Project Number: 3620-41000-115-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Jul 29, 2004
End Date: Jul 28, 2009

Objective:
Support analytical methods development and analysis of developing new crop germplasm and agronomic trials. Crops that will be studied are lesquerella, cuphea and sicklepod (senna). Develop chemical and physical processes for the isolation of new crop raw materials. Oil, protein, starch, glucosinolates and other phytochemicals will be isolated and produced in pilot quantities. Products to be developed include natural pest control chemicals and hydrocolloids. Develop industrial materials through organic synthesis of novel derivatives based on new crop raw materials. Products to be developed include biodegradable lubricants, viscosity and lubricant additives.

Approach:
New crops will be developed for several growing regions within the U.S. by developing industrial products from these agricultural feed stocks. New crop development is critical to the future sustainability of U.S. agriculture by reduction of the dependance on government subsidies for a select few commodity crops. Development of cuphea, lesquerella, meadowfoam (limnanthes), milkweed (ascelipias) and sicklepod (senna) will occur through a three prong effort. First, germplasm development will be supported through analytical methods which provide procedures to rapidly analyze protein, oil and starch. GC and HPLC methods for partial seed analysis determination of oil and fatty acids will aid germplasm development. In addition non-destructive methods for oil, protein and starch will be developed using pulsed NMR and NIR technologies. Second, new chemical and physical processes for the isolation of new crop raw materials (oil, protein, starch and phytochemicals) will be established and new crop raw materials produced in pilot scale quantities. Expelling will be conducted with optimization of pre-press conditions (seed tempering with temperature and moisture, flake thickness and dehulling). Isolation of speciality chemicals from defatted meal utilizing enzymatic processes will enhance meal quality and aid in offsetting oil production costs. Lastly, development of industrial materials through organic synthesis of novel derivatives based on new crop raw materials. Products to be developed include biodegradable lubricants, viscosity and lubricant additives, natural pest control chemicals and hydrocolloids. Novel new crop chemical structures will drive the direction of isolation, synthesis, evaluation and scale-up of synthetic efforts. Cooperative efforts with academia for germplasm and agronomic development and industry for product evaluation is crucial to the successful completion of this work.