Robots help in fruit and vegetable cultivation

U of I researchers adapt robots to fight against COVID-19

22-Jun-2020 - Where coronavirus puts human workers at risk, robots can step in to do the job. Girish Chowdhary and his research team at the University of Illinois already have developed the robot, and they are now adapting it to current needs. TerraSentia is a small, semi-autonomous robot that moves nimbly on ...

From corn to flake: Health-promoting phenolic acids lost during food processing

10-Jul-2018 - For many Americans, highly processed foods are on the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even when the raw materials – grains, for example – are high in vitamins and health-promoting phenolic compounds, processing can rob the final product of these nutrients. In a set of recent studies, ...

Study shows oregano essential oil’s ability to reduce parasite infectivity

29-Jun-2018 - Intestinal infection from parasites has been recognized as a global health problem that can be particularly harmful to children under 5 years of age, with a greater prevalence of infection in developing countries. New research is showing that some bioactives may offer help. Researchers at the ...

Walnuts impact gut microbiome and improve health

07-May-2018 - Diets rich in nuts, such as walnuts, have been shown to play a role in heart health and in reducing colorectal cancer. According to a new study from the University of Illinois, the way walnuts impact the gut microbiome—the collection of trillions of microbes or bacteria in the gastrointestinal ...

Farming crops with rocks to reduce CO2 and improve global food security

20-Feb-2018 - Farming crops with crushed rocks could help to improve global food security and capture CO2 from the atmosphere, a new study has found. The pioneering research by scientists at the University of Illinois, together with U.S. and international colleagues, suggests that adding fast-reacting silicate ...

In sweet corn, workhorses win

17-Jan-2018 - When deciding which sweet corn hybrids to plant, vegetable processors need to consider whether they want their contract growers using a workhorse or a racehorse. Is it better to choose a hybrid with exceptional yields under ideal growing conditions (i.e., the racehorse) or one that performs ...

Holscher receives prestigious Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Award for early-career innovation in nutrition

08-Dec-2017 - Hannah Holscher, assistant professor of nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois is a recipient of the second annual New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research award. The annual set of early-career grants to outstanding food and agriculture ...

Disease-resistant apples perform better than old favorites

16-Nov-2017 - You may not find them in the produce aisle yet, but it's only a matter of time before new disease-resistant apple cultivars overtake favorites like Honeycrisp in popularity, according to a University of Illinois apple expert. "I know everyone wants Honeycrisp, but they're notoriously hard to ...

2017 a great year for pumpkins

27-Oct-2017 - Despite a scare in mid-August, the 2017 Illinois pumpkin crop is looking good. In fact, one expert says, “Don’t hesitate to carve more than one this year. There are plenty of pumpkins for everyone.” Mohammad Babadoost, plant pathologist and pumpkin expert in the Department of Crop Sciences at the ...

Corn gluten meal needs a name change. Where’s the gluten?

19-Sep-2017 - One coproduct from wet milling corn is corn gluten meal—a high-protein ingredient used in many pet foods and livestock feed. By the name of the coproduct, one would think that corn gluten meal contains gluten, when in fact, it contains 60 to 70 percent protein and is 100 percent gluten free. It’s ...