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Agri-Bytes Feb. 26, 2009
In This Edition:
An apple a day keeps breast cancer away
A Cornell University researcher is making an even stronger case that an apple a day—as well as daily helpings of other fruits and vegetables—can help keep the breast-cancer doctor away.
Rui Hai Liu, an associate professor of food science at the Ithaca-based university, has published six studies on the subject in the past year.
He reports that fresh apple extracts significantly inhibited the size of mammary tumors in rats, according to a news release. The more extracts they were given, the greater the inhibition.
"We not only observed that the treated animals had fewer tumors, but the tumors were smaller, less malignant and grew more slowly compared with the tumors in the untreated rats,” he says.
The study confirmed a preliminary study in rats published in 2007.
In his latest study, Liu found that a type of adenocarcinoma—a highly malignant tumor and the main cause of breast-cancer patient deaths—was present in 81 percent of tumors in the control animals.
But it developed in only 57 percent, 50 percent and 23 percent of the rats fed low, middle and high doses of apple extracts, respectively, during the 24-week study. The diets were the equivalent of one, three and six apples a day in humans.
"That reflects potent anti-proliferative [rapid decrease] activity," Liu says.
The studies highlight the important role of phytochemicals, known as phenolics or flavonoids, found in apples and other fruits and vegetables. Of the top 25 fruits consumed in the United States, Liu says apples provide 33 percent of the phenolics that Americans consume annually.
His research was supported in part by the U.S. Apple Association.
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California citrus co-op enjoys strong returns
Despite a large 2007-08 navel orange crop, growers who belonged to Sunkist Growers marketing cooperative enjoyed some of the best prices ever.
Sunkist President and Chief Executive Officer Russ Hanlin presented the overview at the co-op’s 115th annual meeting recently in Ventura, Calif.
The Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based co-op had total revenues topping $1 billion in 2008, up 8 percent from 2007, according to a news release. Grower payments of $839 million were 5 percent better than 2007’s.
Hanlin qualified the earnings by pointing out that 2007 was a freeze year.
Nevertheless the 2008 earnings topped the pre-freeze three-year average by 4 percent.
The 95-million-carton navel season lasted from mid-October 2007 into July 2008, presenting some marketing challenges. California ships oranges in 37.5-pound cartons.
Grower returns varied, depending on fruit quality, size and the mix of domestic and export shipments.
“The overall result was the best FOBs ever for a crop of this magnitude, and a respectable utilization percentage considering the long marketing window needed to work through a crop this size,” he says.
The navel season was followed by a large Valencia crop that also presented marketing challenges, including record high fuel prices and the worst economic down turn in decades.
Lemons beat the record set in 2007 by $20 million.
Also helping the bottom line were ongoing improvements to Sunkist’s Citrus Juice & Oils operations, Hanlin says.
In 2008, the co-op completed plant consolidation and now all citrus byproducts are processed at its Tipton, Calif., plant, driving greater economies of scale and increased efficiencies.
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Washington State University to hold ‘cider production 101’
Much like microbrews, hand-crafted apple cider is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. But it’s not as simple as pressing apples, fermenting the beverage, bottling it and selling it.
Skill is needed to ensure the correct organisms are used in fermentation. And food safety is critical to protect the product from contamination from disease-causing pathogens.
Washington State University in Mount Vernon will offer an intensive five-day workshop from June 23 through June 27 titled “Principles and Practices of Cider Marking.” Perries, hard pear ciders, also will be included. The workshop is cosponsored by the Northwest Cider Society.
Leading the class will be Peter Mitchell, a cider consultant and expert from the United Kingdom.
The workshop will cover the scientific principles for producing quality apple cider and perry, orchard management and cider marketing. The class will include a field trip to a cider orchard.
For more information on the workshop, visit http://learningcenters.wsu.edu/skagit/cider.html
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