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#UFSWomen: SADoCoL women take challenges in their stride and excel

19 August 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Charl Devenish

women 15 copy — Ebeth Grobbelaar is a Scientific Manager in the South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) who is responsible for the review and approval of results at SADoCoL, to ensure compliance with the technical requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

For Ebeth Grobbelaar, Scientific Manager in the South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) – which is housed by the University of the Free State (UFS) – her work at the laboratory is profound, as fairness on and off the playing field is vital to her.

“Creating a fair playing field for athletes to compete carries a heavy responsibility, as an anti-doping violation impacts the athlete’s career,” says Grobbelaar, who is responsible for the review and approval of results at SADoCoL to ensure compliance with the technical requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Women are the cogs in the wheel

According to her, anabolic steroids, the multiple analytical disciplines, and rapidly changing technical requirements from WADA have attracted her to the sciences of anti-doping. Sixty percent of her colleagues at SADoCoL are women. “They are the cogs in the wheel, ensuring the laboratory's smooth operation, taking daily challenges in their stride, and excelling in what they do as analysts and administrative staff,” says Grobbelaar.

Grobbelaar says there are many options in the anti-doping field for women inside and outside of the laboratory. Some of the most influential people in the anti-doping community are women – in their roles as laboratory directors, leading researchers, directors of athlete passport management units for international sports federations, or national anti-doping agencies in various capacities.

With all the responsibilities, come challenges and pressure – especially in a year when the Olympic Games take place.

Women should learn how to say ‘no’

“An Olympic year always has additional stress due to the large number of samples before the games. This year, the pressure is more, with not all accredited laboratories operational, as well as disrupted testing schedules due to COVID-19. Enabling athletes to compete in fairness on the world stage is a responsibility and a privilege.”

“My faith is my anchor. As far as possible, I try to leave my work behind when I leave the laboratory, and concentrate on enjoyable things such as gardening, my dog, reading, and walking with my dog. On challenging days, something sweet also helps,” explains Grobbelaar the pressure and how she copes with it.

This Women’s Month, Grobbelaar says, women should learn how to say ‘no’ to create time for rest and play. Says Grobbelaar: “For many women, ‘doing your best’ or saying yes means working yourself to the point of a mental and physical breakdown. Having the courage to say no, loving oneself through rest and play, replenishing our spirits, and realising that we are unique and precious in God’s eyes, is a challenge that many women face.”

“Rest and play can take different forms, such as having coffee with a friend or being creative. The important thing is that your rest or play activity brings joy to your soul and energises you. Ask your friends to support and assist you,” she concludes.

News Archive

Research on cactus pear grabs attention of food, cosmetic and medical industry

2015-02-18

Cactus pear
Photo: Charl Devenish

The dedicated research and development programme at the UFS on spineless cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) – also known as prickly pear – has grown steadily in both vision and dimension during the past 15 years. Formal cactus pear research at the UFS started with the formation of the Prickly Pear Working Group (PPWG) in June 2002. It has since gone from strength to strength with several MSc dissertations and a PhD thesis as well as popular and scientific publications flowing from this initiative.

According to Prof Wijnand Swart from the Department of Plant Sciences, the UFS is today recognised as a leading institution in the world conducting multi-disciplinary research on spineless cactus pear.

Cactus pear for animal feed

Increasing demands on already scarce water resources in South Africa require alternative sources of animal feed – specifically crops that are more efficient users of water. One alternative with the potential for widespread production is spineless cactus pear. It is 1.14 x more efficient in its use of water than Old man saltbush, 2.8 x more efficient than wheat, 3.75 x more efficient than lucerne and 7.5 x more efficient than rangeland vegetation.

“Studies on the use of sun-dried cactus pear cladodes suggest that it has the potential to provide some 25% of the basic feed resources required by South Africa’s commercial ruminant feed manufacturing sector,” says Prof HO de Waal of the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS.

Until recently, research has focused extensively on the use of cactus pear as drought fodder. However, this is now beginning to shift, with growing interest in the intensive production of spineless cactus pear for other types of animal feed. One example is the spineless cactus pear fruit, produced seasonal, yielding large quantities of fruit in a relatively short period of a few months in summer. Unless kept in cold storage, the fruit cannot be stored for a long period. Therefore, a procedure was developed to combine large volumes of mashed cactus pear fruit with dry hay and straw and preserve it for longer periods as high moisture livestock feed, kuilmoes – a high water content livestock feed similar to silage.

Cactus pear and Pineapple juice
Photo: Charl Devenish

Cactus pear for human consumption

“In addition to its use as a livestock feed, cactus pear is increasingly being cultivated for human consumption. Although the plant can be consumed fresh as a juice or vegetable, significant value can be added through processing. This potential is considerable: the plant can be pickled; preserved as a jam or marmalade; or dried and milled to produce baking flour. It can also serve as a replacement of egg and fat in mayonnaise,” said Dr Maryna de Wit from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.

The extraction of mucilage from fresh cladodes can form a gelling, emulsifier, and fat-replacing agent commonly found in food products such as mayonnaise and candy. During an information session to the media Dr De Wit and her team conducted a food demonstration to showcase the use of the cladodes in a juice, chicken stir-fry, biscuits and a salad.

The extrusion of cactus pear seed oil provides a further lucrative niche product to the array of uses. These include high-value organic oil for the cosmetic sector, such as soap, hair gel and sun screens.

The cladodes and the fruit also have medicinal uses. It has anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, pain killing and anti-diabetic agents. It is also high in fibre and can lower cholesterol. The fruit also prevents proliferation of cells and suppresses tumour growth and can even help to reduce a hangover.

In South Africa the outdated perception of cactus pears as thorny, alien invaders, is rapidly disappearing. Instead, farmers now recognise that cactus pear can play a vital role as a high yielding, water-efficient, multi-use crop, said Prof de Waal and the members of the Cactus Pear Team.

Facebook photo gallery
Dagbreek interview with Dr Maryna de Wit

Research on cactus pear (read the full story)

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za

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