Source: WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
OPTIMIZING HUMAN HEALTH AND NUTRITION: FROM SOIL TO SOCIETY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1027591
Grant No.
2021-68012-35955
Cumulative Award Amt.
$10,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2021-05734
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2021
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2021
Program Code
[A9201]- Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Recipient Organization
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
240 FRENCH ADMINISTRATION BLDG
PULLMAN,WA 99164-0001
Performing Department
Crop and Soil Sciences
Non Technical Summary
When addressing food security, agricultural science has traditionally focused on increasing grain yield, particularly in carbohydrate-rich crops like wheat and rice, and metrics of global food security have emphasized the availability of calories. Recent studies have concluded that the greatest food security challenge in 2050 will be providing nutritious diets rather than adequate calories. Increased intake of whole grains, grain legumes, and pseudocereals can address these dietary imbalances, improve human health, and increase the sustainability of our diets and the food system. It is critical therefore to build robust linkages between crop, soil, and food scientists working on the development of nutritious varieties and healthy food products with medical scholars rooted in human-health disciplines such as epidemiology, nutrition, and the gut microbiome. Given this need for sustainable healthy diets, the long-term goals of this project are to create more nutritious, affordable, and accessible whole grain-based foods through i) the investigation of the contribution of novel, biofortified crop varieties and food products to human health through clinical and epidemiological evaluations, and ii) the development and deployment of nutritious food products made from improved crop varieties grown within sustainable cropping systems. To develop these food products we will employ a Soil to Society (S2S) pipeline strategy that addresses gaps in current knowledge and traces the flow of nutrients from agricultural systems and food production to human consumption, culminating in the synthesis of more sustainable agricultural management strategies and healthy and affordable food products to meet the needs of diverse individuals and communities.
Animal Health Component
10%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
90%
Applied
10%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
7010199101017%
1020199106016%
2010199108118%
2050199107016%
5010001100016%
5020001117017%
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goals of this project are to create more nutritious, affordable, and accessible whole grain-based foods through i) the investigation of the contribution of novel, biofortified crop varieties and food products to human health through clinical and epidemiological evaluations, and ii) the development and deployment of nutritious food products made from improved crop varieties grown within sustainable cropping systems. Our research will focus on improving the nutritional value of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa and buckwheat, and enhancing the availability and accessibility of these foods by combining research, education, and extension in an S2S research pipeline that bridges the knowledge and communication gaps between agriculture, food science, and human health and nutrition. Through the S2S project, we will use a systems approach to identify communication gaps among crop and soil scientists, producers, food engineers, and health researchers to provide strategic linkages within and among stakeholders along the nutritious foods supply chain. Our goal is to mitigate these gaps with varied and effective communication, outreach, and education strategies. Our transdisciplinary team is committed to working together as a cohesive unit to achieve the ambitious yet attainable goals of this project, which directly address the USDA Science Blueprint's long-term goal of Food and Nutrition Translation, with the long term aim that our research will catalyze changes that "affect food quality, bioavailable nutrients, and access to food, impacting health, community prosperity, and overall quality of life."ObjectivesObjective 1. Understand and apply the roles of environment, soil, and cropping system management on soil health, farm economics, and the nutritional content of the grain for each target crop.Objective 2. Develop new varieties of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa, and buckwheat with enhanced health and nutritive value.Objective 3. Confirm the impact of nutritionally enhanced varieties on key indicators of human health and assess acceptance using consumer panels.Objective 4. Develop a diverse and innovative suite of flavorful, affordable, and nutritious food products that will be accessible to consumers from all income levels.Objective 5. Conduct population studies to explore impacts on dietary quality by increasing target crops in US diets and assessing consumer acceptance and valuation of whole grain and legume-based foods.Objective 6. Focus our educational capacity on secondary student instruction and teacher professional development, and farmer training.Objective 7. Disseminate knowledge gained and products developed to stakeholders across agriculture, food and health sciences, and communities, schools, and underserved populations through a wide-reaching extension effort.
Project Methods
Objective 1: In Years 1-4, we will conduct two field trials in Mount Vernon and one field trial in Pullman to study the effects of tillage, crop rotation, residue and organic matter inputs, and pH management on crop productivity and nutritional quality, each with four replicates in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The Pullman trial will be a winter wheat-spring barley-winter pea rotation, while Mount Vernon will be a winter wheat-potato-spring barley-silage corn rotation. In both locations, all crops will be represented and rotated through plots each year. Crop grain yields will be measured and grain samples from each crop will be analyzed for nutritional traits, including protein content, β-glucan (for barley), the micronutrients Zn, Mn, and Fe, and bread baking quality (for wheat). Crop biomass production, yield, nutrient uptake, and nutritional quality will be evaluated on the wheat and buckwheat crops.Objective 2: Nutritional traits including concentrations of micronutrients, phytic acid, protein, and phenolic compounds will be tested across all target crops. Traits that are unique to each crop will also be evaluated including β-glucan concentration in barley; high amylose, arabinoxylans, and fatty acid concentrations in wheat; amino acid profile, folates, and resistant starch in pea and lentils; lysine and resistant starches in buckwheat; and essential amino acid profile in quinoa. The genetic architecture contributing to higher nutritional values will be further evaluated via genome-wide association studies (GWAS). These results will identify marker trait associations (MTA) that can be utilized for marker assisted selection, and the germplasm sets will serve as training panels to incorporate genomic selection strategies into the breeding processes. These genetic analyses will also facilitate future gene discovery efforts.Objective 3: Fiber, proteins, and phytochemicals have all been shown to alter the gut microbiome, and we expect the diverse nutrient profiles of the selected crop varieties will differentially affect the gut microbiome. We will use a common method to simulate modulation of the gut microbiome with a systematic and standardized approach. We will test all varieties deemed of interest from Objectives 1 and 2 using minibioreactors for ultra-high-throughput analyses, and perform all in vitro fermentation in triplicate. We expect that different preparations and especially the extent of cooking will modify the chemical profiles of individual whole grains in ways that will drastically alter the microbiotaObjective 4: Selected varieties from the agronomic and advanced breeding trials (in both whole seed and whole seed flour forms) will be functionally characterized to determine their unique attributes, as described in our previous publications. Characterization will include flour swelling power, water and oil absorption capacities, foaming capacity, foam stability, emulsification capacity, emulsion stability, thermal properties, and pasting properties. These characteristics help determine the best food applications for the varieties. Following characterization, data will be subjected to cluster analysis, which will be conducted separately for each whole grain type. We will develop affordable recipes incorporating the selected whole grains from Objectives 2 and 4.1, along with vegetables and animal proteins, as pre-packaged individual serving complete meals or specially prepared pre-cooked whole grains in separate pouches or trays. Final recipes and related processes will be transferred to food companies as demonstration case studies in Extension/ technology transfer activities.Objective 5: Analysis of whole grains and legumes in the context of population food and nutrient intake in the United States will be based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We will model counter-factual scenarios in which we examine the impact of replacing refined grains in the diet with whole grains and replacing red and processed meat with legumes. The analysis will provide robust estimates of whole grain consumption in the US and apply modeling methods to explore the extent to which these foods can contribute to a healthy diet.We will develop econometric models to estimate how consumers make trade-offs between nutritional and non-nutritional characteristics, especially related to whole grain and legume content of foods, such as ingredient, fiber, plant-based content, convenience, and nutrient profile of purchased products. Estimating consumer demand for whole grain-based foods by population subgroups including non-white, low-SES households, and other food-insecure households involves the use of two complementary datasets. This data contains detailed information on the prices and characteristics of foods purchased by a nationwide sample of 4826 households, allowing us to model consumer valuation of various characteristics of food products. However, FoodAPS data is limited to a single survey period. IRI household-based scanner data includes economic, demographic, and purchase information for at-home use, along with purchases, prices, product information, and stores for over 120,000 households.Objective 6: Inquiry-based curriculum instruction requires students to use content knowledge to solve an issue. Inquiry-based instruction in school-based agricultural education has been shown to increase content knowledge and higher-order thinking skills of students while contributing to more favorable attitudes about agriscience. This curriculum will organize students into interdisciplinary teams representing the research involved in this project. Students will move between their interdisciplinary teams to collect information and develop solutions. Teacher professional development (PD) is required to increase teaching comfort with the content and support curriculum integration. To more broadly increase teachers' pedagogical content knowledge related to agriculture and their likelihood to implement the curriculum, educational personnel will develop and deliver in-person PD workshops at regional and national teacher workshops, such as National Association of Agricultural Educators and National Science Teachers Association conferences.Evaluation Plan: Kansas State University's Office of Educational Innovation and Evaluation (OEIE) will serve as external evaluator. The evaluation plan, built on the project logic model, is integrated into the management plan to strengthen management and improve successful attainment of project objectives. The evaluation plan includes formative evaluation to support project management and enable mid-course adjustment and summative evaluation to assess and document overall project impacts and outcomes. The evaluation team will use interviews, focus groups, and/or web-based surveys incorporating the Tailored Design Method to document metrics and assess progress toward project objectives. An annual survey of project participants/audiences, stakeholders, and/or partners will provide the project team with feedback to enhance effectiveness of coordination, collaboration, and communication. Social Network Analysis will be utilized to assess and enhance collaboration and coordination. OEIE will participate in regular meetings with project leadership to provide ongoing formative feedback on project activities, progress toward metrics and objectives, and suggestions to maximize success. Evaluation summaries will be provided to the project team to support project management and aid in meeting funding agency reporting requirements.