I hope to see more of developments like this! I especially like the fact that this treatment not only increases the shelf life, but also the nutritional value of the product. Great video guys!
@singlespies"I agee that it isn't clear in the video if green color means a healthier broccoli." From what he said the chemicals produced are antioxidants. And I believe that would mean that the green color isn't being replaced with anything but rather its not getting broken down as quickly. That graph looked like it showed the kind of miner fluctuations that you get in any experiment, if they aren't statistically significant they are just regarded as noise.
Brady, if you ever come back to the food science topic, please consider making a video why there are so few foods that are blue in color. I believe there are only blueberries, blue corn, and blue potatoes. I might even argue that those aren't 'true blue,' but instead edge towards purple.
Upon further research, I admit yes I was wrong. It does have quite a bit of wavelength in the ionizing field. But it is only light type radiation, not a nuclear type radiation, so it wont be glowing in the dark or anything (though that would be cool)
Moving the broccoli under a row of lights in an assembly line fashion into trucks would be a way to UV the field of broccoli continuously and more efficiently
@WhichDoctor1 Good question but I don't know. That would be something to find out in order to optimise the process. I think too out-of-the-box about this. Where most people are concerned about fixing problems I'm more concerned about not creating them in the first place or fixing issues as close to the source as possible instead of at the far opposite end. Prolonging foods shelf life can only be a temporary fix on the way to distribute food optimaly to those who need it with a minimum of waste.
@Alphasys I agee that it isn't clear in the video if green color means a healthier broccoli. On the graph it appears that the color of the treated broccoli starts to yellow before going back to green. What does that mean? Maybe the green color doesn't indicate freshness anymore but something else? A tan?
I haven't either, but I think it'd be a good goal. Not for every single person to grow their own, but for every community/town to do so. I heard America's #1 crop is lawn grass, and for every food cal, 10 cal of fossile fuel is wasted, that's a reality that i'd rather be disconnected from:) In WW2 a significant part of foodsupply was grown in people's yards, even longer ago all food was. Current foodproduction is floating on a fossile oily dream ;)
Optimizing shipping is harder than giving broccoli a longer shelf life, because it means changing the way many people do their jobs. People resist that, because they just say "it's good enough for me".
@2nd3rd1st I think you might be missing a potential point or two. The extra shelf life will allow shipping to those whom could not get it at all or for those that have no proper fridge's. It will also be an important part in reducing waste food as it has more time to be purchased or eaten.
An increase in antioxidants, as is said to be the reason for the extended shelf life in the video, probably isn't a cause for concern. If they are correct it would in fact seem that the vegetable is in fact healthier than without the UV treatment.
Well one way to increase these antioxidants and increase the shelf life may be to use GM foods, but people are silly enough to think GM foods will necessarily be bad for them.
@slpk I know that he mentions vitamin C and phenolics. Vitamin C is always nice, but phenolics, even natural phenolics, can have carcinogenic properties. It's a generalizing name for a lot of compounds that contain a benzene ring. I'm not saying that broccoli treated this way is bad, but without more information (or at least an indication of how much more of these compounds are produced) we just don't know. It's at least something to consider carefully.
@hooh3923 No, its just UV, plants live on UV rays to produce their energy and other useful chemicals. They are exploiting that property to increase shelf life, if I am correct.
@2nd3rd1st because optimizing how produce is shipped is not the scientist's job, that goes to whoever is marketing the produce. a scientist finds better ways to preserve the food to make it last longer, finds ways to grow food to make it more nutritious. and as for buying local, some products are just impossible to buy locally because they either don't grow in the region or the time is not right (e.g. winters). the best option in that case is to make them last longer to reach consumers.
@Alphasys well obviously that's one thing they have to look at. but right now, the purpose of this research is to test a way to increase the shelf life of broccoli. in any case, i don't think eating these treated broccoli would be "unsafe". and really, how much broccoli does an average person eat in a year? if any unsafe chemicals were produced as a side effect of this treatment, i doubt it would accumulate enough in the body to cause harmful effects.
