A team of researchers at the University of North Texas’ Department of Biological Sciences has made a major discovery in how plants put tannins together.
Tannins have major human health benefits, and can impact the taste of fruits, and drinks such as tea and wine, according to a release from the university.
The research by by Chenggang Liu, Xiaoqiang Wang, Vladimir Shulaev and Richard Dixon, is being featured in the journal, Nature Plants, the university said.
“This is one of the most exciting papers of my career.”
Richard Dixon
“This is one of the most exciting papers of my career,” Dixon, distinguished research professor of biology, said in the release.
According to the release, the UNT researchers studied the gene leucoanthocyanidin reductase, or LAR.
Scientists previously thought that LAR only helped make the building blocks of tannins, but, according to the release, the research team learned that LAR instead plays an unexpected role in determining how the building blocks of tannins multiply to make long chains.
The researchers found that when the building blocks, called epicatechin, are linked in longer chains, they become insoluble, and lose astringency., the release said. Smaller, more soluble tannins can offer humans more health benefits, the release said.
Dixon said the research has major implications.
“This is one of the biggest breakthroughs ever in tannin research,” he said. “Tannins have been associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”
TANNINS CAN ALSO BE USED TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
He said the information gleaned from the research can be used try to boost those health benefits.
“We can also work to improve the taste and astringency of many fruits and beverages,” Dixon said. “We can even help with a major source of pollution.”
But there’s more to the research beyond health benefits.
The UNT researchers are using what they’ve learned about tannins to manipulate alfalfa in a manner that may reduce gas in cows, which researchers said is one of the biggest contributors to the greenhouse gas problem in the environment.
Delivering what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth innovation, every day. Get the Dallas Innovates e-newsletter.
R E A D N E X T
-
The DFW Alliance of Technology and Women held its 19th annual Executive Forum last week, urging attendees to "crack the courage code" and empower women in business. Afterward, DFW*ATW's president, Shanthi Rajaram, spoke with Dallas Innovates about her takeaways from the event—and how being "comfortable with the unknown" helped her start her own entrepreneurship journey.
-
UNT hopes its cloud-based computer program called RE-PLAN will be able to solve equitable distribution issues that often accompany a speedy rollout. The technology, which uses sourced data to allow public health agencies to craft response plans, will be dispensed with an urgency to target special demographics communities, like people who have disabilities, don't speak English, and don't have cars.
-
The 20-year Energy Savings Performance Contract will focus on a modernization project for cooling demand at the university’s health research labs.
-
To facilitate COVID-19 vaccinations, organizations such as the Texas Department of State Health Services and Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California, are using UNT's emergency planning tech. We spoke with the leader behind the tech, Marty O'Neill, about its origins and how the tech was pivoted on such short notice.
-
It can take up to 15 years for a new drug to be available for the public to use. Through SMU's patent-pending ChemGen, researchers believe chemists may be able to "increase their productivity from working on as few as six problems a year to as many as 60."
