Science In Your Shopping Cart

Season 5: WonderPlants | Episode 5: Did You Know - Insect Repellants

Did you know that some wonderplants can be used to control and even kill annoying flies and mosquitoes? Connect with us:   * Twitter: @USDA_ARS [https://twitter.com/USDA_ARS] * Facebook: @AgriculturalResearchService [https://www.facebook.com/AgriculturalResearchService] * LinkedIn: @usda-ars [https://www.linkedin.com/company/usda-ars]

Season 2: Apples: Get Crunchin' | Episode 3: Precision Sprayer

These days, we are all more conscious of pesticide spraying, especially growers who rely on this method for keeping pests off their crops. ARS scientists have developed a revolutionary laser-guided sprayer to apply precise amounts of pesticide to their crops, cutting down significantly on the amount of pesticide sprayed onto fruits and vegetables. Connect with us:   * Twitter: @USDA_ARS [https://twitter.com/USDA_ARS] * Facebook: @AgriculturalResearchService [https://www.facebook.com/AgriculturalResearchService] * LinkedIn: @usda-ars [https://www.linkedin.com/company/usda-ars]

Season 12: Cheers To Wine Grapes | Episode 10: Turning Wine Waste Into Healthy Food Products

ARS researchers Nancy Keim and Wally Yokoyama are looking to turn wine waste – mainly pomace or what the researchers call marcs – into healthy food products that end up in our shopping carts. Keim is studying the health benefits of combinations of chardonnay grape pomace and chardonnay grape extract.  As expected, the enriched flour is high in fiber and has a lot of bioactive material, which means it will react favorably with organs, tissues, or cells in the human body.  How this material interacts with the gut microbiome could be key to seeing these nutrients translate into actual health benefits. While Keim is looking at the health benefits of white grape pomace, Yokoyama is studying the health benefits of waste from red wine grapes. Red wine grapes are high in polyphenols, which are compounds found in plants that act as antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. Polyphenols have been linked to lowering cholesterol and protecting against certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. But Yokoyama is studying whether polyphenols from red grapes can reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Connect with us:   * Twitter: @USDA_ARS [https://twitter.com/USDA_ARS] * Facebook: @AgriculturalResearchService [https://www.facebook.com/AgriculturalResearchService] * LinkedIn: @usda-ars [https://www.linkedin.com/company/usda-ars]

Season 7: Sports and Science | Episode 7: Nutrition is Part of Training Too

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. Connect with us:   * Twitter: @USDA_ARS [https://twitter.com/USDA_ARS] * Facebook: @AgriculturalResearchService [https://www.facebook.com/AgriculturalResearchService] * LinkedIn: @usda-ars [https://www.linkedin.com/company/usda-ars]

Season 11: Wholesome, Nutritious Grains | Episode 1: Kicking Off The Rust In Wheat

Wheat is a big crop in the United States.  Stripe rust is one of the most important diseases for wheat.  ARS Research Plant Pathlogist, Xianming Chen and researchers with ARS’s Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research Unit in Pullman Washington are testing and developing new varieties of wheat that are resistant to the crop’s major disease threats, including stripe rust. Connect with us:   * Twitter: @USDA_ARS [https://twitter.com/USDA_ARS] * Facebook: @AgriculturalResearchService [https://www.facebook.com/AgriculturalResearchService] * LinkedIn: @usda-ars [https://www.linkedin.com/company/usda-ars]