Donald B. Thompson, Ph.D.

Professional Experience:

• July '99 - present: Professor of Food Science
  
• Jan '94 - June '00: Head, Department of Food Science
• July '90 - June '99: Associate Professor of Food Science, Penn State University
• July '84 - June '90: Assistant Professor of Food Science, Penn State University

Teaching Experience:

Current Courses:

"Food, Values, and Health," FD SC 280H / PHIL 280H. (honors course, intermediate undergraduate level, 3 cr). Taught yearly since 2004. Approved as contributing to the minor in "Bioethics and Medical Humanities."

"Carbohydrate Hydrocolloids," FD SC 510 (graduate level, 3 cr). Taught in spring of odd-numbered years since 1985.

"Physiology of Nutrition," FD SC 406 (undergraduate/graduate level, 3 cr). Taught each spring. Required for food science undergraduate majors.
 
Previous Courses (100% responsibility):
"Food Facts and Fads," FDSC 105 (general education, 3 cr GHA). Taught in fall of 2004.

"Introductory Food Science," FD SC 200 (undergraduate, required of food science majors).

"Topics in Nutrition," NUTRN 551 (graduate level, 1 cr). Last taught as "Factors Influencing Starch Digestion." 

Research Interests:

Starch Chemistry and Nutrition. Starch molecular structure and physical behavior; novel starch from unique maize genotypes; enzyme-resistant starch, and starch digestion; nutritional effects of food processing treatments, with emphasis on starch. (Click here for a brief "background and overview" concerning recent starch research.)

Food Choice. The relationship between food and health broadly understood, with emphasis on non-biomedical health.

Functional Foods. The research base for the efficacy and safety of functional foods (nutraceuticals); scientific and marketing rationales for these items in foods and diets.
 
 

Recent Publications:

Thompson, D.B. 2007. Resistant Starch, Chapter 2 (pp 73-95) in "Functional Food Carbohydrates," C.G. Biliaderis & M. Izydorczyk, eds. Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL.

Brumovsky, J.O., Brumovsky, L.A., & Thompson, D.B. 2006. A tentative explanation for the substantial rise of the gelatinization temperature of starch by adding salt and hydroxide. Int.J.Food Properties 9:889-896.

Li, J.-H., Guiltinan, M.J., & Thompson, D.B. 2006. The use of laser differential interference contrast microscopy for the characterization of starch granule ring structure. Starch/Starke 58:1-5.

Xia, H. & Thompson, D.B. 2006. Debranching of -dextrins to explore branching patterns of amylopectins from three maize genotypes. Cereal Chem. 83:668-676.

Yao, Y., Guiltinan, M.G., & Thompson, D.B. 2005. High performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) to describe the chain length distribution of debranched starch. Carbohydr. Res. 340:701-710.

Evans, A. and Thompson, D.B. 2004. Resistance to -amylase digestion in four native high-amylose maize starches. Cereal Chem. 81: 31-37.

Yao, Y., Thompson, D.B., & Guiltinan, M.G. 2004. Maize starch-branching enzyme isoforms and amylopectin structure. In the absence of starch-branching enzyme IIb, the further absence of starch-branching enzyme Ia leads to increased branching. Plant Physiol. 136:3515-3523.

Evans, A. McNish, N, & Thompson, D. 2003. Polarization colors of lightly iodine-stained maize starches for amylose-extender and related genotypes in the W64A maize inbred line. Starch/Starke 55: 250-257.

Thompson, D.B. & Brumovsky, J. 2002. Manufacture of boiling-stable granular resistant starch by acid hydrolysis and hydrothermal treatment. U.S. patent no. 6,468,355.

Blauth, S. L., J. Klucinec, J.C. Shannon, D. B. Thompson, and M. J. Guiltinan. 2002. Identification of Mutator insertional mutants of starch branching enzyme I (Sbe1) in Zea mays L. Plant Molec. Biol. 48: 287-297.

Klucinec, J.D. and Thompson, D.B. 2002. Structure of amylopectins from ae-containing maize starches. Cereal Chem. 79(1):19-23.