Why do you need to measure the colour more than once a day? It's not like it's fluctuating rapidly. The real questions are whether each of those readings corresponds to a single point on a single piece of broccoli, is the average of multiple points on a single piece or the average of multiple points on multiple pieces, and whether the same point or points are measured each day.
Don't think that's entirely true, UV can be ionising or non-ionising depending on the material undergoing exposure and the frequency of the UV in question (UV is a range of wavelengths from 10-400 nm).
So there's no alteration in their molecular structure? I mean, bathing a brocoli with UV rays does not make it transgenic, does it? I just didn't get it quite right here, sorry if my question is kind of dumb.
why don't you try with uv lasers? it can cut the exposure time because of the higher output and btw it will make you able to make a spot test on the same broccoli like hit the one spot with the laser then see if that spot stays green longer. anyway with spreading the laser to a line instead of dot then you can exposure whole broccoli with just passing it under the line of uv laser light.
@insanic1 I was wondering the same things myself. But he said that the UV causes the broccoli to produce more antioxidants which are really good for your health...
If broccoli changes it's chemical composition when under stress, doesn't this also change its nutritional value? And are these "stress chemicals" safe to eat with this higher concentration? It's great if shelf-life can be prolonged, but I'd not like it that much if the taste changes and chemicals produced by the manor of conservation have carcinogenic properties or other downsides.
I understand why you're concerned but that isn't something you need to worry about. Ultraviolet is just a colour of light that your eyes can't see and all light is "radiation". So your question is exactly like asking "Won't the white light from the supermarket's lighting stay in the broccoli?" In fact, microwaves and radio waves are kinds of light, too but you probably use a microwave and you probably don't worry that the radio waves from your favourite station will stay in your veg.
what about a conveyor belt system which takes broccoli and moves it under a UV light and takes 10 minutes for 1 piece to go from the start to the finish of the UV section.
radiation doesn't stay in anything. effects might, but radiation itself doesn't. and in the case of UV light, this is just photons being absorbed into the broccoli, and this makes the food healthier, as has been discussed elsewhere on this column.
I actually quite like Brocolli both fresh (well ok as fresh as fresh can be) and frozen, its how its cooked thats the key, i find it to be sweet and meaty in substance :D
@Alphasys I'm sure they are testing for that, too. But I can't really imagine something like that happening. The reaction to UV is a natural reaction that will also happen to broccoli in the wild. Have you ever heard of broccoli becoming unpalatable (even more than it already is ;) ) or toxic because it got too much sun?
@2nd3rd1st Or try both. Science should never work in just one direction. Also optimising logistics is a completely different field of research and the effect described in the video would also help in countries where broccoli grows locally and might be applied to other foods as well.
I wonder if anyone considered that exposing the produce to UV light might actually be killing the bacteria or enzymes that cause the discoloration in the first place, not actually a response to stimulus? Just curious, as this is the same processes used to kill algae in water.
You are 5 months too late with that comment, and I'm not fear mongering. I'm just asking for more information. If you had read on a little further and actually had listened to what was said, you would know that it is NOT just more antioxidants, and it is not the antioxidants I'm wondering about, it's the phenolics.
"They try to find a way to waste energy on broccoli in order to compensate for shortcomings in the distributionof the plant?" Um no, the amount of energy used in irradiating something with UV is UTTERLY trivial. It's the equivalent of a couple fluorescent bulb's worth of power. "Why not try to optimise shipping first." Because that industry is very mature and the efficiency of shipping is already as fully maximized as it can get. The "well, just eat local!" thing is largely nonsense as well.
They try to find a way to waste energy on broccoli in order to compensate for shortcomings in the distributionof the plant? Why not try to optimise shipping first. If you can distribute broccoli more evenly and more often to shops around the country you would not need to enhance its shelf life. And you wouldn't need to build new machines and save energy that way. Same goes for most foreign food. Or buy local. People rather buy produce from Spain in the shop than fresh from the farmers market.
I don't see peoples problem with broccoli...then again, most people steam or microwave the crap out of it until it is almost mush. Mushy broccoli is terrible. So in reality, teaching people how to cook it would improve sales and reduce the amount kept in storage.
by far that is the simplest freaking graph i have ever seen on one of bradies videos
I hope to see more of developments like this! I especially like the fact that this treatment not only increases the shelf life, but also the nutritional value of the product. Great video guys!
