ENHANCING FOOD SCIENCE CAPACITY THROUGH TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1017129
• Grant No.: 2018-70001-28754
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $149,516.00
• Proposal No.: 2018-05000
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2018
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2021
• Grant Year: 2018
• Program Code: [NLGCA]- Capacity Building Grants for Non Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
100 N UNIVERSITY DR
EDMOND,OK 73034

Performing Department
Human Environmental Sciences

Non Technical Summary
Academic programs in the field of food and agriculture sciences experience difficulties in training professionals who exhibit multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills to thrive in the fast-paced working environments of the food and agriculture sector. At the same time, the food industry faces challenges in finding qualified personnel for their facilities in food safety and allied areas. Our goal is to improve the food science instructional and research capacity and capabilities of the multi-disciplinary Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science and Food Service Management program at UCO. The project objectives are: 1) Enhance the laboratory equipment to integrate research experiments into the curriculum; 2) Update the UCO Food Science curriculum to incorporate new courses in food safety and quality leading to the development of a post-graduate certificate; and 3) Investigate new technology on nanoemulsion based delivery systems of natural antimicrobials to increase produce safety.

Animal Health Component

40%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

40%

Applied

40%

Developmental

20%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
501	1420	1100	50%
903	7299	3020	50%

Knowledge Area
501 - New and Improved Food Processing Technologies; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
7299 - Research equipment and methods, general/other; 1420 - Melons;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education; 1100 - Bacteriology;

Keywords

capacity-building

food science

listeria

melons

research

salmonella

teaching

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to enhance the teaching and research capacity in food science at the University of Central Oklahoma in an effort to strengthen the institution's ability to sustainably provide quality, dynamic, and innovative research and teaching in the food sciences. That, in turn, will support future opportunities for economic growth in agriculture and food science education in Oklahoma to better meet food safety challenges. To accomplish the long-term goals and supporting objectives of this project, which are to increase the quality, number, and diversity of students in the food industry, the more specific objectives in the areas of teaching and research are:Teaching Objectives:Objective 1: Within six months from the award announcement, UCO will build its teaching capacity by enhancing its food safety and quality lab equipment.Objective 2: By the end of the first year, UCO will revise its undergraduate Food Science Lab and develop three new courses (including HACCP certification) in food safety/quality.Research Objectives:Objective 1: By the end of the grant period, UCO will engage 8-10 undergraduate/graduate students in a hands-on research project on nanoemulsion-based delivery systems of natural antimicrobials, a real-world application of food science/food safety careers.Objective 2: By the end of the first year, the PD, Co-PD, and student research assistants will formulate and characterize antimicrobial nanoemulsions.Objective 3: By the end of the grant period, the PD, Co-PD and student research assistants will establish practical utility of antimicrobial nanoemulsions on melons and disseminate research results.

Project Methods
For both the research and teaching components of this project, the methods used will reflect the demands of consumers and the food industry, which seekorganic, innovative, and cost-effectiveproducts to decontaminate fresh produce as well as a workforce trained to implement evolving food safety and distribution best practices.The research methods used will include upgrading laboratory equipment and processesto test the applicablity of essential oil nanoemulsion washeson a variety of fresh produce. Testing will involve an ultrasonication process, which has been optimized by the PD in previous studies and used to formulate nanoemulsions. Evaluation of the effectiveness of a nanoemulsion based delivery system will be conducted by testing it oncommon pathogens, such as Listeria andSalmonella.For the education component, the methods used will be throughfood science curriculum development and the addition of a food safety certification for both the undergraduate and graduate curriculums. Recruitment strategies will be revised, and evaluation of the project on the UCO Food Science program will be conducted through an external evaluator, who will gather institutional data, such as enrollment, retention, and percentage of graduates,to assess the overall impact.

