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Zachary is an avid basketball player. He is a Boy Scout, and he also likes to camp, mountain bike, and swim. "I would like to be a physician," he says of his career aspirations, "because you can help people and possibly prevent disease. Finding a cure or a new method for prevention is exciting and motivating to me."
Zachary cites his father as his mentor because "he has introduced me to chemistry, medicine, and some biology."
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(partner of Ryker Watts)
Zach and Ryker began researching antioxidants after Zach's father pointed out that it was a major topic of current medical research. After reading more, they learned that oxidation has been linked to aging and many diseases, including cancer and heart disease. They further discovered that nuts have been studied as an antioxidant source, but that not much was known about how different nuts compare to each other and how preparation methods affect their antioxidant activity. After considering the matter, Zach and Ryker hypothesized that nuts will prevent the oxidation of flaxseed oil and that this effect will vary according to the type of nut and the roasting time.
After obtaining raw peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and pecans, Ryker and Zach baked groups of the peanuts and almonds at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for time periods of 0, 5, 10, and 20 minutes. The walnuts and pecans were not roasted. To measure the antioxidant activity, they blended each nut sample with isopropyl alcohol, filtered the mixture, and added a small amount of the resultant mixture to a test tube containing an aqueous copper solution and a small amount of flaxseed oil. They also created six control test tubes. After an overnight incubation, conjugated dienes were measured using a spectrophotometer. Zach and Ryker's results showed that all nuts except pecans significantly prevented the oxidation of the flaxseed oil. Roasting for up to 10 minutes appeared to increase the antioxidant activity of the almonds and peanuts, but 20 minutes of roasting abolished the antioxidant effect. Zach and Ryker concluded that, with the exception of pecans, the nuts tested did have a potent antioxidant effect and that the health benefits of nuts may be affected by processing methods.
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