Amanda Bries participates in the Borlaug Student Poster Competition

2015 Nov 11

Amanda Bries, of Manchester, IA, was selected as one of thirteen undergraduate students to participate in the Borlaug Student Poster Competition, which highlights student projects focused on world food issues.

Bries, a student in dietetics at Iowa State University, was selected to share a poster titled "Polyphenol and Phytic Acid Determination in Tepary Bean and Common Bean Varieties" with faculty, staff, students, and guests during a reception before the Norman Borlaug Lecture, named for the agronomist and Iowa native whose discoveries sparked the Green Revolution.

Bries’ poster was comparing the factors polyphenol, phytic acid, iron concentration and solubility of varieties of the tepary bean (white and brown) and common beans (black and pinto). She noted that beans are a good source of iron, the bioavailability is low due to key factors like pholyphenols and phytic acid.

All students are invited to submit abstracts describing a project they have completed related to world food issues, with the top students invited to present a poster for the public. Judges at the reception used a rubric to score the projects a second time and winners were announced just prior to the lecture. Bries placed first in the undergraduate category.

The Norman Borlaug lecture, given by the 2015 World Food Prize Laureate Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, kicks off the start of World Food Prize Week, full of discussions surrounding food issues around the world. ISU's Norman Borlaug Lecture Series is held annually in conjunction with the World Food Prize Symposium.