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience: The interdisciplinary nature of this grant means that the target audience for the overall work is quite expansive, while the audience for work being undertaken by many of the teams under the grant will vary according to the research discipline involved. The Soil and Cropping Systems team is primarily receiving input from and publishing results for farmers and other agricultural audiences. More specifically, soil scientists at the NWREC in Mt. Vernon, WA are conducting micronutrient and rotational trials to aid diversified vegetable farmers, potato and grain farmers in the Skagit Valley in discovering the most optimal rotation, tillage method, and fertilization treatment for said crops. The Plant Breeding team is similarly targeting those in the agricultural industry but aim more specifically to produce information relevant to other plant breeders and plant geneticists. Secondarily, this information is directed toward plant physiologists and food scientists. The overarching goal of targeting these audiences is to appeal to farmers regionally and throughout the world, encouraging them to introduce different varieties of grain or legume crops within their existing farming operations. Researchers in the agricultural sciences are also aiming to make cropping and breeding information relevant to general consumers. The WSU Breadlab is particularly accomplished at marketing agricultural research to the public, holding 100% whole grain popup bakery sales on the weekends andwhole grain baking classes through King Arthur's on-site Baking School. In addition to the workshops targeting members of the public, the WSU Breadlab also holds workshops geared toward professional chefs and home bakers, walking them through the nuances of working with flour that has different nutritional and functional traits. Because of the opportunities the Breadlab provides, they are also on the forefront of innovation within the restaurant and culinary industries, influencing those around the nation to use grain varieties developed at the Breadlab and generally encouraging more whole grain use. Food scientists on this grant are producing results that appeal to the public. They are working to develop recipes using whole grain cereal varieties and legume-based protein substitutesthat are approachable and appealing to the average eater. Food innovation labs run by food scientists on the Food Science and Products Team are similarly developing whole grain-based food products that meet the demands of consumers, identified by industry stakeholders. This will result in the creation and testing of products that can be integrated into the food system on a large scale. The Human Health and Nutrition team is currently working to publish results relevant to academic researchers, policymakers and industry stakeholders. At this phase of the research, they are aiming to show a relationship between breeding nutritional quality in grain and legume crops and positive health outcomes within the human body. Their findings will encourage further studies and collaboration between experts in the soil science, plant breeding, food science, and human health disciplines. Similarly, the Population Nutrition team is conducting transdisciplinary research at the interface of nutrition, public health, economics, and social sciences about consumption and purchasing behavior related to whole grains and legumes. In addition to reaching scientists, their work also aims to influencepolicymakers, such as those working to develop and implement the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. In particular their work aims to understand and inform efforts to shift consumption patterns towards healthier, plant-forward diets that incorporate more whole grains and legumes. Our Education team is multifaceted, targeting high school students through their Summer Research Opportunity- an internship program that pairs high school students with a scientist working on this project-offering them relevant lab and field research experience. This team is also developing a curriculum that will be implemented in schools beginning Fall 2024. Prior to implementation, project researchers are offering continuing education for secondary teachers looking to implement it. Through our partners at the WSU Breadlab and Viva Farms, kindergarten through grade 12 students will get to experience whole grain-based food products through a Farm to School initiative. Currently, they are working together with WSU Extension to increase the availability of buckwheat pancakes in schools. Viva Farms is also targeting farmers and producers in their outreach and education work, holding workshops for farmers interested in adding grain or legume varieties into their crop rotations or produce them as cash crops to be used in value added products. They are currently working on a factsheet that will summarize the best growing practices for each of our project's crop varieties that will be highly valuable to the farming communitiesin Eastern and Western Washington. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Researchers on this grant provided numerous opportunities for training and professional development, primarily geared toward graduate students, industry stakeholders, and producers. Drs. Tang, McGee, and Szlavecz provided training and continuing education opportunities for their graduate students, including training them on relevant lab equipment and enrolling them in workshops and courses that will aid their work on this grant. Dr. Solverson also trained a new scientific assistant in his cell culture methodology, preparing for the next phase in this grant's work. Dr. Warner's Summer Research Opportunity allowed five high school students to complete a credited course in agriscience research in this reporting period. This internship requires them to complete a research project under the mentorship of research team members. They thencompleted a research abstract and poster, helping them learn research practices and experience in lab and field research environments. The school curriculum that Dr. Warner is developing for secondary educators will also serve as an introduction to the agrisciences for students and as a professional development opportunity for educators interested in integrating the curriculum into their classroom. Additionally, project leadership and researchers have engaged with stakeholders both officially involved with this grant and prominent in the agriculture, food science, or health industries. Project leadership invited key individuals to join our advisory or stakeholder boards who met as a group via zoom in the Winter of 2023, where they were better introduced to the grant and heard from project researchers on their activities and preliminary findings. Team leaders are now holding an individual research team meeting with relevant stakeholders and advisory board members to glean additional knowledge and insight from these key individuals within the industry. Project activities were also presented to key individuals in these industries not involved in this project at multiple field days, meetings, and conferences throughout the year. These field days have the benefit of also reaching farmers and crop advisors interested in learning more about integrating our varieties into their cropping systems. Specifically, Viva Farms includes project materials in their incubator farmer curriculum and showcases project work at their various workshops throughout the year (outlined in more detail above). Lastly, WSU Breadlab teaches whole grain baking classes in collaboration with King Arthur Baking School that teaches chefs, home bakers, and members of the public how to work with project grains that have different functional characteristics from all-purpose or white flour. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to communities of interest through an assortment of conference presentations, meeting presentations, field days, workshops, bakery pop-ups, internship programs and scientific papers mentioned throughout this report and in the products section. Notably, our Summer Research Opportunity poster symposium was held in September 2023 and allowed our high school interns to present their work to the project team, their families, and members of the public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Obj 1. Soil, Management & Cropping Systems S-Obj. 1.1. Crop rotation, soil and nutrient management ??Continue trials and sample analysis to gather more data. Analyze grain nutrient concentrations to better understand the impact of our soil and nutrient management practices. S-Obj. 1.2. Soil carbon, fauna, and physical properties Harvested samples will be processed for grain yield, biomass yield, and nutrient content. Community analysis of microarthropods, analyzing litterbag data, deployment of another set of litterbags using straw from the experimental plots. Potentially analyzing nematode communities. S-Obj. 1.3. Extension materials, enterprise budgets Dr. McCracken will access the data from the various trialsto address the economics of the systems. Obj 2. Plant Breeding & Genetics S-Obj. 2.1. Germplasm evaluation Continue multi-environment GxE study of functional properties of pea starch. GWAS study of folate concentration in lentils in abiotic stress and non-stress environments. GWAS study of resistant starch concentration in lentils in abiotic stress and non-stress environments. IDF/SDF analyses, protein analyses, then ash analyses. The goal is to have the IDF/SDF analyses complete for the 13 varieties with protein and ash remaining. Dr. McGee will finish phenotyping the panel, then bioinformatics to identify candidate genes, and develop breeder friendly markers. Her harvested seeds will be analyzed for nutritional concentrations beginning this fall. S-Obj. 2.2. Genetic map construction for loci contributing to higher nutritional value. Dr. Brueggeman will continue milling and analyzing 250 samples from the WBCC 2022 and 2023 harvests for micronutrient content using EDXRF. Harvest, thresh, and begin processing samples from the 2024 WBCC planting for micronutrient analysis. He will then further develop the protocol for beta-glucan analysis in barley using a discrete gallery analyzer. After conducting 3D exome capture on the Golden Promise tilling population, he will utilize bioinformatics to make the genetic resources database available