Dil Thavarajah, assistant professor in the School of Food Systems, was featured recently in a story by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).

The topic was the research being conducted at the NDSU Pulse Quality Lab to increase nutritional value of pulse crops in developing nations. Thavarajah is exploring crop varieties that contain essential nutrients as well as being a source of protein.

According to the MPR website story by Dan Gunderson, Thavarajah was quoted as saying, “If we can have in our lentils, or pea, or chickpea not only beta carotene, but selenium, iron, zinc, it's like a whole food. It will be fabulous and fantastic.”

The story discussed the research activities conducted by Thavarajah; her husband, Thava, a chemist; plant breeder Kevin McPhee; and Gerry Combs, director of the USDA Human Nutrition Lab.

The story can be found at minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/09/13/research-goes-into-boosting-nutritional-value-of-pulse-crops-for-developing-countries.