For every juicy tomato or crunchy almond California grows, there’s a pile of pulp, hulls or scraps that often goes to waste. A new online tool, created by University of California, Davis researchers, tracks those agricultural byproducts aiming to find innovative ways to put them to use.

Ha Nguyen is a newly appointed Assistant Professor and Sensory Scientist in the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology (V&E). Her research integrates classic and advanced psychophysical, sensory, and consumer research methods with cutting-edge genetic, molecular biology, and physicochemical techniques to advance sensory knowledge and methodologies, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing wine sensory characteristics and consumer perception.

The food science and technology major offered at UC Davis is a well-rounded mix of theory and practice, with a hands-on learning approach being both effective and expected at California’s No.

Over a decade ago, researchers at UC Davis noticed something unusual while studying yeast: tiny oil droplets sinking to the bottom of a flask. The strain of yeast was producing a natural compound with soap-like properties, and now it’s being developed as an ingredient in cleaning products that are gentle on skin and environmentally friendly.

Liang Chen is an Assistant Professor and Wine Chemist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology, where his research program develops innovative analytical approaches to address fundamental scientific questions and practical challenges in wine chemistry.

Can you change "bad" carbs into "good" ones? In this very interesting story featuring FST's Maria Marco, "There's a secret superfood in white rice and pasta: Here's how to unlock it", from NPR's Morning Edition, May 12th, you'll learn about resistant starch, and how to convert "naughty" white rice and pasta into a slower-digesting form that is friendlier to our blood sugar because it contains more resistant starch (fiber).