Culinary,
design students apply health benefits researchers uncovered in maple
BUT it's far from perfect
BUT it's far from perfect
Students
from around the region created tasty treats and demonstrated innovative uses of
a local crop that shows promise as a treatment for various health conditions,
from diabetes to skin aging, as they demonstrated the culinary — and medicinal
— versatility of maple.
The
internship program at the Food Innovation Nexus (FIX) at Johnson & Wales
University is part of a federally funded initiative at the University of Rhode
Island to promote the maple industry throughout the Northeast, stressing the
potential health benefits of the native tree.
URI College of Pharmacy Professor Navindra Seeram and his team have worked for a decade to unlock the health benefits of maple.
They have identified more than 67 bioactive natural plant compounds with potential health benefits, including stabilizing blood glucose levels, fighting inflammation and even helping fight wrinkles.
URI College of Pharmacy Professor Navindra Seeram and his team have worked for a decade to unlock the health benefits of maple.
They have identified more than 67 bioactive natural plant compounds with potential health benefits, including stabilizing blood glucose levels, fighting inflammation and even helping fight wrinkles.
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| Maple is better than some, not as good as others. So use caution and common sense if you are diabetic or dieting |
Six students in a four-week internship program used pure maple from Vermont to create everything from a healthy maple ice cream designed to be easier for older adults to swallow, to an edible maple birthday candle that can be used to celebrate, while sweetening your favorite dessert.
Their experiments took place in the Food Innovation Design Lab located at JWU, where the FIX executes its own product design and development programs.
The
students, along with JWU chef TJ Delle Donne and FIX design experts, show the
diverse uses for the local crop, creating such entrees as couscous with maple
vinaigrette, and tuna poke with maple drizzle; desserts like maple gummie bears
and chocolate bars; and drinks including maple bubble tea and maple hot cocoa,
complete with maple marshmallows to float on top.
“We’ve
been working with the students on ways to incorporate maple into their dishes
without changing the taste profile,” Delle Donne said. “Anywhere there is cane
sugar, or brown sugar in the vinaigrette, any form of sweetener, we replaced
with maple to make it a healthier dish while still tasting great.”
The
natural sweetener was on full display in the students’ creations, particularly
in Katie Devries’ and Morgan Failla’s line of healthier ice creams. The fruit,
fiber and calcium-packed line of “Marty’s Maple Creemee” ice creams include
“Caramel Bran-pa” and “Banana Grandma.”
And
it’s not just food the students have created. Two students aim to revolutionize
the $3 billion a year birthday candle industry.
Olivia Muschelle and Charlotte Clement took advantage of maple’s plasticity to form edible candles that melt as they burn to add a tasty and nutritious topping to birthday cakes or pancakes.
Olivia Muschelle and Charlotte Clement took advantage of maple’s plasticity to form edible candles that melt as they burn to add a tasty and nutritious topping to birthday cakes or pancakes.
“Candles
are waxy, they drip on cakes, and the leftover candle doesn’t even get used;
it’s wasted,” Muchelle said. “And kids love to lick the candles but they can’t
eat them. These taste great and are completely safe to eat.”
Another
group of students took aim at the toy industry, specifically edible science
kits that are among the top sellers in any toy aisle. Leah Yao’s and Jon
Nardis’ “Mighty Maple” kits teach children how to make a humming bird feeder, a
maple comb dessert bowl and the ever-popular slime. The ingredients — the star
of which is maple, of course — are safe to eat.
“We’ve
taken a deep dive into maple and identified kids as one of the best markets,”
Yao said. “Edible science kits are a top seller, but they have confusing
instructions, unnatural ingredients and they don’t taste good. Our kits are
healthy, fun for kids and taste great.”
This
is just the first of what is expected to be many projects for the Collaborative
to Communicate Maple Benefits, Seeram said, as the group combines the
scientific breakthroughs in his Bioactive Botanical Laboratory with the
culinary breakthroughs in Johnson & Wales’ food lab.
“What
we’ve found in our lab is that maple has the most chemicals in terms of
phytonutrients. If you’re stranded on a dessert island, maple is the food for
you,” Seeram said.
“We were just missing one piece — the application of the science we were doing. That’s where Johnson & Wales and FIX comes in. We’re putting the brightest young minds together to find ways to consume all those healthy compounds in a natural sweetener that tastes great. This gives maple permission to play across all meals. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.”
“We were just missing one piece — the application of the science we were doing. That’s where Johnson & Wales and FIX comes in. We’re putting the brightest young minds together to find ways to consume all those healthy compounds in a natural sweetener that tastes great. This gives maple permission to play across all meals. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.”
The
partnership between URI and the FIX began after the United States Department of
Agriculture’s Acer Access and Development Program awarded nearly half a million
dollars to researchers at URI to raise public awareness of maple products and
the potential benefits of the natural sweetener, increase consumption and
promote the industry.
Yinjiao Ye, professor of communication studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Christy Ashley, associate professor of marketing in the College of Business, join Seeram as principal investigators on the three-year, $499,427 grant.
Yinjiao Ye, professor of communication studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Christy Ashley, associate professor of marketing in the College of Business, join Seeram as principal investigators on the three-year, $499,427 grant.
For
more information on Seeram’s work with maple and the health benefits the local
crop contains, visit uri.edu/maple.