Improving produce quality for wholesale markets © University of Greenwich

Horticulture crops are not only important components of a balanced diet but their development for high value markets is seen as an important engine of growth for economic development. The assurance of produce quality, efficient supply chain management and marketing are vital for successful trade development.

The Horticulture Research team has expertise in all aspects of horticulture, and a particular focus on post-harvest issues, with extensive commodity experience in fruits and vegetables. Staff are engaged in strategic and applied research to meet the needs of government departments, development agencies, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.

 

Key Research Areas

• Measuring respiration of bananas during storage © University of Greenwich

  development of post-harvest technologies and management systems to improve the marketability and value of horticultural produce;
• development of technologies for rapid and non-destructive measurement of produce quality;
• evaluation of export potential of high-value horticultural produce from developing countries for UK and European markets;
• defining institutional arrangements for achieving demand driven post-harvest research and development, and technology uptake with public and private sector partners;
• understanding the physiological and biochemical mechanisms controlling post-harvest processes;
• analysis of peri-urban horticulture production and post-harvest handling chains to improve quality assurance systems for fresh fruit and vegetables and processed products;
• germplasm management, characterisation and evaluation of indigenous vegetables with regards to their agronomic potential and bio-chemical properties.

Staff

John Orchard
Stephanie Gallat
Andrew Graffham
Andy Hall
Debbie Rees
Keith Tomlins

Projects

C1210 Assessment of trial shipments of selected varieties of mango by CA container to UK and other export markets

A0931 Optimisation of horticulture research and uptake in India.

A0895 Development of technical and managerial quality assurance systems, particularly post-harvest handling operations, to optimise supply chain management of horticultural produce

A0892 Improving the livelihoods of peri-urban vegetable growers; promotion of indigenous vegetables

A0918 Improved quality assurance systems for fresh fruit and vegetables produced by resource-poor farmers

B0110 Studies on seed production and agronomy of major African vegetables

A0894 Enhancing food security through the improvements to street-vended foods

A0666 Electronic sensing of aromatic volatiles for quality assurance of horticultural produce

A0522 Integrated food crops systems project: Enhancing smallholder livelihoods through reducing costs and adding value to horticultural production

Publications

Bancroft, R. D., Herregods, M., Nicolai, B., Jager, A. and Roy, S. K. (2000). The influence of surface coating on the internal gas atmosphere and rate of post harvest rot development in Conferences pear. Acta Horticulturae 518: 79-86.

O'Neill, M. A. A., Mitchell, J. C., Orchard, J. E.,Beezer, A. E. (2000). Microcalorimetric Evaluation of Stability and its Application to Perishable Foodstuffs. ICCT-2000, 16th IUPAC Conference on Chemical thermodynamics, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Marin-Rodriguez, C., Smith, D. L., Seymour, D. L. and Orchard, J. E. (1999). Investigation of the role of pectate lyase in banana fruit ripening. Poster presentation at the International Symposium of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Banana, Boyce Thompson Institute, Ithaca, USA. 22 -25 March 1999.

Qi, B., Moore, K.G. and Orchard, J. (2000). Effect of Cooking on Banana and Plantain Texture. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 48(9): 4221-4226. Qi, B., Moore, K.G. and Orchard, J. (2000). A comparison of two Methods and cooking time on the extractability of pectin from the cell walls of cooking banana. Food Science and Technology 33: 369-373

Hall, A., Sivamohan, M.V.K., Clark, N., Taylor, S.J. and Bockett, G. (1998). Institutional developments in Indian agricultural R&D systems: Emerging patterns of public and private sector activities. Science, Technology and Development, Vol 16, no.3, Dec 1998, p 51-76.

Smith, L., Metcalfe, E. and Taylor, S. (1999). Olfactory analysis of post-harvest apples by an electronic sensing device. Proc. Int. Symp. On Effect of Pre- and Post- Harvest Factors on Storage of Fruit. Ed. L. Michalczuk. Acta Hort. 485, ISHS 1999.

Hall, A.J., Sivamohan, M.V.K, Clark, N., Taylor, S. and Bockett, G. (2001). Why research partnerships really matter: innovation theory, institutional arrangements and implications for developing new technology for the poor. World Development, Vol 29, No 5.

Hall, A.J., Clark, N.G., Rasheed Sulaiman, V., Sivamohan, M.V.K. and Yoganand, B. (2000) New agendas for agricultural research in developing countries: policy analysis and institutional implications. Knowledge, Technology and Policy, 13 (1): 70-91.

Hall, A.J., Rasheed Sulaiman, V., Clark, N.G., Sivamohan, M.V.K. and Yoganand, B. (2001) Public-private sector interactions in the Indian agricultural research system: An innovation systems perspective on institutional reform. In: Byerlee, D. and Echeverria, R.G. (eds.) Agricultural Research Policy in an Era of Privatization: Experiences from the Developing World. Wallingford, U.K.: CABI.