| | A couple of research notes. Agriculture Canada has developed a new tool for carrot growers to literally help cut diseases. The carrot foliage trimmer removes a portion of the canopy of carrot tops between rows. Trimming opens up the canopy, reduces humidity and increases air flow within the carrot canopy. This removes the ideal conditions for diseases such as sclerotinia rot to develop. Each year, producers across Canada can potentially lose a substantial amount of their harvest to sclerotinia rot.
An Agriculture Canada scientist has also come up with a way to remove the hull from flaxseeds to free the nutrition-filled kernel. The flaxseeds are dried to reduce their moisture content. Then, the seeds are continuously fed into a separate chamber containing an abrasive rotator through which they flow at a rate sufficient for their hull to come off. The kernels can be processed. And the hulls are extracted to remove flaxseed gum and oil, which produces a high-gum fraction, a hull oil fraction, and a lignan-rich component of flaxseed.
The preceding is a transcript of the November 22, 2006 program. There may be some omissions due to last minute changes. For further information, contact Caitlynn Reesor at (780) 422-3981 or Ken Blackley at (780) 422-3951. |
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