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Tony Liang

Professor Tumen

WRIT 2

11 Aug 2022

From the Lab to Public: A Genre Translation

In this genre translation project, an experimental biochemistry research paper which

quantitatively analyzed the antibacterial properties of several food preservative mixtures was

translated into an infographic. The translation shifted the target audience from highly specialized

individuals with expertise in both chemistry and biology, to a non-specialized, general audience.

The infographic accurately highlighted the major objectives of the original research paper, while

also maintained a strong readability consistent with the extent of knowledge of a general

audience. The translation achieved this via the exemplary characteristics of an effective

infographic, which were descriptive title and subheads, organized and specially formatted facts,

as well as eye-catching graphics.

The initial recognizance of context is important to fully appreciate the translation

between genres. The format of the original article is similar to that of a lab report, comprised of

several sections: introduction, methods/materials, results/discussions, and conclusion. The

entirety of the article was written in third person perspective, and in past tense, consistent with

the conventions of a research paper. In the original article, cinnamaldehyde, a compound

extracted from cinnamon plant essential oils was explored as a potential substitute for the

popular nitrite food preservative. An experiment was conducted to measure the effectiveness of

cinnamaldehyde and nitrite in the suppression of growth against harmful foodborne bacteria such
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as E. coli, S. aureus, and C. perfringens. Challenges of the experiment were then elaborated to

explain for the methods employed, such as cinnamaldehyde’s “possibility of drastic changes in

the sensory attributes of the product, [its] volatility and instability, low water solubility, and its

oxidation ability” (Hojati et al.), all of which could potentially eliminate the antibacterial

properties of cinnamaldehyde. Luckily, a technique called nanoemulsion has the potential to

eliminate these negative effects. Therefore, the researchers sought to investigate the effectiveness

of cinnamaldehyde nanoemulsion over traditional cinnamaldehyde mixtures and synthetic nitrite

preservatives, giving rise to the title of the infographic, The Antibacterial Property of

Cinnamaldehyde Nanoemulsion in Sausages: A Comparison Between Natural and Synthetic

Food Preservatives.

In order to translate a pedantic and highly specialized research paper into an infographic

understandable by a general audience, much of the scientific jargon had to be explained or

otherwise removed. Jargons such as “cinnamaldehyde”, “nitrite” and “nanoemulsion”, were

important recurring concepts in the original research paper, and were essential to the objective of

the experiment, therefore their definition had to be provided in the infographic. The terms

“cinnamaldehyde” and “nitrite” were also in bold and large font in the infographic to emphasize

their importance in the study. In contrast to these scientific jargons, the data and results sections

of the original article contained large amounts of precise numeric values and esoteric units of

measurement. Data such as “105.8 CFU/g” were unnecessary to the holistic understanding of the

experiment, and were therefore removed or simplified for easier interpretation by the audience.

As a result of this editing process, the top half of the infographic largely contained information

present in the introduction section of the original research paper, which were more factual than

statistical. Unlike the top half the infographic, the bottom half was largely occupied by
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interpretation of the results and conclusion sections of the original paper. In the original research

paper, much of the conclusion was backed up by excessive experimental data that would be

inappropriate to include in an infographic. Therefore, a chart representing the bacterial growth

under different preservative treatment was constructed using the numerical data in the original

paper to provide a more direct visual representation of the experimental result. Additionally, the

original paper was referenced in the bottom of the infographic to provide credibility of the claims

made.

A major challenge presented by the genre translation from a research paper to an

infographic was the lack of stance offered by the research paper. As with most scientific

experiments, the conclusions are bimodal: statistical significance is either present or absent,

which made the objective of the infographic translation confusing and unappealing to a general

audience. To assert a stronger position, the infographic took inspiration from the motive that lead

to the scientific research, “The use of nitrites and nitrates in the sausage formulation… has

increased the public concerns about their consumption” (Hojati et al.). To magnify the argument

that cinnamaldehyde is not only more effective in bacterial suppression, but also carries

significant health benefit over the nitrite, a separate study was briefly referenced. A study from

the Journal of Functional Foods compounded with the motive from the original article,

suggesting cinnamaldehyde to be a strong antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties

(Khadije et al.). Combined with the result of the original paper which indicated statistical

significance of Cinnamaldehyde having a stronger antibacterial property, a strong case was made

for cinnamaldehyde as the healthier and more effective food preservative. To further emphasize

the strength of cinnamaldehyde over nitrite, phrases such as “naturally occurring” and “healthier

alternative” were boldened and colored green when describing cinnamaldehyde, while phrases
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such as “synthetic” and “potential carcinogenic properties” were boldened but colored red when

describing nitrite.

Finally, thematic and eye-catching graphic icons were placed throughout each section of

the infographic translation. This provided intuitive sense to the reader of what each section

entailed without reading extensively into each paragraph. It also gave the audience an attention

grabber for each section, encouraging them to move down each section of the infographic. At the

same time, the graphic icons all center around and enhance the main stance of the infographic,

highlighting the health benefits and the antimicrobial properties of cinnamaldehyde.

Despite having markedly different audience, the biochemical research paper, “Effect of

cinnamaldehyde nanoemulsion on the microbiological property of sausage” was translated into

an infographic effectively. By utilizing graphic and textual elements essential to infographics, the

final product delivered reliable information to a non-specialized audience while being visually

intuitive.
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Works Cited

Hojati, Narges, Sedigheh Amiri, and Mohsen Radi. "Effect of Cinnamaldehyde Nanoemulsion

on the Microbiological Property of Sausage." Journal of Food Measurement &

Characterization 16.4 (2022): 2478-85. ProQuest. Web. 3 Aug. 2022.

Farrokhfall, Khadije, et al. “Improved Islet Function Is Associated with Anti-Inflammatory,

Antioxidant and Hypoglycemic Potential of Cinnamaldehyde on Metabolic Syndrome

Induced by High Tail Fat in Rats.” Journal of Functional Foods, Elsevier, 24 July 2014,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756464614002424.