Four graduate students (Oluwatoyin Sangokunle, Chunya Tang, Yaqi Zhao, and Xingyi Jiang) from the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology (NIP) presented their research as the first author at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) FIRST Virtual Meeting (July 19-23, 2021). Another graduate student (Frank Velez) from NIP presented at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting (July 18-21, 2021). Both meetings are engaged in food safety and technologies and provide a network of food science professionals from academia, industry, and government.
Three graduate students, Oluwatoyin, Chunya, and Yaqi, were the finalists of the IFT Graduate Student Research Competition in three divisions (Carbohydrate, Toxicology and Safety Evaluation, and Aquatic Food Products), respectively. Oluwatoyin won the first prize in the Carbohydrate Division. He presented how some pulse starches are slowly digestible in an in-vitro system. Pulses could play a significant health role in the population, including that some pulses contribute to low postprandial glycemic response. “We attempted to answer whether its low comparative glycemia is due to the starch itself or other factors in the pulse seeds,” Oluwatoyin said. In addition, Chunya won the first prize in the Graduate Student Best Paper Competition at the North America Jiangnan University Association (NAJUA). Her award-winning research is titled “Effect of temperature on molecular conformation and immunoreactivity of soybean lectin.”
The students enjoyed networking with experts, attending scientific sessions virtually, and learning cutting-edge food and nutrition researches. All students would like to acknowledge the continuous support from the department faculty gratefully.