Horticultural Quality and Food Loss
JOIN AAB / RENEW
WHY JOIN AAB?
The Horticultural Quality and Food Loss group was initiated in April 2023 as a follow-up to BBSRC-funded HortQFL Network. This groups will aim to maintainthe community that has been developed by HortQFL Network and to engage with a new cohort of interested parties.
The primary objective of the group is to explore innovative strategies that aim to reduce food loss. This includes through improving the quality of horticultural crops with regard reducing post-harvest losses. We hope that this group can be a leading voice in the horticultural and postharvest research and business community.
The group will focus on post-farm gate problems, with the recognition that the solution to these may require pre-farm gate intervention. We are interested in the entire supply chain, from breeders to retailer and consumer albeit with a focus on crop and post-harvest quality.
Group Convener
Natalia Falagan
Natalia.Falagan@cranfield.ac.uk
Natalia obtained her PhD in Food Engineering in 2015 conducting her research in two centres of excellence: University of California (Davis, USA) and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA, Bordeaux, France). She joined the Plant Science Laboratory at Cranfield in 2016 and is now Lecturer in Food Science and Technology. Natalia is driven by the need to reduce food waste and improve food security; while maintaining the quality and safety of fresh produce across the supply chain. She investigates the underlying ripening and senescence mechanisms of fruit and vegetables and develops innovative strategies for postharvest management.
Group Members
Jo Hepworth
Jo is an Assistant Professor at Durham University, researching how plants sense and integrate information in the field, particularly winter cold, to make developmental decisions. In Brassica crops such as B. oleracea and B. rapa, these decisions affect the size of the crop, its quality, and when it will flower, all critical factors for farmers to prevent gluts and scarcities and get the best yield from their cauliflowers, cabbages and pak choi. The group works to identify genetic variation controlling these traits and develop predictive power for how these variants control crop performance for breeders and farmers.
Susan McCallum
Susan is a blueberry geneticist and breeder and leads the soft fruit research group at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee. Her area of research focuses on the economics of production, linking plant genetics and cultivar development to improvements in fruit quality and nutrient use efficiency. Current projects involve hyperspectral image analysis of plants for biotic and abiotic stresses, flavour and shelf life studies, characterising and quantifying yield-limiting traits, and enhancing soft fruit genetic resources. Through this background in soft fruit research, Susan has developed a blueberry breeding role looking to increase the genetic diversity of available germplasm, developing more resilient germplasm and reducing postharvest losses.
Ciara O'Brien
Ciara is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Seung Group at the John Innes Centre, investigating starch metabolism in potato. Previously, she obtained her PhD from Cranfield University on mango fruit ripening. She has been heavily involved in supporting early career scientists and science communication, including organising workshops, webinars, and writing skills- and career-focused blogs. She also gives lectures at the University of East Anglia to Biology undergraduates.
Lindsay Williams
I am a PhD student at the Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences at the University of Edinburgh researching the immune system of brassicas post-harvest. I work in molecular biology, bioengineering, and plant pathology, aiming to improve the shelf-life of leafy vegetables. I am also an ambassador for Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance (SULSA) promoting academic relationships with the industrial sector.
MariCarmen Alamar
m.d.alamargavidia@cranfield.ac.uk
Dr Alamar is Lecturer in Postharvest Biology and leads the Plant Science Laboratory at Cranfield University. Her area of research is postharvest biology, with a focus in fundamental postharvest physiology and the development of innovative and sustainable technologies to maintain the quality of horticultural produce. Her research interests also include the investigation of non-invasive techniques as decision support tools for food quality assessment. It is by the integration of both areas of research that I am contributing towards more sustainable supply chains, food quality and security, and waste reduction in the horticulture sector.