By Rebecca Bailey
FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant

(Stillwater, Okla. – Sept. 25, 2013) Food science students at Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center exercised their ingenuity to create a unique and nutritious food product that earned them seventh place in the 2013DANISCO Knowledge Award competition.

The team consisted of graduate students Adrian Nault, Paul Vijayakumar, Badrinath Jagannathan, Subhasree Goswami, Pavalee Chompoorat and Rabia Javid. All students enrolled in the product development class and opted to take on the challenge of the DuPont Nutrition & Health-sponsored Knowledge Award program. Patricia Rayas, FAPC cereal chemist, served as the faculty sponsor.

“The main intention of the class was to not only come up with ideas about various innovative products, but also develop the same,” Jagannathan said.  “Dr. Rayas and the rest of us were closely monitoring the various competitions that were coming up to enable us to test our ideas and products.”

The students felt this specific competition was one that correlated with the purpose and goals of FAPC.

“We never had a competition in mind when we started out,” Vijayakumar said. “We do a lot of application-oriented projects at FAPC to contribute to what’s happening in the industry to help food processors.”

As a result, the students gathered to come up with an innovative product concept.

“When we realized our idea was one that would cater to the nutritional and taste requirements of people, we wanted to promote our idea,” Vijayakumar said. “One of the students mentioned this competition, so we jumped right into it.”

In its ninth year, the Knowledge Award program offers food science students from across the U.S. the opportunity to use functional ingredient technology to create appealing foods with an improved nutritional profile.

“Among the goals of the team was to develop a product that would provide a good source of protein and fiber,” Rayas said. “The end product was to have a good flavor and texture and target young adults who are nowadays more health conscious.”

Together, the team developed Piña Multigrain Premium muffin and quick bread mix. The team described the bread as flavorful, nutritious pineapple bread that is rich in protein, fiber and antioxidants. The product offered a tropical flavor, convenience, flexibility and health support benefits to customers looking for fresh, fun and simple-baked products.

The competition began in April when products were judged in a preliminary round. The 12 products with the highest scores advanced to the final round. A panel of food industry product development experts evaluated written reports and products based on taste and criteria while assessing the marketability and uniqueness of each.

“As scientists, we work on many projects, but the dream is to transform our ideas from a concept to the table,” Vijayakumar said. “That’s what FAPC has done over the years and still continues to do, help people with simple concepts to process and market their product. So, to start out from scratch in classroom discussions and moving forward step-by-step from concept to process development, implementation, sensory evaluation and packaging were great experiences. And finally, seeing our product stand out among many other products from around the country was the icing on the cake.”

Jagannathan said they are already thinking about next year’s competition.

“We are planning to participate next year,” Jagannathan said. “We are happy to have made the top 10, but we think we have so many more ideas and the drive to achieve something big, so we will continue to strive for improvement.”

Being involved in every phase gave them a great understanding of how much goes into each step of product development, Rayas said.

“This was a great experience for the team to participate in the complete process of product design from idea to a packaged product,” Rayas said. “They conducted market research and decided what concept was more appealing for them as developers. They developed concept products, analyzed them with a consumer acceptance test in which they learned what properties needed to be improved, modified it and tested again.”

Jagannathan said he is thankful for the experience of the competition, as well as the team he got to work with.

“I would like to thank Dr. Rayas,” Jagannathan said. “She was the driving force who motivated, supported and helped us to develop this product. I also want to thank all my team members for their support and guidance.”

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Oklahoma State University is a modern land-grant system of interdisciplinary programs that prepares students for success. OSU is America’s Brightest Orange. Through leadership and service, OSU is preparing students for a bright future and building a brighter world for all. As Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, OSU improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. OSU has more than 36,000 students across its five-campus system and more than 24,000 on its combined Stillwater and Tulsa campuses, with students from all 50 states and around 120 nations. Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 245,000 students to serve Oklahoma, the nation and the world.