Ronald Wrolstad

The chemical composition of foods and its relationship to quality broadly describes my research interests.

*Dr. Wrolstad is no longer accepting graduate students.

Color is the quality attribute receiving most attention, with particular interest in the use of anthocyanin pigments from edible plants as food colorants. Anthocyanin stability and nonenzymic browning reactions are also being investigated. Fruit juices are the commodity of major interest, with the changes in the sugar, nonvolatile acid, anthocyanin pigment and phenolic profiles during processing and storage being investigated. Both the analytical methods and the compositional data base are also used to develop better methods for detecting adulteration in fruit juices. Current emphasis is on the possible health benefits of anthocyanin pigments and polyphenolics.