The Science of Flavor/风味科学
New Lab Expands Agricultural Research Capabilities
新实验室扩大农业研究能力
It stands to reason that the freshest, most colorful, most nutritious vegetables are also the most flavorful. It’s not rocket science. But it is science, and it’s why The Chef’s Garden’s team of researchers is always experimenting with better ways to improve those important qualities in the farm’s fresh microgreens, edible flowers, leaves, vegetables and herbs.
“Things that look good normally are,” said Research Specialist Nicholas Walters. “If you have something that has a really dark green color or a vibrant red color, chances are it’s got a lot of secondary metabolites and phytonutrients that are there to help you protect and build your own body. But it’s really all about flavor, and we’re finding that the more we learn about some of these crops, the more we’re learning how we can have a big influence on how the flavor turns out in the end.”
Walters cited basil as an example. “It’s not producing these flavors to be delicious for us. It’s a pesticide,” Walters explained. “It’s a preventative measure they take to protect themselves. There’s all kinds of things we can do to manipulate the growing environment, or the fertility, or all kinds of things that’ll change the way the plant expresses its own body and its own flavors.”
From Soil to Shelf
从土壤到货架
The Chef’s Garden recently opened the doors to a brand new on-site agricultural research facility. The new lab and updated equipment will expand the researchers’ ability to conduct soil and tissue tests to gather information about nutrient content, soil health and other flavor-influencing factors without wasting precious time.
“We can go ahead and give them the nutrients that they need right then, so it’s an immediate response to the plant,” said Research Assistant Sarah Hinman. “So, as we adjust or add the nutrient, it’s making it available for that plant. So the plant’s healthier, which will result in a healthier product or fruit.”
The presence or absence of specific nutrients, such as calcium and potassium, for example, can have a significant impact on shelf life, which can in turn affect the long-term flavor of a stored vegetable.
“If you’re deficient in those, your product is going to be more soft,” Hinman said. “It’s not going to have the quality or nutritional value. So, if you make sure those are definitely sufficient, you will have a much longer shelf life.”
The new agricultural research lab also allows for testing of other shelf-life influencers, such as packaging. “In some instances, the more light the crop has, the more dry weight it accumulates, and the more it’s able to slow down its cellular respiration in the package,” said botanist Walters. “We have a machine, an IRGA, an infrared gas analyzer, and we’re going to be taking headspace measurements of the packaging. So,we’re going to take our product, package it up, put it in a fridge and, every day, we’re going to take a little bit of gas from inside the package and measure it for breakdown products, off smells, off flavors, so we’ll be able to do some robust shelf life testing with the laboratory, which I’m really excited about.”
新的农业研究实验室还允许测试其他影响保质期的因素，如包装。植物学家沃尔特斯说:“在某些情况下，作物的光照越多，它积累的干重就越多，它就越能减缓包装中的细胞呼吸作用。”“我们有一台机器，一台红外气体分析仪，我们将对包装进行顶空测量。所以，我们将把我们的产品，包装起来，放在冰箱里，每天，我们将从包装内取出一点气体，测量分解产物，异味，味道，所以我们将能够在实验室做一些强大的保质期测试，我真的很兴奋。”
Building Better Biology
构建更好的生物学
Experimenting with outdoor cover crops to observe their impact on soil biology is also important, according to Research Assistant Deanna Forbush. “We want to see if that’s influenced flavor,” Forbush said. “We want to see if that’s influencing aroma, we want to see how the actual soil health relates back to our vegetables, which relates back to our product, which relates back to how our chefs feel about our product.”
根据Forbush的说法，土壤培养健康微生物对风味的作用是另一个测试目标。
福布什说:“我们对微生物以及它们如何影响食物的味道知之甚少，但这正是我们正在努力弄清楚的。”“我们希望最终开始培养微生物和细菌，看看我们到底有什么，并在一个钵里接种这些菌落，看看我们是否能得到更好的颜色，更好的香气，更好的味道，或者我们的厨师真正想要的东西。”
High-Tech Help
为了测试特定蔬菜中的特定营养素，研究化学家威廉·科舒特(William Koshute)说，他将依靠实验室的新气相色谱仪。
