The United States Department of Agriculture Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) is one of four regional laboratories within the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

. Principal research areas of the SRRC include

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, food processing, preparation, and food storage, storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a simi ...

, global food security,

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

biofuels Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic ...

, agricultural sustainability, health and nutrition. It furthermore emphasizes improved product quality of

natural fibers Natural fibers or natural fibres (see spelling differences) are fibers that are produced by geological processes, or from the bodies of plants or animals. They can be used as a component of composite materials, where the orientation of fibers ...

especially

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, according to the SRRC's

mission statement A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...

.Southern Regional Research Center Mission Statement
version of February 1, 2013. The SRRC laboratory is located at 1100 Allen Toussaint Blvd,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

70124-4305 (Latitude 30.01881, Longitude -90.08952). It has an annual budget of approximately $25 million, employing 70 scientists and 130 other people in laboratory support roles.SRRC Overview and History
accessed February 1, 2013. The SRRC laboratory was established as a result of the

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 :''This is an article about the "Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938". For the act by the same name in 1933, see Agricultural Adjustment Act.'' The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 () was legislation in the United States that was enacted as ...

by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. Construction on the laboratory commenced in 1939 at its current 40 acre (162,000 m²) building site, a tract in the northeast corner of

City Park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and other incorporate ...

on Allen Toussaint Boulevard near

Bayou St. John Bayou St. John () is a bayou within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bayou as a natural feature drained the swampy land of a good portion of what was to become New Orleans, into Lake Pontchartrain. In its natural state, it extended much ...

, New Orleans, Louisiana. The laboratory opened in 1941. Research at the laboratory initially emphasized crops in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

that were produced in surplus, especially cotton,

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

, and peanuts. The history of the laboratory is documented on-line by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.Jett C. Arthur, Jr.
History of the Southern Regional Research Center
accessed January 31, 2013. The laboratory was designated
National Historic Chemical Landmark
in May 2004.
(accessed February 2, 2013). The other regional research centers in the Agricultural Research Service are: the

Western Regional Research Center The Western Regional Research Center (WRRC), located in Albany, California, is one of four regional laboratories within the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. The WRRC has six research units, which condu ...

(WRRC) in

Albany, California Albany ( ) is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northwestern Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 20,271 at the 2020 United States census. History In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping ...

; the

National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NCAUR) in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

; and the Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in

Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania Wyndmoor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,853 at the 2020 census. Wyndmoor has the same ZIP code, 19038, as the towns of Glenside, North Hills, ...

. Additionally SRRC has had affiliation with field stations. The SRRC laboratory suffered $35 million in damage as a result of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. The laboratory was closed for the ensuing year, necessitating relocation of approximately 170 members of its staff. The laboratory restored full operation in August 2007, two years after the storm.Agricultural Research Service article on the SRRC's recovery from Hurricane Katrina
by E. Peabody and S. Durham, August 10, 2007, accessed February 23, 2013.

Scientific achievements, discoveries, and inventions

The impact of the laboratory is gauged by its more than 8755

scientific publications Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical con ...

and 1035

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

in its 70+ year history. Notable contributions include the discovery of the process for making durable press (permanent press) cotton for wrinkle-free garments. Particular contributions to this discovery came from Ruth R. Benerito, who invented a cross-linking chemical reaction of the

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

molecules in cotton that imparts the permanent press characteristic on cotton garments. Recognizing that

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

, common table sugar, was in surplus, SRRC researchers demonstrated the chemical conversion of sucrose to certain sucrose esters and their use as emulsifiers, stabilizers, and texturizers in foods.R. O. Feuge, H. J. Zeringue Jr., T. J. Weiss, M. Brown
Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
February 1970, Volume 47, Issue 2, pp. 56 - 60. Making use of surplus

oilseed Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

crops, SRRC researchers invented routes to acetoglycerides and their use as thin, stretchable films suitable for edible coatings in various food applications and non-food

plasticizer A plasticizer ( UK: plasticiser) is a substance that is added to a material to make it softer and more flexible, to increase its plasticity, to decrease its viscosity, and/or to decrease friction during its handling in manufacture. Plasticizer ...

applications.Frank C. Magne, Robert R. Mod
Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
July 1953, Volume 30, Issue 7, pp. 269-271. SRRC researchers invented other improvements to cotton fabrics including imparting flame and heat resistance,

antibacterial An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention ...

properties, oil resistance, and a stretchy version of cotton fabrics. They invented cotton tire cord and light-weighting tarpaulin materials by incorporating cotton into the materials. They improved printing processes for cotton textiles, as well as mechanical processing equipment for use by textile mills.Seventy-one years of SRRC service
accessed February 7, 2013. USDA Southern Regional Research Center New Orleans 1985 Drying Cotton Samples

USDA Southern Regional Research Center New Orleans 1985 Drying Cotton Samples

Contributions of the laboratory to food safety include detection and detoxification of

aflatoxin Aflatoxins are various toxicity, poisonous carcinogens and mutagens that are produced by certain Mold (fungus), molds, especially ''Aspergillus'' species such as ''Aspergillus flavus'' and ''Aspergillus parasiticus''. According to the USDA, "The ...

cottonseed Cottonseed is the seed of the cotton plant. Composition The mature seeds are brown ovoids weighing about a tenth of a gram. By weight, they are 60% cotyledon, 32% coat and 8% embryonic root and shoot. These are 20% protein, 20% oil and 3.5% sta ...

and peanuts, in addition to

gossypol Gossypol () is a natural phenol derived from the cotton plant (genus ''Gossypium''). Gossypol is a phenolic aldehyde that permeates cells and acts as an inhibitor for several dehydrogenase enzymes. It is a yellow pigment. The structure exhibits ...

analysis of cottonseed. Inventions from the laboratory provided improved food quality and

processed food Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

quality. These inventions included high protein rice flour, edible rice bran oil, cottonseed oil with food characteristics similar to coconut butter, and fat sources for improved intravenous nutrition in medical settings. SRRC researchers found means of improving such processed foods as dehydrated celery, pickles, and new uses of sweet potatoes. They additional found improved uses of pine tree products, especially the practical applications of pine tar rosin. Improvements to

synthetic rubber A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About of rubber is produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubber, just like natural ru ...

also came from SRRC laboratories. A more complete list of scientific contributions of the SRRC is available. SRRC scientists Wilson A. Reeves, Stanley P. Rowland, Jett C. Arthur Jr., and Alfred D. French received in different years the

Anselme Payen Award The Anselme Payen Award is an annual prize named in honor of Anselme Payen, the French scientist who discovered cellulose, and was a pioneer in the chemistry of both cellulose and lignin. In 1838, he discovered that treating successively wood with ...

, administered by the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, for their contributions to the science and technology of cotton and cellulosic materials. Several prominent SRRC researchers are members of the Agricultural Research Service's Science Hall of Fame.http://www.ars.usda.gov/careers/hof/

References

External links

United States Department of Agriculture Southern Regional Research Center website
* Judah Ginsberg
"The Evolution of Durable Press and Flame Retardant Cotton"
American Chemical Society, Chemical Landmarks Series, accessed January 28, 2013. {{authority control New Orleans Agricultural research institutes in the United States United States Department of Agriculture facilities Research institutes in Louisiana