While Processing Juice, Ghanaian Student Blends His Own Interests

by: Kathryn Mcconnell

Julius Ashirifie-Gogofio, 27, grew up next to a restaurant in Accra, Ghana’s capital. The proximity sparked the young man’s interest in nutritious food.

Ashirifie-Gogofio, who calls food the first “medicine” a body needs, earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the University of Ghana. Today, he studies in the United States at Pennsylvania State University and will graduate in May with a master’s degree in food science. His major blends biology, chemistry, physics and engineering with food processing. Food science can improve food security in the world, Ashirifie-Gogofio says.

He hopes to earn a doctoral degree next. And then he hopes to make sure that food grown in Ghana can be preserved and remain fresh from the time a crop is harvested until it is consumed.

At Penn State, Ashirifie-Gogofio perfects techniques that reduce the patulin in apple juice. Patulin, caused by mold growing in harvested fruit, is one of many toxic compounds called mycotoxins. Mycotoxins also affect legumes and cereals, such as millet, during storage. These are popular staples in Ghana.

When apples are pressed at the processing plant to extract juice, if any portion of the batch contains mold, the entire batch can contain high enough levels to be harmful, said Luke LaBorde, one of Ashirifie-Gogofio’s advisers.

Thermal treatment during processing, or heating food to kill bacteria, long has been used for canning and pasteurizing to increase food shelf life. But consumers’ growing preference for fresher-tasting food has led to increased research in nonthermal preservation techniques.

Ashirifie-Gogofio is trying a nonthermal technique — applying ozone to the juice at the processing plant to see if the process reduces levels of patulin. The technique is safe and inexpensive, according to his adviser. Around 20 minutes after ozone is sprayed on a fruit to kill patulin, the gas degrades back into oxygen, leaving no residue.

Ashirifie-Gogofio said he hopes his research will someday benefit food processors in his home country. Ghanaian food companies are increasingly processing significant quantities of tropical fresh fruits and vegetables for export, he said.