which can be used to determine their effect on barley biofortification. Continue advancing barley lines with low phytic acid content. Continue advancing and selecting populations for variety development and genetic analysis. Dr. Kevin Murphy's lab will be publishing the quinoa nutritional analysis results. Obj 3. Human Health & Nutrition S-Obj. 3.1. Gut microbiome Conduct many other in vitro fermentation analyses with the different crops of interest (wheat from different bread products is currently analyzed). Provide the resulting fermentation products to Dr. Patrick Solverson for cell culture analyses. S-Obj. 3.2. Gut Metabolites & Cellular respiration Looking ahead, Dr. Solverson's next step involves performing gallic acid equivalent (GAE) assays to determine the concentration of gallic acid in our samples, which is used as a proxy for total polyphenols and their metabolites produced by microbial fermentation of the project's grains. With this data, he will proceed with viability tests to establish the appropriate digestate concentrations for use in our cell culture experiments. Finally, Dr. Solverson will apply the digestate to the cells and conduct cellular metabolism experiments using the Seahorse Analyzer, normalizing the Seahorse data with mitochondrial counts from the Cytation 5 to ensure accurate results. This will finally start to answer the question of prospective effects of the grant's experimental grains on mitochondrial number and function in muscle tissue, which is known to be negatively affected by obesity and type 2 diabetes. Obj 4. Food Science & Product Development S-Obj. 4.1. Functional characterization Drs. Juming Tang and Girish Ganjyal will continue testing the functionality of the various legume and grain varieties in an array of food products, undergoing a multitude of processing methods including extrusion and microwave sterilization. S-Obj. 4.3. Healthy snacks and baked products The WSU Breadlab will continue to hold 100% whole grain bakery pop ups and whole grain baking classes in collaboration with King Arthur Flour. Obj 5. Community-based Health & Nutrition S-Obj. 5.3. Qualitative research in plant-forward diets Drs. Sanjeevi and Monsivais plan to continue conducting the analyses for all target crops of interest and disseminate findings via other avenues, such as conference presentations. They also plan to conduct analyses to examine the changes in diet quality by replacing refined grain foods with whole grain foods. Dr. Perrigue will complete data analysis and manuscript publication. Drs. Thorne-Lyman and Schneider plan on finalizing and publishing several papers based on the survey, disseminating findings at the American Society for Nutrition meeting in June, and an economics conference this fall, and will collect and analyze qualitative data. Dr. Vicki McCracken will finalize the data acquisition from USDA. She and Dr. Monsivais have already been sharing a postdoc and they have been planning for the modelling once the data comes. Obj 6. Education S-Obj. 6.1a. High school curriculum development & internships Complete curriculum field test and revisions, develop and deliver teacher professional development (in-person & Asynchronous), record and produce research career video highlights. S-Obj. 6.2. Farmer training and education In the next reporting period, Viva Farms will continue on the various activities of Objective 7. In the fall/winter, focus will shift towards more widespread assessment of school food service department capacity and interest in trialing food products from this grant. Various outlets will be explored for dissemination of this survey, including existing OSPI surveys as well as more targeted communications through the WA State Farm to School Network and regional listservs, with the goal of obtaining feedback from at least 24 school districts across six counties. In addition, they will continue engaging schools with educational content and gathering feedback for the development of educational kits to be shared more widely. Pilot demonstrations with two schools will inform the development of these kits. Viva Farms will also work with the Breadlab to obtain seed to plant out at least five additional school gardens in preparation for a more wide-reaching engagement the following spring/summer. Viva Farms is looking to collaborate with the WSU Breadlab's K-12 curriculum on demonstrations at these school gardens around harvesting and threshing grains. Obj 7. Extension S-Obj. 7.1. Agricultural extension activities Will continue holding field days and workshops targeting producers and industry stakeholders. Researchers will also be working with project extension scientists to create fact sheets of best practices for producers based on the information learned from the rotation and micronutrient trials. Continue releasing promising crop varieties. S-Obj. 7.2. Food science/product development outreach See 2a above. S-Obj. 7.3. School district breakfast & lunch collaboration The Breadlab will increase their presence in area schools, continue working with Blue Zones with the hope of branching into further regions. Will continue working with Viva Farms to increase whole grain and legume products available in school meal programs to expandbeyond buckwheat pancakes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1. Understand and apply the roles of environment, soil, and cropping system management on soil health, farm economics, and the nutritional content of the grain for each target crop. 1) Drs. Deirdre Griffin-LaHue, Gabe LaHue, and Clark Neely continued their rotational and micronutrient trials in Western and Eastern WA, respectively. Viva Farms provided land and irrigation water for trials and marketing for the project. Dr. LaHue also added a micronutrient trial with winter wheat. Dr. Szlavecz resampled wheat treatment plots in both locations, deploying litterbag experiments. Dr. Vicki McCracken is hiring and training an employee by September 2024. 2) All trials were regularly analyzed for crop yield, grain protein content, grain Fe, Zn, and Mn content, bread baking quality (for wheat only), soil mycorrhizae, soil carbon pools, and soil microbial biomass. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Dr. Griffin-LaHue's PhD student, Annah Young, presented a poster on integrating buckwheat and wheat into vegetable systems at the Canadian Society for Soil Science meeting and won 3rd place in the student poster competition. Additional outcomes are listed in the products section. Objective 2. Develop new varieties of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa, and buckwheat with enhanced health and nutritive value. 1) Dr. Rebecca McGee worked on phenotyping a lentil diversity panel for folates and resistant starches, being grown out in three locations; Washington, Montana and New Zealand. Researchers at the WSU Breadlab continued to cross and select for new wheat varieties bred specifically for whole grain baking functionality. Dr. Bob Brueggeman has optimized protocols for beta-glucan analysis in barley, advanced lines with low phytic acid content, identified mutations in genes that can be used for barley biofortification, and is advancing populations and genetic material for variety development and genetic analysis. 2) Dr. Kevin Murphy's lab worked to collect agronomic and nutritional data on advanced quinoa and buckwheat lines grown in contrasting environments.He is in the final stages of quinoa variety release. Researchers at theWSU Breadlab evaluated yield, disease resistance, flavor, and functionality in different baking tests. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Dr. Murphy released a new variety of buckwheat called 'Tinker' that is being evaluated by the Food Science team. He also hosted the 2nd annual Buckwheat Festival in collaboration with the Organic Seed Alliance. Additional outcomes are listed in the products section. Objective 3. Confirm the impact of nutritionally enhanced varieties on key indicators of human health and assess acceptance using consumer panels. 1) Dr. Franck Carbonero and his post-doc Dr. Jagrani Minj completed an in vitro fermentation experiment with bread samples from smaller, high fiber and larger, low fiber wheat kernels made by the WSU Breadlab. All samples were collected and processed for gut microbiota sequencing. Dr. Patrick Solverson established the optimal conditions for cell viability and subsequent cell culture experiments with the digestate prepared by Dr. Carbonero's lab with quinoa. They also established the most effective methodology for cell recovery. 2) No data collected. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Outcomesare listed in the products section. Objective 4. Develop a diverse and innovative suite of flavorful, affordable, and nutritious food products accessible to consumers from all income levels. 1) Dr. Juming Tang worked with Dr. Martine Perrigue to produce whole grain, ready-to-eat barley samples for Dr. Perrigue's trial, processing three different grain varieties into 1200 individual pouches of grain that can be microwaved and consumed readily. More information on this study is below. The WSU Breadlab held pop-up bakeries where they sold their 100% whole grain products to the public. They also collaborated with Viva Farms to develop whole grain recipes for school meal programs. 2) No data collected. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Outcomes are listed in the products section. Objective 5. Conduct population studies to explore impacts on dietary quality by increasing target crops in US diets and assessing consumer acceptance and valuation of whole grain and legume-based foods. 1) Drs. Namrata Sanjeevi and Pablo Monsivais examined the prevalence of the consumption of lentils, dried peas, barley, buckwheat and quinoa in the United States. Drs. Sanjeevi andMcCracken are accessing data on the economic factors in consumer's eating behaviors. Drs. Thorne-Lyman and Kate Schneider finalizedand fielded their national survey and choice experiment. They also developed a research plan to follow up with participants in Dr. Perrigue's study. Dr. Perrigue completed the data collection portion of her short human trial investigating the effects of convenience on whole grain consumption. Participants were given either dried barley to cook and consume, or ready-to-eat barley pouches and their consumption rates were reported. 2) Data collection for both Dr. Perrigue and Drs. Thorne-Lyman and Schneider's studies is completed, and data analysis has begun. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Outcomes are listed in the products section. Objective 6. Focus our educational capacity on secondary student instruction and teacher professional development, and farmer training. 1) Dr. Anna Warner and her graduate student, Kaitlynn Davis, ran the high school internship which five students participated in and prepared their secondary curriculum for field testing. The WSU Breadlab hosted in-lab visits for youth groups and post-secondary students and developed a K-12 curriculum to teach about whole grains. They are also co-developing and teaching whole grain classes with the King Arthur Baking School. Viva Farms held a bilingual workshop for producers in the Skagit Valley with a tour of the WSU buckwheat, wheat, and quinoa variety trials, focusing on the topics of fertility and nutrient management strategies and how these small grains and pseudocereals can function as part of a larger crop rotation. They also hired a new Farm to School coordinator who gauged interest in education resources and activities, coordinated a gathering for food service directors to survey their interest in participating in product trialing, and facilitated the planting of spring wheat and barley at two schools. 