{"id":219549,"date":"2025-08-04T12:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T22:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=219549"},"modified":"2025-08-04T12:37:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T22:37:59","slug":"student-food-allergy-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/04\/student-food-allergy-research\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> student\u2019s food allergy research wins big at international conference"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\"student
Jennie Cha took home first prize in the Division Graduate Student Oral Competition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The global market for tropical fruit is projected to grow more than 20% by 2029, and a study by University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa graduate student Jae-Eun “Jennie” Cha created a special test that can find five common tropical fruits all at once: mango, pineapple, avocado, banana and coconut. The test has proven 100% effective.<\/p>\n

The method, called a “multiplex PCR<\/abbr> assay,” can find allergy-causing ingredients in complicated food mixes and helps make sure food labels are correct and protects consumers from allergic reactions. The test identified the correct fruit species in the 32 commercial tropical fruit products it was tested on, matching the fruit labels every time.<\/p>\n

The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) PhD<\/abbr> student presented her research before a global audience of more than 30,000 food science professionals at the 2025 Institute of Food Technologists\u2019 Annual Meeting in Chicago. Her work earned her first place and a $1,000 prize in the Division Graduate Student Oral Competition.<\/p>\n

Cha\u2019s winning research addresses the growing problem of food allergies, especially as more people around the world are eating tropical fruits. She\u2019s been working on this study for the past 18 months.<\/p>\n

“I was really nervous, and my presentation was on the first day, so during the whole flight, I think I was just practicing my presentation slides on the plane,” Cha said.<\/p>\n

Cha was proud to represent CTAHR<\/abbr>, the human nutrition program, and Soojin Jun\u2019s food engineering lab at this international event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new method for detecting tropical fruit allergens earned a UH<\/abbr> student first place at an international food science competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[212,1485,1466,660,9],"class_list":["post-219549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-human-nutrition-food-and-animal-sciences","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t