§ Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why, in view of his proposal to close down the Research Station, Greyhope Road, Aberdeen, he proposes to build and equip a similar research station at Leatherhead.
Mr. VaneAs the hon. and learned Member will already be aware from the information given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Education, the proposed new research station at Leatherhead is not the responsibility of my Department. In any case, the work proposed at Leatherhead is quite different from that done at Aberdeen.
§ Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what projects, and of What kind, have been undertaken during the last 12 months by the Government Research Station, Greyhope Road, Aberdeen; and how many, and which, of those projects have been undertaken for the United States Government.
Mr. VaneThe following projects have been undertaken at the Aberdeen Research Establishment during the last twelve months:
1. The installation and operation of the Mark I commercial prototype accelerated freeze drying cabinet loaned to the Ministry by Messrs. Armour of Chicago. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the capabilities of the new process and equipment, to provide information on the appropriate procedure and the most economical routine for each food and to establish realistic costing data.
2. The production of field trial samples of the various foods processed by the accelerated freeze drying method and the production of experimental rations far large scale trials by the three armed services. Items of food have also been processed for hospital diets. The aim here was to produce a number of meals with precisely the same composition.
3. Work on the quality and storage life of dehydrated foods and on the control of the hygienic conditions in the machines used.
84W4. Research into the problems of flavour in vegetable products and investigations into the problem of identifying vegetable flavours.
5. The investigation of enzyme activity in dehydrated raw meats with low moisture content and of the reasons why dehydrated raw meat deteriorates more rapidly than dehydrated cooked meat.
6. The investigation of the mechanism of oxidative rancidity; work on metal catalysts with particular reference to trace metals and metal porphyrins such as haem pigments; and investigation of new flavonoids and their use as anti-oxidants in oils and fats.
7. The application of free radical acceptors to the inhibition of oxidative rancidity induced by radiation, and their possible use in inhibiting other undesirable side actions during the radiation of food.
In addition, the following three projects have been undertaken with grants provided by the United States Department of Agriculture under U.S. Congress Public Law 480:—
(1) The investigation of the significance of carotenoid breakdown in the deterioration of those fruits and vegetables which contain these and similar compounds, and of the relationship between chemical change and observed colour, flavour and odour changes.
(2) The investigation of the freezing and drying of muscle tissues, including the biochemistry and biophysics of the freezing and dehydration of muscle fibres.
(3) The investigation of new antioxidants. This includes the isolation, identification and testing of natural compounds and the synthesis of new ones which, from their performance as free radical acceptors, show promise as antioxidants.