2) Data and feedback gathered during Viva Farms' pilot school garden project is used to develop and refine an educational 'toolkit' for additional schools with classroom- and garden-based education components. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Outcomesare listed in the products section. Objective 7. Disseminate knowledge gained and products developed to stakeholders across agriculture, food and health sciences, and communities, schools, and underserved populations through a wide-reaching extension effort. 1) Researchers shared project information through the events listed in the 'products' section. One highlight included Drs. LaHue, Griffin-LaHue, and Murphy presenting on their work atthe 2024 NWREC Field Day for the Northwest Agricultural Research Foundation and at the 2024 Rodale Institute PNW Field Day. This grant distributes a newsletter to stakeholders, academics, and members of the public quarterly, boasting a 90% open rate and 74% click rate. We also document progress through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 2) No data collected. 3) No summary statistics or discussion of results. 4) Additional outcomesare listed in the products section.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Mcginty E., Craine E., Miller N., Ocana-Gallegos C., Spalding E., Murphy K., Hauvermale A. 2023. Evaluating relationships between seed morphological traits and seed dormancy in Chenopodium quinoa Willd. Frontiers Plant Science. 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: LaHue G., Martinez P., Fowlkes C. 2023. Comparison of Organic and Conventional Treatments Through Soil Water Retention Graphs. 2023 Soil to Society Summer Research Opportunity Poster Symposium. September 30, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Park D., Nalbandian E., Ganjyal G. 2023. The influence of alternative grain flours on pancake quality. 2023 Soil to Society Summer Research Opportunity Poster Symposium. September 30, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Call T., Djibo Waziri A. 2023. Increasing Iron and Zinc Concentration in Wheat Through Biofortification. 2023 Soil to Society Summer Research Opportunity Poster Symposium. September 30, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Djibo Waziri A., Carle S., Garland-Campbell K. 2023. Cross-Study Analysis to Identify Breeder-Friendly Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs)/Genes for Wheat Biofortification. Cereals and Grains Conference, Schaumburg, IL. October 18-20, 2023.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Sanjeevi N., Monsivais P. Consumption Trends and Eating Context of Lentils and Dried Peas in the United States: A Nationally Representative Study. Nutrients. 2024; 16(2):277. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020277
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Carper, J. 2023. Quinoa: Is organic actually better? 2023 Soil to Society Summer Research Opportunity Poster Symposium. September 30, 2023.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Ocana-Gallegos, C., Liang M., McGinty E., Zhang Z., Murphy K., Hauvermale, A. 2024. Preharvest Sprouting in Quinoa: A New Screening Method Adapted to Panicles and GWAS Components. Plants. 2024; 13(10):1297.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Cladis, D. P., Hill Gallant, K. M., Murphy, K. M. 2024. Quantifying the quinoa ionome: Mineral content of 346 quinoa varieties. Current Developments in Nutrition. July 1, 2024. 8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.102762
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Testen, A. L., Puri, P., Shaw, R. S., Domsic, E. C., Griffin LaHue, D., Murphy, K., Mattupalli, C. 2024. A quantitative real-time PCR method to detect the quinoa downy mildew pathogen, Peronospora variabilis. Plant Disease. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-11-23-2308-RE
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Breslauer, R. S., Nalbandian, E. B., Reinman, T., Rezaey, M., Ganjyal, G., Murphy, K. 2023. Buckwheat production and value-added processing: A review of potential western Washington cropping and food system applications. Sustainability 15: 14758. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014758
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Craine, E., Davies, A., Packer, D., Miller, N.D., Schmockel, S.M., Spaulding, E.P., Tester, M., Murphy, K. 2023. A comprehensive characterization of agronomic and end-use quality phenotypes across a quinoa world core collection. Frontiers in Plant Science. 14:1101547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1101547
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Davis, K., Michol, N.A., Warner, A.J. 2024. Growing Interest in the Workforce: Using Grant-Based High School Internship Opportunities to Recruit for the Agricultural Industry. American Association for Agricultural Education National Conference, Manhattan, KS. May 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Michol, N.A., Davis, K.R., Warner, A.J. 2024. Using High School Agriscience Internships to Recruit for the Agricultural Industry. Washington Association of Agricultural Educators State Conference, Shelton, WA. June 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: NDAYIRAMIJE, O. 2024. Mother-Baby Trials for the Identification of Novel High-performing Quinoa Genotypes for Rwanda. The ASTA Leadership Summit in Nashville, TN. June 17, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Young, A., Griffin LaHue, D. 2024. The impacts of integrating buckwheat and wheat in vegetable crop rotations of Western Washington. Poster Presentation at Canadian Society of Soil Science Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada. June 10, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Brueggeman, R. Poster presentation at the 4th Biennial International Scientific Conference, Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas (NAPA). May 24-25, 2024.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis, A. Expanding the Soil to Society Pipeline Strategy. Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources Blog. November 20, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis, A., Thorne-Lyman, A., Monsivais, P., Schneider, K., Sanjeevi, N., Perrigue, M. Building Out a Plant-Forward Diet. Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources Blog. October 24, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis, A., Carbonero, F. Assessing the "Super" in Whole-Grain Superfoods. Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources Blog. September 18, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C. Optimizing Soil Health and Cropping Systems for Producing Nutrient Dense Crops in Dryland Agriculture. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. October 31, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: LaHue, G. Soil to Society Presentation. 2024 Rodale Institute PNW Field Day. July 24, 2024.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Griffin LaHue, D. Soil to Society Presentation. 2024 Rodale Institute PNW Field Day. July 24, 2024.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Murphy, K. Soil to Society Presentation. 2024 Rodale Institute PNW Field Day. July 24, 2024.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: LaHue, G. Soil to Society Presentation. 2024 NWREC Field Day. Mt. Vernon, WA
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Griffin LaHue, D. Soil to Society Presentation. 2024 NWREC Field Day. Mt. Vernon, WA
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Brueggeman, R. Soil to Society Presentation. 2023 WSU Wheat Academy. September 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C., LaHue, G., Neely H. L., Murphy, K., Gerrish, B. J., Connor, J. M. 2023. Optimizing Soil Health and Cropping Systems for Producing Nutrient Dense Crops in Dryland Agriculture. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, St. Lois, MO.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C. B., Neely, H. L., LaHue, D. G., LaHue, G., Murphy, K., Gerrish, B. J. 2024. Manipulating Soil and Cropping System Management to enhance soil health and crop quality. Canadian Society for Soil Science Meeting, Vancouver, BC.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C. B., Neely, H. L., LaHue, D. G., LaHue, G., Murphy, K., Gerrish, B. J. 2024. Soil to Society Poster Presentation. The ASTA Leadership Summit in Nashville, TN. June 17, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C. B. 2024. Healthy Soils for a Healthy Society. Canadian Society for Soil Science Meeting, Vancouver, BC.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C. B. 2024. Soils and their Importance for our Society. S2S Summer Internship Class, Washington State University. July 15, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kaur, G., Neely, C. B., LaHue, G., Neely, H. L., Murphy, K., Gerrish, B. J., Conner, J. M. 2023. Optimizing Soil Health and Cropping Systems for Producing Nutrient Dense Crops in Dryland Agriculture. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2023am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/149539
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Connolly, D., Minj, J., Carbonero, F. 2024. Effect of quinoa processing on human gut microbiome through in vitro fermentation approach. Poster presented at International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics Annual Meeting, University College Cork, Ireland. July 9-11, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Connolly, D., Minj, J., Carbonero, F. 2024. Effect of quinoa processing on human gut microbiome through in vitro fermentation approach. Poster presented at American Society of Microbiology Northwest Branch Annual Meeting, Portland, OR. November 9-10, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Carbonero, F. 2023. Gut microbiome modulation by berries and quinoa: impact of different cooking methods. Oral presentation at University of Bologna Microbiome Science and Biotechnology Department, Bologa, Italy. September 25, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Carbonero, F. 2023. Gut microbiome modulation by berries and quinoa: impact of different cooking methods. Oral presentation at University of Minnesota Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Saint Paul, MN. October 17, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Carbonero, F. 2023. Gut microbiome modulation by berries and quinoa: impact of different cooking methods. Oral presentation to Bridge to Food Annual Course North America, Minneapolis, MN. October 18, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Murphy, K. 2023. Developing nutritious whole grains using a Soil to Society framework. World Agroforestry Center, Nairobi, Kenya. December 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Murphy, K. 2023. Developing nutritious whole grains using a Soil to Society framework workshop. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology. Bondo, Kenya. December, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Ayegbidun, O., Strauss, N., Garland-Campbell, K. Identification of Loci for Agronomic Traits in Synthetic Wheat. Poster presentation at the International Plant and Animal Genome Conference, San Diego, CA. January 12-17, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Ayegbidun, O., Strauss, N., Garland-Campbell, K. 2024. Genetic Loci Associated with Agronomic Traits. Poster presentation at the WSU Academic Showcase in Pullman, WA. March 28, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Ayegbidun, O., Strauss, N., Olson, E., Garland-Campbell, K. Association Mapping in a Multi-Environment Study on Wheat D-Genome NAM Population. Poster presentation at National Association of Plant Breeders Conference St. Louis, MO. July 21-25, 2024.


Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience: Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this grant, our target audiences are quite expansive and correlate to the research discipline. The Soils and Cropping Systems and Plant Breeding teams are primarily producing results that are developed for other scientists and producers. Rotational trials in Mt. Vernon, Washington are targeting larger growers that rotate grain crops with potatoes and vegetable seed crops, as well as smaller diversified organic vegetable production farms. Additionally, they are targeting agricultural support providers, such as conservation districts, NRCS, and agronomists, as well as members of the food industry looking to improve food nutrition. The Plant Breeding team is specifically targeting scientists- primarily plant breeders and plant physiologists as well as food product producers and end users. Researchers at the WSU Breadlab, part of the Plant Breeding team, also target bakers, millers, K-12 students, hospital and school systems, and community members at large through their community outreach efforts, social media presence, and whole-grain bakery pop-up. Our Food Science and Food Engineering team is working closely with stakeholders and industry partners to produce food products with qualities desirable for both consumers and food companies. The Population Nutrition and Social Science team is analyzing existing data about eating behavior to determine how the public generally consumes our grant's target crops, and by extension, how best we can integrate them into the diet of American eaters. These results specifically target personnel active in research and policy creation. The in vitro digestion and fermentation experiments and the cell culture analyses conducted by the Human Health and Nutrition team target scientists and researchers in life science- including human nutrition and biology specifically. The results they produce also benefit food scientists, by helping them identify grain varieties with desirable nutritional qualities to utilize in their food products, and to justify marketing them as healthier. Uniform across all project disciplines is the appeal to graduate, undergraduate, and high school students. We currently have 22 graduate and undergraduate students working directly or indirectly on grant objectives, and 6 high school interns working on grant-related projects through our Summer Research Opportunity spearheaded by our education team. The Education team is also working diligently to accessibly introduce whole grain-based food products into local school districts through WSU Breadlab's Approachable loaf program and Viva Farms' Farm to School program. Changes/Problems:Dr. Perrigue's experimental aims have shifted to better align with overall project goals and objectives. She isjoining the scientific team of Objective 5,exploring the relationship between factors of dietary choice (taste, cost, and convenience) and adherence to dietary recommendations for whole grains and legumes. In a human clinical trial in her lab on the WSU Spokane campus, she and her team will recruit participants and test intake, acceptance, compliance, and health outcomes using prepared, heat-and serve whole grains and legumes processed using MAPS and MATS technologies in the Tang lab. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Throughout this grant year, the Soil to Society team provided various training and professional development opportunities. Dr. Rebecca McGee trained her post-doctoral scientists on various lab methods, methods of data analysis, writing skills, and presenting results. Dr. Katalin Szlavecz's graduate student, Rebecca Klein, participated in an Agricultural Acarology Workshop in Florida. Additionally, the entire research group, including students not directly working on the project, have received training with specific methodologies including DNA extraction, preparation and sequencing, and fiber and polyphenol analyses in foods. High school interns participating in our summer research opportunity also completed the CITI Program for Responsible Conduct of Research Training as well as 1 course on agriscience research. The Breadlab developed a WA-state approved "Whole Grain Researchers" course for educators to receive STEM clock hours. Soils and Cropping Systems researchers in Mt. Vernon conducted a field day to train agricultural support providers on their research and on soil health management strategies and assessments. Viva Farms also conducted several farmer trainings on the inclusion of small grains and legumes in cropping rotations, including updating their Curricula for Sustainable Agriculture to incorporate Soil to Society topics. This curriculum is required for all farmers entering their farm incubator program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Though project researchers have begun developing results, they largely remain preliminary at this time. Dr. Rebecca McGee submitted a proteomics manuscript to a peer reviewed journal and is awaiting a submission update. With this exception, most results have been disseminated only within our project team until they are finalized. Discussion of methodology and preliminary experimental findings have been shared at events such as the SoilCon field day that focused on soil health management and the 15th World Congress on Polyphenol Applications. Dr. Robert Brueggeman also presented his preliminary research findings to the Washington Grain Commission, North American Barley Researchers Workshop, to WSU researchers, breeders and stakeholders at the Nilan Endowed Chair Annual review, and internationally at barley workshops and stakeholder meetings. Some result highlights and updates have been shared on the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles for Soil to Society, in our project quarterly newsletter, on our project website, and in presentations at the annual meeting, winter update meeting, and at individual team meetings. Our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn currently have a combined 318 followers, and we are actively working to boost our outreach on these platforms. Project leadership has also been collaborating on a blog series through the WSU's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. Four of the eight projected blog posts are currently published. Results are also shared on the WSU Breadlab's website and Instagram account, which has over 18,000 followers. They also maintain a constant contact email list which they will utilize to share project updates as appropriate. Through these methods, results are disseminated to invested parties, including stakeholders--both associated with the grant and not. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Obj 1. Soil, Management & Cropping Systems S-Obj. 1.1. Crop rotation, soil and nutrient management Continue trials and sample analysis to gather more data. Second year of the micronutrient trial in Mt. Vernon. Fourth year of the Mount Vernon soil health management rotational trial. Analysis on grain micronutrients. S-Obj. 1.2. Soil carbon, fauna, and physical properties Harvested samples will be processed for grain yield, biomass yield, and nutrient content. Crop management practices will be implemented as needed in the fall such as tillage and liming (if needed) as well as establishment of winter crops for both the cropping systems trial and micronutrient fertility trial. S-Obj. 1.3. Extension materials, enterprise budgets Obj 2. Plant Breeding & Genetics S-Obj. 2.1. Germplasm evaluation 1) continue multi-environment GxE study of functional properties of pea starch 2) GWAS study of folate concentration in lentils in abiotic stress and non-stress environments. 3) GWAS study of resistant starch concentration in lentils in abiotic stress and non-stress environments. IDF/SDF analyses, protein analyses, then ash analyses. The goal is to have the IDF/SDF analyses complete for the 13 varieties with protein and ash remaining. S-Obj. 2.2. Genetic map construction for loci contributing to higher nutritional value. We will continue the development of biofortified barley varieties by introducing new genetics into our lines that enhance nutrient uptake and bioavailability. We will continue introgressing known genes/loci into our experimental lines and novel genes and loci as we continue with the genetic analysis, identification and characterization of novel genes and loci. We will develop molecular markers for use in marker assisted selection and genomic selection to expedite the release of new biofortified barley varieties. Obj 3. Human Health & Nutrition S-Obj. 3.1. Gut microbiome Conduct many other in vitro fermentation analyses with the different crops of interest (wheat from different bread products is currently analyzed). Provide the resulting fermentation products to Dr. Patrick Solverson for cell culture analyses. S-Obj. 3.2. Gut Metabolites & Cellular respiration We will isolate, characterize, and experiment with candidate gut-derived secondary metabolites in adipose and muscle tissue culture systems to determine their potential to improve mitochondrial dysfunction associated with the metabolic complications caused by poor diet and sedentary behavior. We will assess mitochondrial respiration in cultured or primary tissues using versatile technology70 and diet interventions to elucidate measurable changes in mitochondrial respiration in humans, animals, and cultured cells. Obj 4. Food Science & Product Development S-Obj. 4.1. Functional characterization Products with all six target crops will be developed and tested for functionality in the next grant year. They will use confocal microscopy to understand the differences in the performance of the different grains in the model food products. S-Obj. 4.3. Healthy snacks and baked products They are ready to begin this process after plant breeders have harvested and cleaned the grain and legumes from this year. This will occur in the fall. Obj 5. Community-based Health & Nutrition S-Obj. 5.3. Qualitative research in plant-forward diets Continue with the proposed analyses and give presentations and publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Perrigue will launch a clinical trial looking at consumption, acceptance, and health effects for convenient, prepared whole grains or legumes. She will be working with Dr. Juming Tang, Dr. Pablo Monsivais, and List Grentz on this project. Obj 6. Education S-Obj. 6.1a. High school curriculum development & internships The Education team will be holding the intern poster symposium in September 2023, where they will identify an intern to win the Innovative Idea Poster. They are also continuing to work on writing the school curriculum and identifying teacher professional development resources. At the conclusion of the first year of the internship, they will also revisit what went well and what can be improved on, in preparation for the continuation of the summer research program in summer 2024. S-Obj. 6.2. Farmer training and education Viva Farms will plan and implement a farmer workshop focusing specifically on grain and lentil production. Obj 7. Extension S-Obj. 7.1. Agricultural extension activities As manuscripts are submitted and accepted, researchers from all disciplines will collaborate on various fact sheets and informational brochures. Team leads will also continue to plan for future collaboration on journal articles and scientific publications. S-Obj. 7.2. Food science/product development outreach The Food Science team will hold another extrusion workshop, like this year's, next year. They will also be submitting a manuscript. S-Obj. 7.3. School district breakfast & lunch collaboration The Breadlab will increase their presence in area schools, continue working with Blue Zones with the hope of branching into further regions.?

