Milling & Baking News - September 25, 2018 - 20

Education and Research

Researcher nets $2.8 million
grant to study whole grains
EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. - Shengmin Sang, Ph.D., a food scientist with
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, has received
a $2.8 million, five-year grant from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
National Institutes of Food and Agriculture. The funding will be used by
Dr. Sang and his fellow researchers to
identify biomarkers for whole grain
wheat and oats.
"At the completion of these studies, our expectation is that we will
have identified markers to reflect
whole grain wheat or oat intake,"
said Dr. Sang, a professor and lead
scientist for functional foods at the
university's Center for Excellence
in Post-Harvest Technologies at the
North Carolina Research Campus in
Kannapolis. "Our findings will establish the basis for future studies of the
role whole grains play in health and
eventually lead to more individualized nutrition."
The researchers believe the project

could help answer questions as to
what impact obesity, age and gender
have on the body's response to whole
grains. The project also may help explain the impact of gut microbiota
on the metabolism of whole grain

project after submitting a proposal to
the National Institutes of Health in response to the program entitled "Food
Specific Molecular Profiles and Biomarkers of Food and Nutrient Intake,
and Dietary Exposure (R01)," which
is co-sponsored by the N.I.H. and
the U.S.D.A.
A year ago, Dr. Sang received
N.C.A.&T.'s Intellectual Property

'Our findings will establish the basis for future
studies of the role whole grains play in health
and eventually lead to more individualized
nutrition.'
- Shengmin Sang,
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

phytochemicals and could lead to a
more individualized approach to nutrition, the researchers noted.
The U.S.D.A.'s Beltsville Human
Nutrition Research Center and the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte's College of Computing and
Informatics will collaborate on the
research.
Dr. Sang received support for his

Award for his research investigating
the potential of bioactive components
from functional foods and herbal
medicines to prevent chronic diseases.
He has patented compounds comprising aspirin and ginger derivatives that
have shown promise for preventing
and treating cancer, and he studies
bioactive compounds in tea, apples,
rosemary and other foods. MBN

Data

A larger-than-expected Russian
wheat crop burdens futures
WASHINGTON - Wheat futures
slumped in the wake of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's unexpected
hike in its forecast for Russian wheat
production in 2018. The U.S.D.A. on
Sept. 12 forecast Russian wheat production this year at 71 million tonnes,
up 3 million tonnes from the August outlook but down 13.99 million
tonnes, or 16%, from a record 84.99
million tonnes in 2017.
The U.S.D.A. left unchanged its
forecast for Russian wheat exports in
2018-19 at 35 million tonnes, which
was down 6.42 million tonnes, or 15%,
from a record 41.42 million tonnes in
2017-18. While down sharply from
the previous year, Russian wheat exports would be the second largest on
record.
The Russian wheat production
and exports forecasts surprised the
markets, which were expecting the
drop in wheat production from a
year ago to result in a smaller exportable supply and perhaps government
20 / September 25, 2018

Milling & Baking News

intervention to limit exports.
Twice in recent weeks, wheat futures spiked on news the Russian agriculture ministry would meet with
exporters. Twice there were meetings,
and twice, following the meetings,
the Russian agriculture ministry denied export controls were imminent
or even being contemplated with the
effect wheat futures resumed their
trek lower. The U.S.D.A.'s September
outlook for Russian wheat production and exports may quiet the rumor
mill, at least for a while.
The U.S.D.A. noted, "Spring
wheat in the eastern regions of the
country, from the Volga district to
Ural and then Siberia, is approaching maturity. Weather has been
favorable, and abundant moisture boosted yields further. Winter
wheat, which has been almost completely harvested, is also forecast
up this month based on both an area
increase and the harvest reports that
indicated a jump in accumulated

yields in the North Caucasus."
The new wheat production estimate includes 51 million tonnes of
winter wheat and 20 million tonnes of
spring wheat, and excludes estimated
output from Crimea. The all-wheat
harvested area was estimated at 26
million hectares (14.35 million hectares winter and 11.65 million hectares
spring), against 27.3 million hectares
last year.
"The month-to-month increase is
based on two factors: a 2% increase
in the estimated harvested area for
total wheat, and a 3% increase in the
estimated winter wheat yield," the
U.S.D.A. said.
"With supplies up 4.7 million
tonnes (3 million tonnes in production and 1.7 million tonnes in beginning stocks), Russian ending 2018-19
wheat stocks are projected 2.1 million tonnes higher this month, with
a stocks-to-use ratio at 17%," the
U.S.D.A. said. "This is a big improvement from the previous estimate of
less than 13%, especially in view of
rumors about the introduction of
some type of export regulation to alleviate tight supplies." MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - September 25, 2018

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