College of Wooster Organic Chemistry Professors Talk Turkey with Students

The tryptophan in turkey may not be the only reason that people feel sleepy after a nice big Thanksgiving meal.

WOOSTER, Ohio - Polymeric amino acids, complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids,conjugated alkenes, Oh, and don't forget the tryptophan.

Sound appetizing?

Perhaps not, but millions of Americans will be ingesting and then digesting those appetizing molecules and many others when they sit down for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

Judy Amburgey-Peters and Paul Bonvallet, professors of organic chemistry at The College of Wooster, thought it would be fun and educational to present a lesson on the chemistry of Thanksgiving just days before the annual feast.

'This will be our last class before the break, and we wanted to do something to keep our students focused," said Amburgey-Peters. 'Besides, it will give them plenty to talk about over Thanksgiving dinner when family and friends ask what they are learning in college."

So Amburgey-Peters and Bonvallet will talk turkey with their students while carving up the contents of this uniquely American meal. ' It's amazing how much relates to what is in our textbook," says Bonvallet, who added that this non-traditional approach allows students to see the real-world applications of what they have been studying.

Monday's menu, or should we say lesson plan, consists of many interesting items, including several lesser-known facts about what's in the food we eat. For example, students will learn that pumpkin pie can actually be good for you. That's right. The popular holiday dessert contains beta-carotene, which is an antioxidant and an immune system booster, but hold the whipped cream. They will also discover that there are important antioxidants in the cranberries. In addition, students will find that the "sleepy feeling" after dinner has less to do with the tryptophan in the turkey than the diversion of blood flow from the brain to the stomach. Furthermore, the neurotransmitter serotonin is released in the brain, causing many of us to curl up and take a nap. The most interesting morsel of information may be that the molecular composition of bread and the basket in which it is served is nearly identical, although you would never eat the basketÞunless, of course, you were really hungry.

"Organic chemists look at the world as a collection of molecules," said Amburgey-Peters. "This type of lesson helps students do the same thing in a way that is fun and informative."

Perhaps the best part of Monday's lesson, however, is that it will be 100-percent calorie free.