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? When addressing food security, agricultural science has traditionally focused on increasing grain yield, particularly in carbohydrate-rich crops like wheat and rice, and metrics of global food security have emphasized the availability of calories. Recent studies have concluded that the greatest food security challenge in 2050 will be providing nutritious diets rather than adequate calories. Increased intake of whole grains, grain legumes, and pseudocereals can address these dietary imbalances, improve human health, and increase the sustainability of our diets and the food system. To better understand the roles of the environment, soil, and cropping system management on soil health, soil scientists in Mt. Vernon and Pullman initiated and replicated various rotational and micronutrient trials. Each trial year, soil scientists and microbiologists will collect and analyze soil samples for microarthropods, earthworms, nematodes, soil mycorrhizae, soil carbon pools, soil microbial biomass, crop yield, grain protein content, and grain Fe, Zn, and Mn content. Preliminary results were produced from last year's soil samples and new sampling occurred this year that will be analyzed in the coming years on WSU's campus, JHU's campus, and at the Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry in Budapest. These findings will be shared with scientists, farmers, agricultural support providers, and team economists, who will conduct an economic analysis so that management recommendations can be made, and appropriate Extension materials developed. Project plant breeders are continuing to develop new varieties of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa, and buckwheat with enhanced health and nutritive value by growing out colorful wheats, grain varieties in multiple environments, lines from core collections, and by crossing varieties with desirable traits. Breeders will analyze variety samples for nutritional traits and micronutrient concentration, helping them identify which lines to grow out for use in future experimentation by the Food Science and Human Health and Nutrition teams. Lab technicians spent the year calibrating and validating quinoa samples to determine accurate micronutrient concentrations. The number of these calibration and validation samples from last September alone totaled 5,800 and they will begin to apply this process to all crops next year. By working to identify specific genes that correlate to nutritive qualities, project plant breeders will revolutionize biofortification and the nutritional quality of cereal and legume crops. To confirm the impact of nutritionally enhanced varieties on key indicators of human health, scientists conducted a full in vitro digestion and fermentation experiment to compare the impact of target crops raw and cooked on the gut microbiome. Preliminary findings of this experiment, utilizing raw and cooked (boiled, extruded, baked) quinoa, indicated that quinoa exposure results in a strong prebiotic-like response, with some variation depending on stool donor, and the cooking methods only had a minute effect on this. The gut metabolites created through in vitro fermentation will then be used to treat cell respiration and protein expression of muscle and adipose tissue cultures. Chronic diseases, including obesity, are closely connected to the gut microbiota, making these experiments crucial in further quantifying the potential health benefits of newly developed project varieties. In our efforts to develop a diverse and innovative suite of flavorful, affordable and nutritious food products that will be accessible to consumers from all income levels, the team at WSU Breadlab established Bakery at the Buoy, a 100% whole grain pop-up bakery to get more whole grains into their community. They alsopartneredwith Blue Zones Spanaway/Multicare to develop approachable loaf baking classes for the public, professional bakers, and restaurateurs, working with grocery stores, restaurants and schools to increase healthier options available to the public. Food scientists developed the testing methodology for making various food products, including pancakes, pre-cooked whole grain salad, muffins, focaccia bread, and extruded puffs. They have also developed a protocol for identifying starch, protein, and fiber components in food products used to understand the differences in the performance of the various grains in the model food products. Food engineers are also working to identify ready-to-eat food products that have long shelf lives and require little or no preparation by the purchaser. These meals will serve as a healthier, more accessible alternative to many expensive and salt intensive prepared food productscurrently available to consumers.Being ready-to-eat, they are also more accessible to consumers without the equipment or knowledge required to prepare these crops from their raw ingredient state. Population studies to explore impacts on dietary quality by increasing target crops in US diets and assessing consumer acceptance and valuation of whole grain and legume-based foods have begun. Researchers have accessed and restructured population dietary data from National Human and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to allow for the proposed analyses and conduct preliminary analyses and descriptive statistics on population intakes of the six target crops. This information will be supplemented by a future survey analyzing the general public's behavior and rationale utilized in making diet-related decisions; information that will be valuable when deciding how to introduce these crops to food companies and American eaters. Educational efforts targeting secondary student instruction, teacher professional development, and farmer training occurred throughout the grant year; including the development of a summer research opportunity for high school students, curriculum development for future in-school and teacher focused lessons, and farmer trainings around the inclusion of small grains and legumes into cropping systems. Through the summer research opportunity, five high school interns worked on projects with various researchers from our discipline teams. They are currently working on completing a research abstract and poster created from their internship and coursework, that they will present to the project team.The Breadlab is especially prioritizing making whole grains more accessible to school-age children, applying for and receiving a small grant to increase involvement in the local schools to hold in-person workshops on the history and current state of small grains agriculture. Due to the collaborative efforts of project and institution personnel, Washington State University has implemented a new major that bridges agriculture and human health. As of the beginning of the Fall 2023 semester, students at WSU can now major in Human Nutrition and Food Systems, offered through WSU's College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resources and the Elson Floyd College of Medicine. This offering is a direct result of the work on this grant, and meets the demand set by students interested in learning how food systems and agriculture can benefit health. Year 2 of this grant built off the foundational work from Year 1, featuring field trial replications, plant breeding of new crop varieties, recipe and processing experimentation with desirable varieties, preliminary analyses of eater behaviors, and the first in vitro fermentation experiments with quinoa. Information learned from these grant activities will lead to more sustainable agricultural management strategies and healthy and affordable food products that meet the needs of diverse individuals and communities.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Metcalfe, M. 2022. Invited presenter, Insurance Accounting & Systems Association, Seattle, WA. Pacific Northwest Annual Meeting, November 18, 2022.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K. 2022. Soil to Society: The Intersection of Agriculture and Human Health at Washington State University. Guest Lecture, AFS 201, Sept. 16, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Metcalfe, M. 2022. Invited guest lecture, University of Washington Seattle, WA. NUTR 302 Food Systems: Harvest to Health, October 20, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Metcalfe, M. 2022. Featured Wheat Speakers: An Alternative Path. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. December 13, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Thorne-Lyman A, Schneider K. 2022. Understanding American Perceptions of Whole Grains and Pulses. Washington State University, Pullman, WA. November 18, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Monsivais, Pablo. (2023). Dried peas and lentils: Consumption trends and eating context. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Reilly K, Cavigelli M, Szlavecz K. Agricultural management practices impact soil properties more than soil microarthropods. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting (ASA-CSA-SSSA), Baltimore, MD. November 6-10, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Klein, B. (2023). Bug Out! Exploring Soil Communities in Agricultural Systems. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Connolly, D. (2023). Impact of Quinoa and Food Processing Methods on the Human Gut Microbiome Through In Vitro Fermentation. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Thorne-Lyman, A. (2023). Update: Human Health and Nutrition. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Szlavecz K. (2023). Soil biodiversity in human impacted systems. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Warner, A. (2023). Exploring the Soil to Society Pipeline through an Interactive Activity. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Klein, B. (2023). Soil Ecology and Optimal Soil Sampling Methods. Soils and Cropping Systems Team Meeting, Pullman, WA, USA, February 18, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Domsic, E. (2023). Peer-to-Peer Field Day, Mt. Vernon, WA. August 2, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Martinez, P. (2023). Field Day Presentation. Peer-to-Peer Field Day, Mt. Vernon, WA. August 2, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Morgan, R. (2023). Field Day Presentation. Peer-to-Peer Field Day, Mt. Vernon, WA. August 2, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Brueggeman, B. (2023). Spillman Barley Field Tour. Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 12, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Garland-Campbell, K. (2023). Spring Wheat Field Tour. Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 12, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: McGee, R. (2023). Pea and Lentil Field Tour. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 12, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kaur, G. (2023). Rotational and Micronutrient Trial Field Tour. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 12, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Brueggeman B, Clare S, Brooke M. (2023). WSU Barley Breeding and Malt Quality Lab Tour. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Nalbandian E, Ganjyal G. (2023). WSU Food Science Lab Tour. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Tang, J. (2023). Food Engineering MAPS and MATS Lab Tour. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Tenderis B, Tang J. (2023). MATS versus MAPS Hummus Taste Test. 2023 Soil to Society Annual Meeting, Pullman, WA. July 13, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kaur, G. (2023). Rotational and Micronutrient Trials. Field Tour Video, Pullman, WA. July 7, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Djibo Waziri, A. (2023). Spring Wheat Breeding Program. Field Tour Video, Pullman, WA. August 3, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Bernin, J. (2023). Extrusion Processing. Lab Tour Video, Pullman, WA. July 7, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Griffin LaHue, D. and LaHue, G. (2022). SOILCON Field Day, Mt. Vernon, WA. August 27, 2022. 90 people in attendance.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Carbonero F, Connolly D, Rust B, Minj J, Kirkendall A. (2022). Impact of Berries, Cherries and Quinoa Polyphenols on Gut Microbiota & Health. International Society of Antioxidants: Polyphenols Applications, Valencia, Spain. September 28, 2022.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Connolly D, Carbonero F. (2023). Impact of Quinoa and Food Processing Methods on the Human Gut Microbiome Through In Vitro Fermentation. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Washington State University, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Program. July 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Garland-Campbell, K. (2022). Making staples more like superfoods. Wheat Life Magazine, Ritzville, WA. December 2022.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis, A. (2023). Optimizing Human Health and Nutrition: From Soil to Society. WSU CSANR Blog, Pullman, WA. May 16, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis A, Griffin-LaHue D. (2023). Soil Scientists Lay the Groundwork for a Healthier Food System. WSU CSANR Blog, Pullman, WA. June 13, 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis A, Murphy K, Garland-Campbell K. (2023). Breeding Better Food. WSU CSANR Blog. Pullman, WA. July 10, 2023.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Craine, E., A. Davies, D. Packer, N.D. Miller, S.M. Schm�ckel, E.P. Spaulding, M. Tester, K. Murphy (2023). A comprehensive characterization of agronomic and end-use quality phenotypes across a quinoa world core collection. Frontiers in Plant Science 14: 1101547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1101547
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kellogg, J.A., E.F. Klarquist, A.D. Waziri, D. Luftig, F. Carbonero, P. Solverson, M. Perrigue, J. Walton, D. Aytekin, A. MacKenzie, K. Garland-Campbell, K. Murphy (2022). Developing a definition of biofortification through the synthesis of food biofortification publications: a scoping review protocol. JBI Evidence Synthesis 20: 1-7. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-21-00297
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Tabatabaei, I., S. Alseekh, M. Shahid, E. Lenaik, M. Wagner, H. Mahmoudi, S. Thushar, A.R. Fernie, K. Murphy, S.M. Schm�ckel, M. Tester, B. Mueller-Roeber, A. Skirycz, S. Balazadeh (2022). The diversity of quinoa morphological traits and seed metabolic composition. Scientific Data 9: 323. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01399-y
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bitar-Nalbandian, E., E. Pietrysiak, K. Murphy, and G.M. Ganjyal (2022). Different breeding lines of quinoa significantly influence the quality of the baked cookies and cooked grains. Journal of Food Science 12: 5225-5239. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.16354
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Murphy, K. (2023). Breeding nutritious quinoa at Washington State University for farmers in Ecuador, Rwanda, and the USA. Global Quinoa Congress, Potosi, Bolivia, March 30, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K. (2022). Integrating agriculture and human health in the WSU quinoa breeding program. Faculty seminar, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Siaya, Kenya, November 15, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K. (2022). Optimizing human health and nutrition using a Soil to Society approach. WSU Rural, Remote & Underserved Public Health Research Symposium, Spokane, WA, August 26, 2022.
