infocus #40 December 2015 Colourful Vegetables - Colourful Micrographs

Miloslav Kaláb shows the microscopic beauty of common vegetables

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.131

In this article right-field optical microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy are used to show the details of physical structure, distribution of some micronutrients and the beauty of ten of the most common vegetables grown underground as well as above the ground.

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Authors

Miloslav Kaláb

Honorary Research Associate, Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada,

Miloš arrived in Canada from the former Czechoslovakia as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa in 1966. In 1968, he was hired by then Agriculture Canada to develop new milk products. To better understand the gelation of milk, he learned electron microscopy in the laboratory of Dr. G.H. Haggis. Between 1979 and 1993, Miloš helped Dr. Om Johari to organise international meetings of food microscopists and to establish a new journal, "Food Structure" in 1982 (now featured at http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Structure). He served as the Editor-in-Chief until the publisher discontinued the journal in 1993. In 1982, the American Dairy Science Association conferred the Pfizer Award on Miloš for his microstructural research of cultured milk products. In 1986 he served as a United Nations FAO consultant at the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal (India) and in 1989 he shared his expertise with food scientists in Tsukuba (Japan) thanks to a grant from the Government of Japan. Miloš has published over 160 scientific and technical papers. After his retirement in 1995, he volunteered as an Honorary Research Associate doing part-time electron microscopy of microorganisms, foods, and blood cells. This is his fourth contribution to infocus.

Email:: milos.kalab@agr.gc.ca
Website:: www.magma.ca/~scimat/

Keith Hubbard

Molecular Biology Technician, Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada

Keith has worked as a molecular biology technician at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) in Ottawa since 1997. One of the major projects he was involved in was research towards maize crop improvement through genetic modification. In 2012, he joined the microscopy team at AAFC and has been providing assistance and expertise in scanning and transmission electron microscopy and also in confocal laser scanning microscopy in a variety of agricultural projects. He also teaches and assists other technicians in this field which has captivated him by its extent and diversity.

Email:: keith.hubbard@agr.gc.ca

Denise Chabot

Electron Microscopy Unit Supervisor, Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada

Denise Chabot has 25 years of experience as an analytical chemistry research technician at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In addition, she is proficient in both optical and electron microscopy, with a broad scope of expertise from microorganisms to plant organelles to food structure. Her passion for nature and microscopy has brought her to collaboration in many fields of agricultural research and co-authorship of scientific and technical papers. She is currently the supervisor of the Electron Microscopy Unit at ECORC on the Experimental Farm in Ottawa.

Email:: denise.chabot@agr.gc.ca