Ricardo Bressani is a prominent Central American food scientist who has contributed significantly to the knowledge of human nutrition and food production. Long associated with the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), Bressani has focused his chief efforts toward increasing the availability of high quality foods for humans. His contributions include improving production of high nutrition foods; investigating the composition and nutritional value of basic foods such as maize, sorghum rice, beans, and amaranth; studying the effects of food processing on nutritional value; evaluating food storage techniques; and analyzing the efficient biological utilization of foods.

Ricardo Bressani Castignoli was born on September 28, 1926, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, to Primina (Castignoli), a homemaker, and César Bressani, a farmer. He obtained a B.S. degree from the University of Dayton (Ohio) in 1948. In 1951 he was awarded a master's degree from Iowa State University and began directing...