  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K. (2022). Breeding for human health and nutrition using a Soil to Society approach. Guest lecture, WSU Agriculture and Food Systems 201, Pullman, WA. September 2022.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schultheis, A. (2023). Engineering, Extruding, and Elevating Whole-Grain Based Foods. WSU CSANR Blog, Pullman, WA. August 22, 2023.


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience: The primary work we have accomplished during year 1 of this grant addresses our first two grant objectives. These address the different grain and legume varieties that work well within our soil and cropping systems and are nutritionally dense; ultimately benefiting farmers. Not only will identifying desirable varieties be helpful for farmers, but the work of the breeders and soils and cropping systems teams will help inform farmers how to grow these crops to optimize nutritional traits of interest. The grain and legume trials will also help identify plant varieties that can shift the focus of US food companies towards developing new evidence-based, whole grain-rich food products intended to benefit consumer health. For this reason, crop and food scientists were targeted in this grant year to not only improve the nutritional value of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa, and buckwheat, but also enhance the availability and accessibility of these foods by combining research, education, and extension in an S2S research pipeline that bridges the knowledge and communication gaps between agriculture, food science, and human health and nutrition. This work is also targeting the segment of the U.S. population that are at a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes because of an unhealthy diet. Finding varieties of grain that are highly nutritious and can be made into desirable food products is essential to shift Americans towards healthier diets. This work will be combined with the outreach and behavior changing messaging in objectives 6 and 7. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral students are also included in this target audience category, as formal classroom instruction was given to undergraduates by Drs. Pablo Monsivais and Kevin Murphy, and various graduate and post-doc students have been recruited to work on this project. Changes/Problems:As a member of an international cohort of barley researchers, Co-PI Dr. Robert Brueggeman's lab performed whole genome sequencing of the Wild Barley Diversity Collection (WBDC) headed up by The University of Minnesota and Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben, Germany. This powerful new genomic resource will allow them to identify novel micro nutrient and b-glucan accumulation genes via GWAS. With the power of every SNP within the 315 wild barley genomes we could have the power via GWAS to identify causative SNPs and genes underlying the biofortification traits. Thus, they increased the WBDC seed in the winter of 2022 in the greenhouse and planted a subset of ~200 WBDC lines in a replicated field trial at Pullman WA and collected seed for phenotyping and GWAS. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Jessica Braden, new lab manager for the Murphy lab funded by this project, is in charge of the nutritional phenotyping lab. In particular, she trains graduate and undergraduate students on instrumentation to analyze protein, amino acids, seed size, seed shape, seed color, phytic acid, and mineral concentration. She attended the 42nd National Nutrient Database Conference where she learned about food composition databases, gateways to advancing nutrient profile calculations, and potential bias of nutrient intake estimates using nonsynchronous versions of USDA's Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies. She also attended the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, where she focuses on learning more about validation and calibration of lab instrumentation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Progress on year 1 accomplishments and activities were disseminated to grant personnel, stakeholders, the advisory board, and community members at the annual meeting in Mt. Vernon from June 28-30. Additionally, a public field day held at the Spillman Agronomy Farm in Pullman on July 6 showcased perennial wheat, spelt, quinoa, and buckwheat varieties and breeding lines that will be further evaluated for nutritional characteristics. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Obj 1. Soil, Management & Cropping Systems S-Obj. 1.1. Crop rotation, soil and nutrient management Continue Pullman, Mt. Vernon, and Pullman/Reardon rotational and micronutrient trials. The rotational crops will be subject to various treatments including various tillage methods, inputs and residue convers. The micronutrient trials in Mt. Vernon and Pullman/Reardon will focus on the effect of micronutrient application quantity and timing on quinoa, winter wheat, and winter pea crops. S-Obj. 1.2. Soil carbon, fauna, and physical properties Within the rotational trials described above, a suite of soil physical, chemical, and biological properties connected to critical functions in sustainable systems will be assessed. S-Obj. 1.3. Extension materials, enterprise budgets Management recommendations and Extension materials will be developed and disseminated. We will conduct a regional field day in both western and eastern Washington and share information through the WSU Wheat Beat Podcast. Obj 2. Plant Breeding & Genetics S-Obj. 2.1. Germplasm evaluation Nutritional traits including concentrations of micronutrients, phytic acid, protein, β-glucan and phenolic compounds will be tested on target crops as appropriate. S-Obj. 2.2. Genetic map construction for loci contributing to higher nutritional value. The only change we have to our agency-approved plan for this effort regarding the barley breeding portion of this project. As a member of an international cohort of barley researchers, Co-PI Dr. Robert Brueggeman's lab performed whole gene sequencing of the Wild Barley Diversity Collection (WBDC) headed up by the University of Minnesota and Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Resarch Gatersleben, Germany. This powerful new genomic resource will allow them to identify novel micro-nutrient and β-glucan accumulation genes via GWAS. With the power of every SNP within the 315 wild barley genomes, they were able to identify causative SNPs and genes underlying the biofortification traits. Thus, they increased the WBDC seed in the winter of 2022 in the greenhouse and planted a subset of ~200 WBDC lines in a replicated field trial at Pullman WA and collected seed for phenotyping and GWAS. Obj 3. Human Health & Nutrition S-Obj. 3.1. Gut microbiome We will estimate the impact of whole grains on the gut microbiome by simulating modulation of gut microbiome with a systematic and standardized approach. S-Obj. 3.2. Gut Metabolites & Cellular respiration We will assess cellular respiration and protein expression of muscle and adipose tissue cultures in response to treatment with gut metabolites created from in vitro fermentation. Obj 4. Food Science & Product Development S-Obj. 4.1. Functional characterization By selecting varieties from the agronomic and advanced breeding trails, we functionally characterize them to determine their unique attributes. This will help determine the best food applications for the varieties. S-Obj. 4.3. Healthy snacks and baked products Develop whole grain-based snacks that obtain desired nutritional characteristics using the varieties identified in Objectives 2, 3, and 4.1. This information will be disseminated to industry through various channels, including publications and extension workshops. Obj 5. Community-based Health & Nutrition S-Obj. 5.3. Qualitative research in plant-forward diets We will conduct qualitative research and trails of improved practices to understand how Americans perceive whole grains and legumes and explore substitution and the potential for shifts towards a plant-forward diet. Obj 6. Education S-Obj. 6.1a. High school curriculum development & internships Develop an inquiry-based curriculum that promotes student engagement in interdisciplinary critical thinking. We are also developing a teacher professional development to increase teaching comfort with the content and support curriculum integration. We are currently in the process of developing a job description for a summer internship for high school students to work in the different areas of the S2S research and Extension projects. S-Obj. 6.2. Farmer training and education Viva Farms will continue working to educate farmers in agricultural management strategies, preferred varieties, and marketing opportunities for sustainable production of nutritious crops. They will do so by providing cohort-based workshops to educate farmers on production, harvest, post-harvest, marketing, sales, supply chain management practices, and provide technical assistance. Obj 7. Extension S-Obj. 7.1. Agricultural extension activities Results from each year's work will be presented to farmers and other stakeholders at field days, through annual webinars, on extension websites, and on social media platforms. S-Obj. 7.2. Food science/product development outreach We will develop and offer workshops using information collected from food company stakeholders to understand their needs in relation to using whole grain target crops as ingredients. S-Obj. 7.3. School district breakfast & lunch collaboration We will assess the feasibility of introducing healthy whole grain products into school and childcare settings using a multi-stage approach involving stakeholder consultation, focus groups, interviews, and surveys. Viva Farms will also support the introduction of products into school curriculums.