Spinach Recipes: Unlocking Powerful Health Benefits - Make Your Voice Heard

5. Do you feel contemporary scientific research has the power to influence national culinary trends?

Yes I do.  Some people may be frustrated with the lack of information available, or the apparent disconnect between the work performed in labs like mine and what occurs in the average kitchen.  One of the main reasons for the slow transfer of knowledge from science to the general public is the high costs associated with this type of research.  The agricultural industries in this country are still based on yield as the main motivating factor for both producers and consumers.  There is some attention given to crop quality, but most of the research that goes into commodities like corn, soybean, and cotton center on increasing in productivity or yield. 

For horticultural crops like fruits and vegetables, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the connections between their health and the food they eat.  Thus, there is a growing need for information on quality and nutritional factors.  However, this research is extremely expensive. 

Take for instance research to increase the lycopene concentration in tomatoes.  Researchers need to grow the crops under different environmental growing conditions to see which practices have the greatest influence on tomato plant growth and lycopene in the fruits.  Once the crops reach maturity and the fruits are harvested, they have to be measured for lycopene.  Phytochemical lab analysis is labor intensive and expensive.  Tomato fruits need to be processed in much the same way as the commercial industry.  The lycopene compounds need to be extracted from the fruits and then measured with sophisticated lab equipment.  In science, the name of the game is numbers. 

You can’t just do an experiment once and say you have the definitive answer.  Studies must be replicated several times before you have the confidence that your results are due to the experimental treatments you’ve applied and not due to some unforeseen environmental influence or simply by chance alone.