I find myself liking this channel more and more with every video.
Thanks for all these wonderful channels Brady.
Interesting video... although surely the real question is:
Brocolli vs. Cauliflower: who wins!?
what a clever way to make broccoli last longer!
You should have added some footage of the broccoli being bullied as you promised! :D
@singlespies"I agee that it isn't clear in the video if green color means a healthier broccoli." From what he said the chemicals produced are antioxidants. And I believe that would mean that the green color isn't being replaced with anything but rather its not getting broken down as quickly. That graph looked like it showed the kind of miner fluctuations that you get in any experiment, if they aren't statistically significant they are just regarded as noise.
I thought I was subbed to all your channels Brady. Guess not!
Oh well, I'll add this one to the pile. =)
i was never interested in food , now i realy begin to think about it, thank you brady:)
Brady, if you ever come back to the food science topic, please consider making a video why there are so few foods that are blue in color. I believe there are only blueberries, blue corn, and blue potatoes. I might even argue that those aren't 'true blue,' but instead edge towards purple.
Upon further research, I admit yes I was wrong. It does have quite a bit of wavelength in the ionizing field. But it is only light type radiation, not a nuclear type radiation, so it wont be glowing in the dark or anything (though that would be cool)
Moving the broccoli under a row of lights in an assembly line fashion into trucks would be a way to UV the field of broccoli continuously and more efficiently
@WhichDoctor1 Good question but I don't know. That would be something to find out in order to optimise the process. I think too out-of-the-box about this. Where most people are concerned about fixing problems I'm more concerned about not creating them in the first place or fixing issues as close to the source as possible instead of at the far opposite end.
Prolonging foods shelf life can only be a temporary fix on the way to distribute food optimaly to those who need it with a minimum of waste.
@PullarBearBear How do you think your going to grow broccoli in Barrow? or Anchorage? or anywhere else where the weather ins't JUST right?
@Alphasys I agee that it isn't clear in the video if green color means a healthier broccoli. On the graph it appears that the color of the treated broccoli starts to yellow before going back to green. What does that mean? Maybe the green color doesn't indicate freshness anymore but something else? A tan?
Broccoli - YUM! This is a very interesting field of research! Has this been tried with other green produce?
I haven't either, but I think it'd be a good goal. Not for every single person to grow their own, but for every community/town to do so. I heard America's #1 crop is lawn grass, and for every food cal, 10 cal of fossile fuel is wasted, that's a reality that i'd rather be disconnected from:) In WW2 a significant part of foodsupply was grown in people's yards, even longer ago all food was. Current foodproduction is floating on a fossile oily dream ;)
Optimizing shipping is harder than giving broccoli a longer shelf life, because it means changing the way many people do their jobs. People resist that, because they just say "it's good enough for me".
so whats the conclusion? give my broccoli a bit of a sunbath before I fridge it?
I don't really understand why so many people hate broccoli.
It's one of my favorite vegetables, especially with a roast dinner and gravy.
@2nd3rd1st I think you might be missing a potential point or two. The extra shelf life will allow shipping to those whom could not get it at all or for those that have no proper fridge's. It will also be an important part in reducing waste food as it has more time to be purchased or eaten.
An increase in antioxidants, as is said to be the reason for the extended shelf life in the video, probably isn't a cause for concern. If they are correct it would in fact seem that the vegetable is in fact healthier than without the UV treatment.
Thanks for clarifying.
Well one way to increase these antioxidants and increase the shelf life may be to use GM foods, but people are silly enough to think GM foods will necessarily be bad for them.
@slpk I know that he mentions vitamin C and phenolics. Vitamin C is always nice, but phenolics, even natural phenolics, can have carcinogenic properties. It's a generalizing name for a lot of compounds that contain a benzene ring. I'm not saying that broccoli treated this way is bad, but without more information (or at least an indication of how much more of these compounds are produced) we just don't know. It's at least something to consider carefully.
I love stir fried broccoli with bean sauce
What are the units of color difference? I want to know how that color-sensing mechanism works, please share!
