Bob Roberts’ research into adding omega-3 fatty acids has produced a fortified yogurt that performed well in sensory taste testing. The University Creamery and in-house dairy processing plant played a major role in producing a good-tasting yogurt that helps lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol.

Peterson explains that the sugar-induced oxidation process produces free radicals that attack the system, causing mutations and breakdowns. Flavonoids, the bioactive compounds that create and alter flavors, are also well-known antioxidants; however, he believes flavonoids also can remove reactive sugars that induce oxidation. His research is aimed at determining which compounds will quench the free radicals in a given biochemical situation while creating pleasant or likable flavors.

“When you heat sugars and protein in food products, you produce flavor reactions but also produce reactive sugars that induce oxidation,” he says. “By influencing the system—by reducing the amount of reactive sugars—we believe we can slow the aging processes, heal cancer, obliterate diabetes, and minimize all the other things caused by the oxidation process. It’s like a conditioner and a shampoo together: the flavors are like the shampoo, but if I put the right things in, I can include benefits that we usually get by taking pills and such.”

Peterson’s research is acknowledged to be at the leading edge of the field, according to Bruce McPheron, associate dean for research in the college. “His creativity complements our strengths in research designed to turn agricultural commodities into palatable and healthy food products,” McPheron says. “His approaches have implications for a wide variety of foods, and he bridges the gap between excellence in basic research and the translation of that knowledge into practical applications that benefit the food industry and, ultimately, consumers.”

For his part, Peterson understands the public’s confusion over a researcher who is using food science to find a cure for cancer and other diseases. While it’s a definite stretch, he says, he’s keeping his feet (and research) securely in his discipline. “At the end of the day, I’m trying to understand the impact of food chemistry on health and wellness and how these phytonutrients impact the body from a food chemist’s standpoint. The implication is that we can make healthy food more flavorful,” he says. “It’s important for linking back to the flavor properties— they’re key for health and wellness. Better-flavored food can promote health and help you live longer.”

Giving common foods more healthful properties also is one of Robert Beelman’s goals. The Penn State food scientist has been researching mushrooms for more than 25 years, looking for ways to grow more, bigger, and better mushrooms more efficiently. But with Americans increasingly looking to foods to improve health and prevent disease, Beelman has turned his attention to the nutritional aspects of these edible fungi. “Mushrooms have long been thought to have medicinal properties,” he says. “In Asian medicine, they’re used in all kinds of dietary supplements, but the American medical community doesn’t take much stock in the purported health benefits—lots of them border on folklore.”

Beelman has studied naturally occurring compounds in mushrooms with nutritional or medical value. He says research has shown, for example, that mushrooms are a good source of selenium. “There’s mounting evidence that selenium is very important in health,” he says. “Selenium is an antioxidant that helps to reduce damaging free radicals in the body, which contribute to arthritis and heart disease. Preliminary research also appears to show that selenium makes animals more resistant to avian influenza.”

The problem is that very few human foods contain naturally high levels of selenium. Beelman pioneered a method for enhancing mushrooms’ selenium levels by adding the mineral to the compost on which mushrooms are grown. He found that mushrooms can be grown containing sufficient selenium that about five mushrooms can satisfy 100 percent of an adult’s recommended daily allowance. “We can claim a food as a good source of selenium if one serving has greater than 10 percent of our required daily allowance,” he says. “ If it’s over 20 percent, we can say it’s an excellent source.”