By Laci Jones, FAPC Communications Services Student

(Stillwater, Okla. – July 21, 2014) An Oklahoma State University student won first place in the Institute of Food Technologists’ Food Biotech graduate paper competition.

Badrinath Vengarai Jagannathan, graduate assistant for OSU’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center, represented the FAPC Microbiology Laboratory and presented the findings of the lab’s research during the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo in New Orleans, La., in June.

“I know this sounds a bit self-congratulatory, but we really did have a very good poster,” said Peter Muriana, FAPC food microbiologist. “The judges not only noted that Badrinath gave an excellent presentation, but also the poster was beautiful, comprehensive and could have been submitted as several individual posters.”

According to IFT, the division competitions highlight the research of the organization’s graduate student members. Each year, hundreds of students participate in this highly competitive program and are recognized during the annual meeting and expo.

Six finalists were selected for each of the 23 divisions, and each division had its own panel of judges, Muriana said.

“Our research poster included interwoven and overlapping work of several graduate students and a post-doc in my FAPC Food Microbiology Lab,” Muriana said. “However, only one student is able to present for the student paper competition.”

The various research areas described in the award-winning poster included isolating bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria from retail food samples; phylogenetic identification and characterization of isolates; evaluation of fermentor conditions for optimization of bacteriocin production in different media, under different pH-controlled conditions and at different temperatures; and the application of bacteriocin-containing supernatant culture preparations using a mixed-mode-of-action strategy as food preservatives against Listeria monocytogenes, a problem foodborne pathogen for ready-to-eat processed meats.

The work included research conducted in Muriana’s lab by master’s students Jagannathan, Raj Adhikari and Chris Henning; doctoral student Paul Vijayakumar; and post-doctoral Dhiraj Gautam.

“The cultures that were isolated and demonstrated in the research are being licensed to Nutrition Physiology Company LLC, which already generates a considerable amount of royalties for OSU from Dr. Stanley Gilliland’s previous work with probiotic cultures for cattle through supplementation of cattle feed,” Muriana said. “The significance of the current research is that these cultures could ultimately be used as the basis of natural bio-preservatives for human foods.”

Jagannath said he was honored to participate in the poster competition and present the findings of the FAPC Food Microbiology Laboratory.

“It was a great experience for me, and I have learned so much from Dr. Muriana and working in the FAPC Food Microbiology Lab,” Jagannathan said.

Jagannathan received a $1,000 stipend, award plaque and his award will be announced in the next issue of Food Technology magazine.

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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.