Achievement

MILES faculty members, Andrea Dietrich (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Susan E. Duncan (Food Science and Technology), and YongWoo Lee (Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology), in cooperation with 8 other faculty from Virginia Tech are developing an understanding of water in relation to health issues. Dietrich, Duncan and Lee have evaluated the implication of minerals (iron, copper) in water on perception of metallic flavor and the relationship to oral oxidation reactions. Lipid oxidation of oral tissues is associated with metallic flavor perception. They discovered that pH of water, which alters the ionic form of metals, affects metallic flavor perception. Metallic flavor also occurs in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. These investigations are important in improving water quality and sustainability, and in health.