MARY AN GODSHALL
TECHNICAL ADVISORY OF SPRI
|
S.I.T. President C. Richard Donnelly presents the Crystal Award to Mary An Godshall |
In 1971, Mary An Godshall received her bachelor's degree in Biological
Sciences from the University of New Orleans (at that time still called
Louisiana State University of New Orleans), and, a Masters Degree in biological
sciences and biochemistry from the University of New Orleans in 1984.
Mary An came to work for the Cane Sugar Refining
Research Project, Inc., in May 1971. At that time, a major research area was
the isolation and identification of minor constituents from the sugarcane plant
that contributed to color in raw sugar. Thus began a career-long involvement
with the study of sugar color. Thin layer chromatography, high voltage paper
electrophoresis and the still-maturing technique of gas chromatography were the
tools of the trade. Work on color continues today with the addition of gel
permeation chromatography and mass spectroscopy.
Around 1978, answers were being sough for questions about flavor quality in
sugar products, and Mary An was given the assignment
to study flavor in sugar. This came at a particularly good time because a new
headspace device had just developed by scientists at the Southern Regional
Research Center, which allowed gas chromatographic profiling of volatiles that
contribute to flavor and odor. The combination of volatile profiling, mass
spectral identification, and taste panels proved to be a powerful tool for
understanding factors that contribute to flavor quality. This work led to the
identification of many important flavor components in products such as molasses
and soft sugars.
In 1981, Mary An entered graduate school, while still working
for the Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc., to obtain a Master's degree.
For her research project, she worked on the red rot disease of sugar cane, and
showed how the red pigment developed during the course of the disease and how
it inhibited the growth of the infecting microorganism, Colletrotrichum
falcatum, at the same time that factors from
the sugarcane plant stimulated growth. Several fractions of the pigment complex
were identified.
She has been active in the U.S. National Committee on Sugar Analysis for many
years, serving as secretary- treasurer, and in the capacity of Referee for
various subjects. In 1990, Mary An headed a committee of the International
Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA) that reviewed the status
of all methods, leading to the adoption by ICUMSA of standardized procedures
for testing and accepting methods. She serves as an Associate Referee on Sugars
and Sugar Products for the AOAC, and is a she Vice President of ICUMSA.
Besides being a member of Sugar Industry Technologists and the American
Society of Sugarcane Technologists, she is a member of the American Chemical
Society, Sigma Xi, and the
In 2000, she became the Managing Director of Sugar Processing Research
Institute, Inc., and retired in 2007.
She accepted to continue to work for SPRI as technical advisor.
