PITTSBURGH, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnegie Mellon University researchers are adjusting the cell mechanics of certain leafy vegetables in Africa in an effort to make the vegetation more palatable for malnourished infants and children.  

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Phil LeDuc, a professor of mechanical engineering, and Mary Beth Wilson, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, have won an extremely competitive Grand Challenges Explorations Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to explore nutrition for healthy growth of infants and children in underdeveloped countries.

"What we are doing is studying how to alter a plant's cellular and molecular structures to optimize release of nutrients during digestion," said LeDuc, who has courtesy appointments in the Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences and Computational Biology departments at CMU. "The idea originated when we became interested in how structural mechanics affect the taste of food. We built off this idea in thinking about how we could apply it in an innovative and meaningful way to tackle global challenges especially for the health of children in poor regions of the world."

Both LeDuc and Wilson believe that generating widespread acceptance and consumption of nutrient rich plants like African leafy vegetables could significantly improve infant and child nutrition while curbing rising food costs. Global food prices hit record highs in February and are expected to become even more volatile. The United Nations reports that more than 900 million people in the world suffer from hunger on a daily basis.

"We have chosen to focus initially on amaranth, a plant indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa, due to its high content of provitamin A and other micronutrients. We hope that integrating amaranth leaves into feeding strategies as infants transition from breast milk to solid foods could contribute to a reduction in vitamin A deficiency," said Wilson, a CMU Dowd-ICES (Institute for Complex Engineered Systems) fellow from Bridgeport, W.Va.

LeDuc said the work involves significantly changing the palatability of the end food product. "These African leafy vegetables are perceived as 'poor man's food' with a bitter taste," LeDuc said. "We aim to change both taste and perception by reengineering the plant's cellular structure using traditional principles of cell mechanics that have been used for decades in areas such as heart disease and cancer."

CMU researchers say they also are tapping into the modern and cutting-edge methodology of  "molecular gastronomy," the study of physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking. Their culinary curiosity will be showcased next year in a new academic course titled "Culinary Mechanics," designed to explore the application of engineering principles to the science of food.

To learn more about Grand Challenges Explorations, visit www.grandchallenges.org.

About Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 11,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon's main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled "Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University," which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.

About Grand Challenges Explorations: Grand Challenges Explorations is a $100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to encourage scientists worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas to fight our greatest health challenges. Launched in 2008, Grand Challenge Explorations grants have already been awarded to nearly 500 researchers from more than 40 countries. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short, two-page online applications and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have an opportunity to receive a follow-on U.S. grant of up to $1 million.  

SOURCE Carnegie Mellon University

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