Ancient grains refers to a category of grains – particularly pseudo-cereals – that possess a very unique health benefit that provide essential nutritional requirements for our health. ARS Research Leader, Dr. Sean Liu at the Functional Foods Research Unit in Peoria, Illinois is researching ways to make ancient grains more nutritional, and he wants to make them more attractive to consumers.

Click on the link below to view our Cooking With Science videos on Buckwheat and several other tasty recipes.

https://aglab.ars.usda.gov/sights-and-sounds/cooking-with-science

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Wendy Shaw, a registered dietitian formerly with the National Agricultural Library, discusses the importance of nutrition, from the world’s elite athletes to the weekend warriors. Give it a listen.

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Wouldn’t it be great if the oils and margarines you cook with were actually healthy for you and still enhanced the flavor of your foods? Researchers at ARS’s Functional Foods Research Unit in Peoria, Illinois, are mixing common cooking oils with natural waxes to create oleogels – which you can say is the secret sauce behind a healthier cooking oil.

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“I’m your huckleberry.” Learn about the origins of the Huckleberry Gold Potato and other interesting facts about potatoes.

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ARS Research Geneticist, Dr. Dolores Mornhinweg at the Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit in Stillwater, OK is developing new Barley crop lines that are resistant to pests such as the Russian Wheat Aphid.

Barley is an important part of the U.S. economy, bringing in over a billions dollars in crop value. The Russian Wheat Aphid is a major pest to barley production in the U.S.

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When you grow anything indoors, you can control a lot of the conditions, including temperature, irrigation, insect and disease resistance, and water quality and consumption. ARS researchers are using indoor recirculating systems to improve the health and yields of rainbow trout while maintaining great taste and market size.

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Fish farmers are using natural contained aquifers to grow fish to market size at an incredible fast rate. That’s because aquifers can provide optimal conditions for fish rearing. Unfortunately, you can’t scale-up aquifers. ARS researchers are working with fish farmers to develop and implement best management practices to increase fish yields, health, and size of fish reared in aquifers.

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Dr. Tara McHugh may be the GOAT when it comes to creating foods that are both healthy and tasty. Dr. McHugh and her team have a created a variety of delicious treats and eats, but perhaps her signature creation was a wrap made from fruits and vegetables.

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