VSU professor will help foster international food science research

The American Chemical Society is launching a new food science journal in 2021, and it has named Virginia State University researcher Dr. Yixiang Xu, as associate editor of its upcoming publication, ACS Food Science & Technology.

The journal will feature “cutting edge original research in all areas of food science, technology, engineering, and nutrition,” according to ACS’ website.

Articles will focus on food security, food preservation, and health-promoting food ingredients.

ACS is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. It is one of the world’s largest scientific organizations with more than 150,000 members in over 140 countries. Its mission is to advance chemistry and the work of its practitioners, while improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry. ACS has more than 60 scientific magazines and journals.

Xu, an associate professor of food processing and engineering at the Agricultural Research Station (ARS) in VSU’s College of Agriculture, was invited to serve on the editorial staff by ACS deputy editor Dr. Coralia Osorio Roa of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Sede Bogotá.

In a letter to Xu, Roa said the VSU researcher was invited because of “her expertise not only in food science but also in food packaging, bioprocessing materials, and coatings.”

“It is a great honor for me to be invited to be part of the editorial team of this journal and have an opportunity to work with prestigious researchers around the world,” Xu said. “It is also partly a recognition of impactful food science research conducted in our research program at the Agriculture Research Station at Virginia State University.”

Xu heads the Food Processing and Engineering Program at ARS, which applies engineering to address food nutrition, quality and safety questions and also trains VSU students in food production and safety practices. Her research specifically focuses on novel food processing and packaging technologies for healthy food development and shelf-life extension. She earned a bachelor’s in food engineering and a master’s in Food Science and Technology from Southwest Agriculture University in Chongqing, China and earned a doctorate in Food Science and Technology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.