@hooh3923
No, its just UV, plants live on UV rays to produce their energy and other useful chemicals. They are exploiting that property to increase shelf life, if I am correct.
@Alphasys Hope that helps :) I'm not sure about the rest of your response, though. You're going to have to ask someone else...
Woah six data points @ 3:17 Hardcore science in action ;-)
@2nd3rd1st How much more energy would be required for more frequent distribution to shops than would be required for a lightbulb?
Extremely interesting
@2nd3rd1st because optimizing how produce is shipped is not the scientist's job, that goes to whoever is marketing the produce. a scientist finds better ways to preserve the food to make it last longer, finds ways to grow food to make it more nutritious. and as for buying local, some products are just impossible to buy locally because they either don't grow in the region or the time is not right (e.g. winters). the best option in that case is to make them last longer to reach consumers.
Does this treatment affect for example quantity of vitamins?
@Alphasys well obviously that's one thing they have to look at. but right now, the purpose of this research is to test a way to increase the shelf life of broccoli. in any case, i don't think eating these treated broccoli would be "unsafe". and really, how much broccoli does an average person eat in a year? if any unsafe chemicals were produced as a side effect of this treatment, i doubt it would accumulate enough in the body to cause harmful effects.
Could the phenolics be harmful if you have a lot of broccoli?
Why do you need to measure the colour more than once a day? It's not like it's fluctuating rapidly.
The real questions are whether each of those readings corresponds to a single point on a single piece of broccoli, is the average of multiple points on a single piece or the average of multiple points on multiple pieces, and whether the same point or points are measured each day.
@wdm2112 interestingly enough I haven't seen that in Vancouver,Canada.
Maybe an east coast or prairie thing?
is there a taste difference with the 10old UV broccoli vs fresh untreated?
Don't think that's entirely true, UV can be ionising or non-ionising depending on the material undergoing exposure and the frequency of the UV in question (UV is a range of wavelengths from 10-400 nm).
So there's no alteration in their molecular structure? I mean, bathing a brocoli with UV rays does not make it transgenic, does it? I just didn't get it quite right here, sorry if my question is kind of dumb.
I loled when he called the broccoli a ´´sample´´ xD He has every right to do so in an experiment though :P
why don't you try with uv lasers? it can cut the exposure time because of the higher output and btw it will make you able to make a spot test on the same broccoli like hit the one spot with the laser then see if that spot stays green longer. anyway with spreading the laser to a line instead of dot then you can exposure whole broccoli with just passing it under the line of uv laser light.
@insanic1 I was wondering the same things myself. But he said that the UV causes the broccoli to produce more antioxidants which are really good for your health...
This channel needs more questions asked during the video (only one this time). Isnt that usually your MO, Brady?
If broccoli changes it's chemical composition when under stress, doesn't this also change its nutritional value? And are these "stress chemicals" safe to eat with this higher concentration? It's great if shelf-life can be prolonged, but I'd not like it that much if the taste changes and chemicals produced by the manor of conservation have carcinogenic properties or other downsides.
Broccoli is one of my favorite foods!
Does it have negative consequences such as change in taste , size......
Does the exposure to UV effect its nutritious value in any way?
I understand why you're concerned but that isn't something you need to worry about. Ultraviolet is just a colour of light that your eyes can't see and all light is "radiation". So your question is exactly like asking "Won't the white light from the supermarket's lighting stay in the broccoli?" In fact, microwaves and radio waves are kinds of light, too but you probably use a microwave and you probably don't worry that the radio waves from your favourite station will stay in your veg.
what about a conveyor belt system which takes broccoli and moves it under a UV light and takes 10 minutes for 1 piece to go from the start to the finish of the UV section.
When he says "it got burnt" he laughed....
Maybe a little sadomasochistic to the veggies, eh? lol :)
@Alphasys Agreed. Nice commentary by the way.
They glow with light that we cannot see :P
radiation doesn't stay in anything. effects might, but radiation itself doesn't.
and in the case of UV light, this is just photons being absorbed into the broccoli, and this makes the food healthier, as has been discussed elsewhere on this column.
