By Shamona McClary

Kannapolis Citizen

Several discoveries will evolve from the N.C. Research Campus, including the answer to what we should eat.

With the help of other universities, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro plan to answer this ever-changing question while operating within the campus' first building and centerpiece— the Core Laboratory.

The 311,000-square-foot building, which is under construction and slated to be finished in November 2007, will house multiple laboratories and top-of-the-line equipment.

Dr. Rosemary Wander, the associate provost for research at UNC-Greensboro, said they plan to locate a Center for Research Excellence and Bioactive Food Components in the building.

"This facility will make North Carolina stand out in the nutrition world," she said.

Here they will try to understand the mechanism of how certain food components (such as antioxidants in blueberries) behave.

She said, basically, they will explore what food specifically needs to have in it for it to be healthy.

"From there, we will be able to inform those who produce food and those who eat it," Wander said.

Initially, campus and university officials announced in September 2005, that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C. State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Duke University and the community college system would be involved with the campus.

Wander said it only seemed right for her school, which has the oldest doctoral program in nutrition, to join the venture. She said they leaped into the effort that fall shortly after the announcement.

Similar to UNC-Greensboro, each school will specialize in a certain area:

* UNC-Chapel Hill will focus on nutrition and the brain, obesity and nutrition and cancer.

* N.C. State plans to improve quality traits of crops, including nutritional value, flavor, size and color and discover better and faster ways to grow fruits and vegetables to size while enhancing flavor.

* Duke will take basic scientific discoveries and translate them into practical medical solutions.

* UNC-Charlotte will research nutrition and health behavior and education, support Kannapolis' redevelopment through bioinformatics— the intersection of computer science and biology to solve problems in genetics and other areas of biology—and develop partnerships between businesses and the school, while supporting research ventures.

* The state's community college system will help to train and educate potential campus employees.

"All players are critical," Wander said.

Another low-key but vital player to also conduct research on the campus is N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University.

Dr. N. Radha, vice chancellor for research and economic development at A&T, said the school will concentrate in the area of post-harvest processing and operate from the core lab building.

A&T's initiatives will focus on health applications for fruits and vegetables, biotechnical uses and applications of plant-based materials and environmental health concerns related to producing and processing fruits and vegetables.

Radha said they will address research related to the development of "nutraceuticals," which are used to enhance ingredients in natural medicines such as vitamins. They also plan to focus on the production of organic produce and improve processing methods for ready-to-eat or bagged fruits and vegetables.

"The whole idea behind this is essentially using the natural fruits and vegetables to help lead a healthier life," he said. "What you're taking in is nutritious enough so you don't need any medicine."

Outside of research, A&T will also work with small-scale farmers close to Kannapolis and help them produce food for Murdock's Dole Foods.

A&T will organize and educate the farmers on what to grow and how and aid them in marketing, so they can compete with larger farmers.

Contact Shamona McClary at 704-933-3450 or smcclary@salisburypost.com.