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? When addressing food security, agricultural science has traditionally focused on increasing grain yield, particularly in carbohydrate-rich crops like wheat and rice, and metrics of global food security have emphasized the availability of calories. Recent studies have concluded that the greatest food security challenge in 2050 will be providing nutritious diets rather than adequate calories. Increased intake of whole grains, grain legumes, and pseudocereals can address these dietary imbalances, improve human health, and increase the sustainability of our diets and the food system. Using the Soil to Society (S2S) pipeline strategy, we are working to identify varieties of whole grains, grain legumes, and pseudocereals that are desirable nutritionally, agronomically, and by consumers. Year 1 of this grant lays the foundation for the processing and consumption of food products that will lead to more sustainable agricultural management strategies and healthy and affordable food products that meet the needs of diverse individuals and communities. Objective 1. Understand and apply the roles of environment, soil, and cropping system management on soil health, farm economics, and the nutritional content of the grain for each target crop. Rotational soil management and organic matter input trials were established at Mt. Vernon, Pullman, and Reardon, WA by Co-PI's Drs. Deirdre Griffin-LaHue, Gabriel LaHue and Clark Neely to look at impacts of soil and crop management on soil health, production sustainability and crop yield and quality. The rotational soil management trials include winter wheat and spring barley at Mt. Vernon and winter wheat, spring barley, and peas in Pullman, WA and the organic matter input trials looked at winter wheat and winter peas in both Mt. Vernon and Pullman/Reardon, WA. Five students have been recruited to work on this project objective in the next year: three on soil health, crop science, and soil food aspects, one developing genomic selection models for nutrient improvement for club wheat and D-genome Nested Association Mapping (DNAM) populations and one assisting with soil sample analysis with Co-PI Dr. Katalin Szalvecz. Baseline samples for soil health properties were collected in both trials before residue management, tillage intensity, and compost amendments were conducted and soil fertility samples were collected prior to crop planting. Soil samples are tested for Zn fertility by Co-PI Dr. Kimberly Campbell and soil arthropods by Co-PI Dr. Katalin Szalvevz's lab at Johns Hopkins University. Data collection practices were established in collaboration with Co-PI Dr. Vicki McCracken for future economic analyses and Extension material development. Nothing to report Nothing to report Objective 2. Develop new varieties of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa, and buckwheat with enhanced health and nutritive value. Co-PI Dr. Kimberly Campbell's lab developed and tested several trait evaluation methods and are moving forward with Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometers (MPAES) and High-performance Liquid Chromatography to analyze variety samples for nutrients and phytate. They also grew out spring wheat populations in Lind and Pullman, WA and will harvest, thresh and rate the samples for flour ash, kernel size, protein concentration, nutrient concentration and phytate during the winter of 2022-2023. Co-PI Dr. Rebecca McGee's lab is conducting a study of pea protein concentration in five pea accessions; taking samples at five timepoints, extracting RNA and sending them to Purdue University for proteomics analysis. Co-PI Dr. Robert Brueggeman recruited students to plant 351 diverse barley lines from the mini world barley core collection (MWBCC) in replicated field trails in Pullman and Valley Ford, WA in 2022. These plants will be analyzed forβ-glucan and micronutrient content. Golden Promise variety barley trails under various tillage treatments are also being conducted, to isolate mutants and breed for use in no-till operations. The barley lab is also working to implement a field crossing block in Pullman, WA where high β-glucan crosses are performed. Crossing with a high lysine mutant was unsuccessful this year and will be reattempted in a greenhouse crossing block in Winter 2022. A suite of agronomic and disease resistance trails were collected for each crop. Data will be synthesized and analyzed in Fall 2022. Nothing to report Nothing to report Objective 3. Confirm the impact of nutritionally enhanced varieties on key indicators of human health and assess acceptance using consumer panels. Co-PI Drs. Franck Carbonero, Patrick Solverson and Pablo Monsivais submitted the IRB for the cell culture experiment. Dr. Franck Carbonero acquired and instilled the anaerobic chamber necessary for objective experiments and Dr. Solverson fine-tuned the methodology for the cell culture testing and conducted a series of pilot experiments for the purpose of method development. Nothing to report Nothing to report Nothing to report Objective 4. Develop a diverse and innovative suite of flavorful, affordable, and nutritious food products that will be accessible to consumers from all income levels. Co-PI Dr. Stephen Jones' team isconducting preliminary bakes with whole wheat flour in the Approachable Loaf and various snacks. They are also growing out ten varieties of buckwheat for future harvest and milling. Dr. Stephen Jones and his team put on a variety of workshops, presentations, conferences, and field days discussing various topics surrounding whole grains.Co-PI's Drs. Girish Ganjyal and Juming Tang are recruiting lab members to work on year 2 projects. Nothing to report Nothing to report Nothing to report Objective 5. Conduct population studies to explore impacts on dietary quality by increasing target crops in US diets and assessing consumer acceptance and valuation of whole grain and legume-based foods. A formal partnership was established between Washington State University and Johns Hopkins University in January of 2022. Since this point, Co-PIs Drs. Andrew Thorne-Lyman and Jessica Fanzo supervised a literature review on the consumption of pulses in America; incorporating studies as well as conversations with expert individuals. Their findings will be summarized in a paper submitted in year 2. This team willinclude Dr. Kate Schneider and continue collaborating with Co-PI Dr. Vicki McCracken to increase partnership between research teams and overall data availability. Nothing to report Nothing to report Nothing to report Objective 6. Focus our educational capacity on secondary student instruction and teacher professional development, and farmer training. Co-PI Dr. Anna Warner recruited a graduate student to assist in developing and implementing the education curriculum, teacher education program, and the high school internship. The proposed curriculum includes objectives that align to the current educational standards. Co-PI Michael Frazier and the team at Viva Farms prepared to implement future grain and legume field trials, began gauging project participation interest among incubating farmers, and presented the project during the farmer meetings on both 6/15 and 8/17. Nothing to report Nothing to report Nothing to report Objective 7. Disseminate knowledge gained and products developed to stakeholders across agriculture, food and health sciences, and communities, schools, and underserved populations through a wide-reaching extension effort. The team at Viva Farms conducted preliminary outreach to 15 food service directors and administrators across 6 school districts, head start, and early childhood education groups in preparation for future educational and food service opportunities. They also engaged directly with 12 elementary school gardens through planting instructions and hands-on demonstrations. Nothing to report Nothing to report Nothing to report

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Murphy, K. (2021). Optimizing health and nutrition: From soil to society. Western Pulse Growers Association Annual Meeting, Moscow, ID, USA, December 14, 2021.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Murphy, K. (2021). Breeding for protein quality in quinoa. University of Minnesota Plant Protein Innovation Center, 3rd Annual Research Spotlight Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America, December 8, 2021.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K., J. Kellogg, H. Choi, C. Habiyaremye, P. Monsivais, M. Perrigue (2022). Collaborations between plant breeders and human health researchers to develop �-glucan targets in barley. Sustainable Agricultural Systems Annual Project Director Meeting, Kansas City, MO, April, 20, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K., R. Brueggeman, F. Carbonero, G. Ganjyal, K. Garland-Campbell, J. Fanzo, M. Frazier, D. Griffin-LaHue, S. Jones, G. LaHue, V. McCracken, R. McGee, P. Monsivais, C. Neely, M. Perrigue, K. Szlavecz, P. Solverson, J. Tang, A. Thorne-Lyman, A. Warner (2022). Optimizing human health and nutrition: From soil to society. Sustainable Agricultural Systems Annual Project Director Meeting, Kansas City, MO, April, 19, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Carbonero F, Brueggeman RS, Campbell KG, Fanzo J, Frazier M, Ganjyal GM, Griffin-LaHue D, Jones SS, LaHue GT, McCracken VA, McGee R, Monsivais P, Neely CB, Perrigue MM, Szlavecz K, Solverson PM, Tang J, Thorne-Lyman AL, Warner A, and Murphy KM (2021). Quinoa, pulses, and other grains nutritional improvement from Soil to Society. Agriculture & Health Summit, University of Nebraska (Online)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Murphy K, Monsivais P (2021). AFS 2021: Soil to Society: The Intersection of Agriculture and Human Health. Washington State University, Pullman, WA, September, 21, 2021.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Murphy, K (2022). Soil to Society: Identifying gaps at the intersection of agriculture and human health. WSU Rural, Remote & Underserved Public Health Research Symposium, Spokane, WA, August, 26, 2022.