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:New equipments were installed and utilized by food science undergraduate and graduate students. Food Science Lab facility was rennovated. Efforts were made to engage undergraduate and graduate students in food science research project on food safety. Research was published in peer-reviewed journals Four new courses in food science were offerred. Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and Quality was approved to offer online. Total 18 students enrolled in program during first year Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Five graduate students and fourundergraduate students were trained on this project. Twostudent completed thesis on this project and one graduate student is currently working on histhesis. Undergraduate and Graduate students utlized new food science equipments for their independent research projects. Equipments were also used in lab classes to provide hands on experience How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results were presented at International Association of Food Protection Annual Meeting and Institute of Food TechnologistOklahoma Section Meeting; Results were published in peer-reviewed journal. Press releases on Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and quality program and new food science lab facilty were made by University of Central Oklahoma What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Teaching: Objective 1 and 2 were accomplished. UCO rennovated food science lab facility. New food scienceequipments are housed in his facility. Four online graduate level courses were designed and offered. Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and Quality is approved and offerred in Fall 2020. More than 18 graduate students enrolled in this program in first year. Research: All three objectives were accomplished. Nine students were engaged in this research. Two thesis was advised on this project. One article was published and one research presentation was made.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Anam Fatima, Roshaniben Choudhari, Kanika Bhargava and Hari Kotturi. Effect of Oregano Oil Nano-Emulsion in Inhibiting Salmonella spp. on Mungbean Seeds and Sprouts Sridevi Pamula, Kanika Bhargava and Hari Kotturi. Application of Cinnamon Oil Nano-Emulsion to Inhibit Salmonella Spp. on Alfalfa Seeds and Sprouts

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:New equipments were installed and utilized by food science undergraduate and graduate students. Efforts were made to engage undergraduate and graduate students in food science research project on food safety. Three new courses in food science were offerred. Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and Quality was approved to offer online from Fall 2020 Changes/Problems:We requested extension of grant award because we couldnt work on research objectives (due to COVID-19 related closings). We will finish project in next one year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three graduate students and two undergraduate students were trained on this project. One student completed thesis on this project and one graduate student is currently working on her thesis. Undergraduate and Graduate students utlized new food science equipments for their independent research projects. Equipments were also used in lab classes to provide hands on experience. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results were presented at International Association of Food Protection Annual Meeting and Institute of Food Technologist-Oklahoma Section Meeting; Results were published in peer-reviewed journal. Press releases on Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and quality program and new food science lab facilty were made by University of Central Oklahoma. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue working on research objectives. Also, we will record the student enrollment and student impact survey data for newly created classes and graduate certificate in food safety.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Teaching: Objective 1 and 2 were accomplished. UCO rennovated food science lab facility. New food scienceequipments are housed in his facility. Four online graduate level courses were designed and offered. Graduate Certificate in Food Safety and Quality is approved and will be offered in Fall 2020 Research Objective 1 and 2 were accomplished. One thesis was advised on this project. One article was published and one research presentation was made. Objective 3 is pending.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Fatima, A, Bhargava, K. Kotturi, H. Evaluating the antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of oregano oil nanoemulsion on cherry tomatoes. Poster Presentation at Institute of Food Technologist-Oklahoma Research Symposium, Still Water, OK

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Efforts were made to engage undergraduate and graduate students in food science research project on food safety. New equipments were installed and utilized by food science undergraduate and graduate students. Two new courses in food science (Food Laws and Regulations, Food Safety an Quality Management) were developed for students. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Six Graduate and Undergraduate Students were trained on food science research project proposed in this study. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research Article was published in journal, LWT-Food Science and technology. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? PI will seek approval for newly developed certificate in food safety from UCO graduate college. Four studentswill be trained on proposed research project. Findings of the study will be presented and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Teaching Objectives New Equipments such as hunter color lab system, texture analyzer, refrigerated centrifuge were purchased. Two new courses were developed and graduate certificate program in food safety was proposed to UCO Graduate College. Research objectives: Six undergraduate and Graduate Students were engaged in this project. Research Findings were presented at International Associateion of Food Protection Annual meeting 2019; Research article was published in LWT-Food Science and Technology.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Paudel SK, Bhargava K, Kotturi H. Antimicrobial activity of cinnamon oil nanoemulsion against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. on melons. LWT Food Science and Technology, Volume 111, August 2019, Pages 682-687. 2019.