BROOKINGS – Legislators learned about South Dakota State University undergraduate research that seeks to prevent obesity among college students and develop environmentally friendly solvents at the Student Poster Session, held Monday in Pierre. 

Four juniors enrolled in the Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College discussed their research from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.

Anna Barr, a dietetics major from Newton, Iowa, taught college students how to cook healthy meals as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture project to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption. Her adviser is Distinguished Professor Kendra Kattlemann, head of the Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences and director of the didactic program in dietetics.

Pharmacy students Kaila Kuehn of Brandon and Natalie Sovell of Marshall, Minnesota, and biochemistry/biotechnology major Camille Massmann of Cold Spring, Minnesota, adjusted the formula of a commonly used solvent, decreasing its toxicity so it can be considered a green solvent. Their research adviser is associate professor Douglas Raynie, head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Eating healthier

In fall 2016, Barr taught a series of three classes focused on preparing simple, nutritious meals safely to three groups of students, composed largely of freshmen. “The goal was to use what was readily available on campus to prepare meals, primarily in the residence halls, that were healthy and did not take much equipment or effort,” she explained. For example, one class featured recipes designed for the microwave.

Comparing pretest and posttest results, Barr found the participants’ confidence and ability to cook as well as knowledge of nutrition increased. However, their frequency of cooking and eating healthy meals and food safety practices did not.

“It’s easier to teach someone to cook than it is to get them to use what they’ve learned to eat healthier,” Barr said. 

Despite that, 83 percent of the respondents felt that they were eating healthier as a result of the instruction they received. However, vegetable and fruit consumption among the participants was relatively high even before taking the classes.

Developing green solvents

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are mixtures of two or more chemicals that when combined have a lower melting point than the individual components, Sovell explained. These solvents have a wide range of applications, from batteries to biodiesel and zinc electroplating, as well as chemical analyses.

Sovell, Kuehn and Massmann studied a DES that was a mixture of choline chloride and ethylene glycol and reduced the solvent’s toxicity by substituting propylene glycol for the ethylene glycol.  Their experimental work involved optimizing the choline chloride-to-propylene glycol ratio using a variety of instruments to measure parameters, such as melting point, viscosity and conductivity.

“This project gave us confidence in our research skills,” said Kuehn, who learned to use instruments, such as a viscometer and differential scanning calorimeter.

“As undergraduates, we had never been exposed to analytical chemistry. After working in Dr. Raynie’s lab, we have a much better understanding of green chemistry and its applications for everyday life,” Sovell said. Massmann agreed, “I learned about real-life applications for chemistry – it’s not just lab work.”

SDSU photo: South Dakota State University students, from left, Natalie Sovell, Camille Massmann and Kaila Kuehn measure the flow characteristics of their solvent formulation using a viscometer. They presented their work on developing more environmentally friendly solvents at the Legislative Poster Session Feb. 26 in Pierre.