Solula Tostones Chip a Niche in Snack Market

BY A J FLICK

Plantains remain an important commodity in the global market, thanks to their prominence as a staple in Latin American, African and Asian cultures Yet the United States continues to be the world’s largest importer of plan- tains, accounting for about a third of all plantain exports

While plantains are consumed in many ways around the world, Americans are likely most familiar with the nutrient-dense tropical fruit as a chip

Florida-based Solula is betting U S consumers will flip for a new kind of plantain chip: tostones

“This is not your grandmom’s plantain chip,” Solula CEO and founder Danny Pollak said “It’s a new and improved snack ”

Simply put, tostones are plantain slices that are smashed and usually fried twice in oil They’re a popular treat in the Caribbean Solula’s tostones, which come in four flavors (Pacific Sea Salt, Caribbean Lime, Roasted Garlic and Tropical Habanero), are fried in sunflower oil and small-batch kettle cooked

“Our cut is thicker, we fr y it and then after we take it out from fr ying, smash it,” Pollak said “What happens when you smash it, the fibers of the plantain offer more surface area

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The result was SweetLeaf Stevia Sweetener Now, Michael May is the second-generation CEO of the Arizona-based company

“I have to first and foremost stay true to who we are and what got us here,” May said “My father really wanted to help people live better lives and have better quality lives ”

James May, who built a career as a hospital administrator, saw dialysis patients and wished they had ways to have a better quality of life As the company grew, Michael May’s mother, Carol, took on a larger role in the company and ran it with Michael after James died

“The first thing is staying true to who we are in this company that was started by my father and built upon by my mother,” May said

“I’m also ver y cognizant of changing tastes, changing consumer behaviors and improving

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Beenome 100 Project Hoped to Save Endangered Bumble Bee

A detailed, high-resolution map of the rusty patched bumble bee’s genome has been released by the U S Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Ser vice and U S Fish and Wildlife Ser vice scientists, offering approaches for bringing the native pollinator back from the danger of extinction

Putting together the rusty patched bumble bee genome is part of the Beenome 100 project, a first-of-its-kind effort to create a librar y of high- quality, highly detailed genome maps of 100 or more diverse bee species found in the United

States Beenome 100 is a collaborative undertaking of ARS and the University of Illinois

The expectation is that this library will help researchers answer the big questions about bees such as what genetic differences make a bee species more vulnerable to climate change or whether a bee species is likely to be more susceptible to a pesticide

The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is an important pollinator of bergamot (Monarda fistu- losa), milkweed and other wildflowers, as well as crops such as cranberries, plums, apples and alfalfa But in the last 20 years or so, its population is estimated to have declined by 87 percent

In 2017, the species was listed as endangered Where rusty patched bumble bees were once common across the Upper Midwest and Northeast in 28 states and two Canadian provinces, now their range is down to disconnected spots in 13 states and one Canadian province Among

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