Klucinec, J.D. and Thompson, D.B. 2002. Amylopectin structure and the amylose to amylopectin ratio both influence the nature of starch gels from mixtures of amylopectin and amylose. Cereal Chem. 79(1):24-35.

Yao, Y., Guiltinan, M.J., Shannon, J.C., and Thompson, D.B. 2002. Single kernel sampling method for maize starch analysis while maintaining kernel vitality. Cereal Chem. 79:757-762.

Brumovsky, J. and Thompson, D.B. 2001. Production of boiling-stable granular resistant starch by partial acid hydrolysis and hydrothermal treatments of high-amylose maize starch. Cereal Chem. 78:680-689.

Blauth, S. L., J. Klucinec, Y. Yuan, J.C. Shannon, D. B. Thompson, and M. J. Guiltinan. 2001. Identification of Mutator insertional mutants of starch branching enzyme 2a (Sbe2a) in Zea mays L. Plant Physiol. 125: 1396-1405.

Thompson, D.B. 2000. Strategies for the manufacture of resistant starch. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 11:245-253.

Thompson, D.B. (2000) On the non-random nature of amylopectin branching. Carbohydrate Polymers. 43:223-239.

Boltz, K.W. and Thompson, D.B. 1999. Initial heating temperature and native lipid affects ordering of amylose during cooling of high-amylose starches. Cereal Chemistry. 76:204-212.

Klucinec, J. and Thompson, D.B. 1999. Amylose and amylopectin interact in the gelation of dispersed high-amylose starches. Cereal Chemistry. 76:282-291.

Liu, Q. and Thompson, D.B. 1998. Effects of moisture content and different gelatinization heating temperature on retrogradation of waxy-type maize starches. Carbohydrate Research. 314:221-235.

Klucinec, J. and Thompson, D.B. 1998. Fractionation of high-amylose maize starches by differential alcohol precipitation and chromatography of the fractions. Cereal Chemistry. 75:887-890

Liu, Q. and Thompson, D.B. 1998. Retrogradation of du wx and su2 wx maize starches following different gelatinization heat treatments. Cereal Chemistry. 75:868-874.

Yuan, R.C. and Thompson, D.B. 1998. Freeze-thaw stability of three waxy maize starch pastes meassured by centrifugation and calorimetry. Cereal Chemistry 75:571-573.

Yuan, R.C., and Thompson, D.B. 1998. Rheological and thermal properties of aged starch pastes from three waxy maize genotypes. Cereal Chemistry. 75:117-123.

Fisher, D.K., and Thompson, D.B. 1997. Retrogradation of maize starch after thermal treatment within and above the gelatinization temperature range. Cereal Chemistry. 74:344-351.

Yuan, R.C. and Thompson, D.B. 1994. Sub-Tg thermal properties of amorphous waxy starch and its derivatives. Carbohydrate Polymers. 25: 1-6.

Shewmaker, C.K., Boyer, C.D., Wiesenborn, D.P., Thompson, D.B., Boersig, M.R., Oakes, J.V., and Stalker, D.M. 1994. Expression of Escherichia coli glycogen synthase in the tubers of transgenic potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) results in a highly branched starch. Plant Physiology 104: 1159-1166.

Ziegler, G.R., Thompson, D.B., and Casasnovas, J. 1993. Dynamic measurement of starch granule swelling. Cereal Chemistry 70: 247-251.

Yuan, C.-K.R., Thompson, D.B., and Boyer, C.D. 1993. Fine structure of amylopectin in relation to gelatinization and retrogradation behavior in maize starches from three wx-containing genotypes in two inbred lines. Cereal Chemistry 70: 81-89.

Ajlouni, S.O., Beelman, R.B., Thompson, D.B., and Mau, J.-L. 1993. Quality and shelf life comparison between off-white and white hybrids U1 and U3) of Agaricus bisporus. Mushroom Res. 2:29-36.
 
 

Affiliations:

AACC International.
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).
American Society for Nutrition (ASN).

Member, PSU Nutrition Graduate Program.
Member, PSU Food Science Ingredients as Materials Group.

Current members of the lab group:

Huan Xia, Ph.D. student; Debora Saibene, Ph.D. student; Lihe Yeo, M.S. student.