Search Results

This study evaluated moisture, ash and color in sweetpotato varieties: [Beauregard (BEAU), Porto Rican (PR) and Nugget (N)]. The experimental design was a randomized-complete-block with four replications, four treatments and three varieties. Treatments included control without fertilizer (CTRL), broiler litter (BL), Crimson-clover (CLOV) and NPK fertilizers. BEAU had the lowest L values, and was darker in color than PR and N. Mean moisture content for the four groups was 60.1± 6.7% CTRL; 54.7± 7.9% BL; 60.9±5.1% CLOV and 63.2± 6.1% for NPK. Mean ash contents were: 2.5± 0.1; 3.5± 0.3 and 2.1± 0.02 for BEA, PR and N, respectively.

Soybean (Glycine max) is a candidate crop that has been selected to be grown on long-duration planetary missions by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program. The nutritive composition of the soybean is 38% protein, 18% oil (.5% lecithin), 15% soluble carbohydrates (sucrose, stachyose, raffinose, others), 15% insoluble carbohydrates (dietary fiber), and 14% moisture, ash, and other substances. Several reports have indicated the effects of soy-rich foods on the deterrence of estrogen-associated cancers, cardiovascular diseases, decrease of climacteric symptoms, and prevention of osteoporosis. In spite of its nutritive value, and seemingly popularity, direct consumer consumption of soy remains limited.

The objective of this work is to develop a computer-aided tool that enables the development, screening, modeling, analysis, and integration of physico-chemical and bio-regenerative components of Advanced Life Support System (ALS) system. The tool has the following four main components that are interrelated and automatically integrated: Process configuration. Particular emphasis is given to food production (e.g., syrup and flour from sweet potato, starch from sweet potato, breakfast cereal from sweet potato). Modeling and analysis for mass and energy tracking and budgeting System integration (both functional as well material and energy integration) Metrics evaluation (e.g., Equivalent System Mass (ESM)) Modeling and analysis is achieved by developing material- and energy-budgeting models. Various forms of mass and energy are tracked through fundamental as well as semi-empirical models. These models include kinetics, mass transfer, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics.