Accomplishments

We have made significant fundamental findings on the biochemistry of fruit ripening, characterizing the microbiology of fruit defense mechanisms to fungal decay, and characterizing bacterial colonization of fresh-cut vegetables.

• Made significant advances in understanding the mechanisms involved in acid-tolerance of foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7
• Developed a microbial decontamination method to improve quality and safety of fresh-cut carrots using ozone
• Optimized packaging and processing conditions to improve quality of fresh-cut lettuce
• Made significant advances in understanding the mechanisms involved in methyl jasmonate-induced chilling tolerance in fruits and vegetables
• Showed that methyl jasmonate increased gene expression of heat shock proteins, pathogenesis-related proteins, and alternative oxidase enzyme
• Demonstrated that super-atmospheric oxygen reduced decay and maintained high phenolic, anthocyanin, and antioxidant levels in blueberries
• Showed that UV-C irradiation prevents breakdown and chilling injury of peaches
• Showed that anti-browning agents improve appearance and quality of fresh-cut mango and pineapple slices
• Showed that bacteriophage in combination with other biocontrol agents are effective at reducing growth of foodborne pathogens on fresh-cut produce
• Made significant advances in understanding the mechanism of superficial scald development in apples
• Characterized a family of seven tomato ?-galactosidase genes involved in cell wall metabolism which are being genetically manipulated to help understand the regulation of tomato fruit softening.

See the Research and the Products and Services pages for more information on these and other findings.