Would this UV light destroy genetic material in the nuclei of the broccoli thus giving a sort of "plant cancer"?
I love broccoli! Good with pepper gravy or in stir fry.
have you tryed strobe uv lighting the broccoli
I actually quite like Brocolli both fresh (well ok as fresh as fresh can be) and frozen, its how its cooked thats the key, i find it to be sweet and meaty in substance
:D
@Alphasys
I'm sure they are testing for that, too.
But I can't really imagine something like that happening. The reaction to UV is a natural reaction that will also happen to broccoli in the wild. Have you ever heard of broccoli becoming unpalatable (even more than it already is ;) ) or toxic because it got too much sun?
they should know, was wondering about it also
@2nd3rd1st did you not hear when he said novel?
They should put the light in fridges. That would help everybody.
I just had a great brocolli meal, YUM!
@2nd3rd1st Or try both. Science should never work in just one direction. Also optimising logistics is a completely different field of research and the effect described in the video would also help in countries where broccoli grows locally and might be applied to other foods as well.
Isn't broccoli exposed to UV from the sun anyway? If anything this is closer to the natural conditions the plant evolved for.
Is it possible that the real storage benefit comes from the killing of surface bound bacteria on the broccoli and not its' production of antioxidants?
Couldn't the broccoli be treated post harvest in packaging and processing? It would also reduce the bacterial load.
Will the radiation cause health concerns?
@SynysterCondom sounds like a great idea
@Alphasys Antioxidants are the main reason a glass of red wine a day is healthy.
If color doesn't equal health, does that mean it doesn't necessarily go bad when it's yellow? 8D
I wonder if anyone considered that exposing the produce to UV light might actually be killing the bacteria or enzymes that cause the discoloration in the first place, not actually a response to stimulus? Just curious, as this is the same processes used to kill algae in water.
I absolutely love broccoli
When the movie started and I saw who' the speaker today, I thought that most definitely another vegetable will be squashed.
That guys voice is cool sounding. 1:38
also, anti-oxidants help to prevent cancer. Ergo this is actually producing healthier food.
I chew gum, but I also wear contacts, If I'm not wearing them I cry.
You are 5 months too late with that comment, and I'm not fear mongering. I'm just asking for more information. If you had read on a little further and actually had listened to what was said, you would know that it is NOT just more antioxidants, and it is not the antioxidants I'm wondering about, it's the phenolics.
Well the juices arnt running around the plant any more
I've only seen broccoli in fridges here in Canada.
It's tough love, really.
Wouldnt it ruin the Nutrients in Brocoli
But it isn't dead until it wilts, rots or you cook it. If it were dead it couldn't produce antioxidants.
To people who don't like broccoli: Blanch it, then add olive oil and lemon. If you still don't like it I give up :P
wow the first 2 professors look almost identical
wow i'm glad i went to leeds
When its growing... not when its dead
BEAST!
That's not gonna cause cancer...
put uv lights in the transport containers
"They try to find a way to waste energy on broccoli in order to compensate for shortcomings in the distributionof the plant?"
Um no, the amount of energy used in irradiating something with UV is UTTERLY trivial. It's the equivalent of a couple fluorescent bulb's worth of power.
"Why not try to optimise shipping first."
Because that industry is very mature and the efficiency of shipping is already as fully maximized as it can get. The "well, just eat local!" thing is largely nonsense as well.
I love broccoli!
They try to find a way to waste energy on broccoli in order to compensate for shortcomings in the distributionof the plant?
Why not try to optimise shipping first. If you can distribute broccoli more evenly and more often to shops around the country you would not need to enhance its shelf life. And you wouldn't need to build new machines and save energy that way. Same goes for most foreign food.
Or buy local. People rather buy produce from Spain in the shop than fresh from the farmers market.
Oh This is where is Say ...... "You disgust me" Poor Broccoli :)
They could just put UV lights on the supermarket displays
@insanic1 no, sunlight does it all day
I don't see peoples problem with broccoli...then again, most people steam or microwave the crap out of it until it is almost mush. Mushy broccoli is terrible. So in reality, teaching people how to cook it would improve sales and reduce the amount kept in storage.
super markets around the globe will be too!