300,000 emergency room visits and 100 to 200 deaths each year.

The research team, led by Shau-Ku Huang, Ph.D.,discovered that one kind of immune cell in the gastrointestinal tract called lamina propria dendriti cells (LPDC) -- considered the first line of defense for a body's immune system -- expresses a special receptor, SIGNR1, which appears on the cells' surface and binds to specific sugars.

By targeting this receptor using sugar-modified protein, researchers were able to keep food proteins that would have induced a severe, even deadly, allergic reaction from causing any serious harm.

"There is no cure for food allergies, and the primary treatment is avoidance of the offending protein," Zhou says. "This could teach our bodies to create a new immune response and we would no longer be allergic to the protein."

The researchers hope to confirm whether this promising process in mice can also occur in people.

• Nuts & Grains
• Peanuts

Blueberries Fight Artery Hardening

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded study offers the first direct evidence that blueberries help fight atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries.

The study compared the size, or area, of atherosclerotic lesions in 30 young laboratory mice. Half of the animals were fed diets spiked with freeze-dried blueberry powder for 20 weeks; the diet of the other mice did not contain the berry powder.

Lesion size, measured at two sites on aorta (arteries leading from the heart), was 39 and 58 percent less than that of lesions in mice whose diet did not contain blueberry powder.

Earlier studies, conducted elsewhere, have suggested that eating blueberries may help combat cardiovascular disease. But direct evidence of that effect has never been presented previously.

The blueberry-spiked diet contained 1 percent blueberry powder, the equivalent of about a half-cup of fresh blueberries.

All mice in the investigation were deficient in apolipoprotein-E, a trait which makes them highly susceptible to forming atherosclerotic lesions and thus an excellent model for biomedical and nutrition research.

In followup studies, researchers hope to determine whether eating blueberries in infancy, childhood and young adulthood would help protect against onset and progression of atherosclerosis in later years. Early prevention may be especially important in light of the nation's epidemic of childhood obesity. Overweight and obesity increase atherosclerosis risk.

• Sources: Principal investigator Xianli Wu, based in Little Rock, Ark., with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center and with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, led the investigation. The findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
• Farm Produce
• Blueberries

40 Best Age-Erasing Superfoods

The "40 Best Age-Erasing Superfoods," according to Tollie Schmidt of Tollie International Inc., and based on "the latest science on muscle-building, brain-enhancing, wrinkle-erasing, heart-strengthening, bone-protecting, immunity-boosting, and inflammation-fighting foods."

1. Almonds
2. Flaxseeds
3. Tomatoes
4. Sweet Potatoes
5. Spinach
6. Rosemary
7. Wild Salmon
8. Blueberries
9. Green Tea
10. Dark Chocolate
11. Tuna
12. Carrots
13. Dried Plums
14. Whole Grains
15. Red Wine
16. Yogurt
17. Avocado
18. Walnuts
19. Turmeric
20. Black Beans
21. Apples
22. Alaskan King Crab
23. Pomegranates
24. Bok Choy
25. Oysters
26. Broccoli
27. Kiwis
28. Olive Oil
29. Leeks
30. Artichokes
31. Chili Peppers
32. Ginger
33. Cinnamon
34. Eggs
35. Figs
36. Grass-Fed Beef
37. Mushrooms
38. Pineapples
39. Fruit or Vegetable Juice
40. Bing Cherries

Olive Oil + Mediterranean Diet Fight Heart Disease by Changing How Genes Function

A traditional Mediterranean diet with liberal amounts of virgin olive oil rich in polyphenols lowers the risk for cardiovascular disease because these foods change how genes associated with atherosclerosis function, according to a new research report published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.

Scientists worked with three groups of healthy volunteers. The first group consumed a traditional Mediterranean diet with virgin olive oil rich in polyphenols. The second group consumed a traditional Mediterranean diet with an olive oil low in polyphenols. The third group followed their habitual diet. After three months, the first group had a down-regulation in the expression of atherosclerosis-related genes in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Additionally, the olive oil polyphenols made a significant impact on the expression of genetic changes influencing coronary heart disease.

Results also showed that the consumption of virgin olive oil in conjunction with a Mediterranean diet can positively impact lipid and DNA oxidation, insulin resistance, inflammation, carcinogenesis, and tumor suppression.

Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Olive Oil
Photo: Dipping Olive Sprig with Black Olives in Olive Oil
The Mediterranean Diet