FAPC research wins at World Grains Summit
STILLWATER, Okla. – Food & Agricultural Products Center research received top honors at the World Grains Summit: Foods and Beverages.
Fadi Al Jorf, an Oklahoma State University food science doctoral candidate under the direction of FAPC Cereal Chemist Patricia Rayas, won the Walter Bushuk Best Student Paper Award in the protein division of the American Association of Cereal Chemists International student paper competition.
“We are very proud that his work was selected among our peers as the best paper of this year’s meeting,” Rayas said. “This means that Fadi’s research work was appreciated as an important issue to study in cereal proteins and specifically in wheat proteins.”
Al Jorf’s poster, “Comparison of Gluten Proteins Profile from a Hard Red Spring Wheat Cultivar Grown Under Optimum and Water Stressed Conditions,” beat 42 others to take the prize at the summit co-hosted by AACC International and the Masters Brewers Association of the Americas.
“At first, I was astonished,” Al Jorf said. “I did not believe that I was the winner. Then, I started thinking about the efforts and time spent on this paper and the project.”
The AACC International awarded Al Jorf with an engraved plaque, a $150 honorarium and a subsidized trip to the 2007 AACC International Annual Meeting.
Al Jorf’s research, supported by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and Oklahoma Wheat Research Foundation, focuses on comparing the proteins found in organelle membranes and storage bodies in wheat grown under water stress conditions to wheat grown under optimum conditions.
The OWC and OWRF sponsor research that benefits Oklahoma wheat producers, said Paul Jackson, OWRF chair and OWC secretary/treasurer.
“It feels good,” Jackson said. “It’s good for the wheat farmers of Oklahoma to know their money is being well spent.”
Researchers are actively studying and comparing proteins related to water stress, Rayas said.
“We are presently trying to get at least some groups of proteins identified from different organelles or cell compartments, for example from endoplasmic reticulum and storage bodies,” Rayas said. “This is a real opportunity, since not all the proteins we found are reported in the public databases. We are looking forward to collaboration with other institutions, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratories, that have more scientists working in this area and are well funded, and other international groups from France, the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany.”
Al Jorf was born in Damascus, Syria, and earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Damascus University. Since coming to OSU in 2000, Al Jorf has earned a master’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and anticipates graduating in 2007 with his doctoral degree.
“I was very proud to receive such an honor and represent OSU at the conference,” Al Jorf said. “In addition, this award has provided me with more motivation to further pursue this project and the future needs of modifications as the project progresses.”
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CONTACT:
Patricia Rayas
Cereal Chemist
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
148 FAPC
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-6071
Fax: 405-744-6313
E-Mail: pat.rayas_duarte@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.
