Jeffrey K. Brecht, Professor and Director, CFDR

My research program in postharvest plant physiology involves studies of harvesting, handling and storage of vegetables and fruits, and the physiological and metabolic processes related to the development, maturation, and senescence of plant organs.

My current research interests involve the use of directed postharvest stress and optimization of the postharvest environment to maximize the genetic potential of vegetables and fruits to produce more nutritionally important secondary compounds while maintaining or improving their appealing flavor and aroma characteristics.

We hypothesize that brief, directed applications of non-injurious heat stress and/or physical injury (i.e., fresh-cut processing) followed by maintenance of conducive handling temperatures can be used to redirect the secondary metabolism of fruits to stimulate tissue antioxidant and aroma volatile systems during ripening, and increase resistance to chilling injury caused by exposure to low storage temperatures.

Once the conditions favoring phytochemical, flavor and aroma development in a particular crop are known, they can be manipulated in new and innovative ways to provide consumers with a more desirable and healthier product. We hope to demonstrate an approach that can be used to improve the total product quality of all fruits and vegetables available for consumption.

I am also the Director of the UF/IFAS Center for Food Distribution & Retailing (CFDR), which includes 25 faculty members from seven departments whose research involves finding ways to improve the quality of perishable foods during their handling, distribution, and on the shelves of retail food stores and in restaurants. The CFDR is the first research center of its kind worldwide to focus on perishable food distribution with a multidisciplinary systems approach.

CFDR research projects are initiated based on the counsel of our Advisory Board, made up of top-level management in the retail food industry, and are conducted jointly with our industry partners (CFDR Associate Members). CFDR research activities currently involve topics such as integration of RFID solutions into warehouse, transportation, and retail operations, including RFID-enabled packaging; development of smart refrigeration systems that respond to physical and biological sensor data; shipping trials and simulations; shelf-life, quality and safety modeling studies; and the relationship between food handling and marketing practices and the consumer.

Kim Cordasco, Senior Biologist

Kim Cordasco is a Senior Biological Scientist in Postharvest Physiology in the Horticultural Sciences Department.  She works with Masters and Doctoral candidate students on problems related to their research and data analysis.  She is responsible for purchasing materials and equipment for the lab, instrument repair and maintenance and instructing students on instrument use in four lab areas.  Our projects are set up in eight cold storage rooms often using mixed gas systems for controlled atmosphere work or ripening treatments and passive systems for modified atmosphere work.  We work with gas chromatography, firmness testing (Instron 4411) and lab assays for nutrition changes in storage.  Independent projects occasionally involve work with the industry including shipping, packaging, fresh cut food processors and refrigeration companies. 

Sharon Dea , Graduate Student

Sharon Dea completed with honors her Masters in Agri-food Engineering in 2005 at Laval University (Quebec, Canada). Her work was on the thermal behavior of shipping containers for temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products.

She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in postharvest physiology under the advisement of both Dr. J.K. Brecht and Dr. Cecilia Nunes. Her research focuses on the establishment of favorable environmental conditions for the development of aroma in fresh-cut mango.

Ming-Wei S. Kao , Graduate Student

Ming-Wei S. (Sherry) Kao is currently seeking a Ph.D. degree in Horticultural Sciences. Her research focuses on postharvest physiology of Florida peaches. She acquired a Bachelors degree in Biochemistry at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Later on, she pursued a Masters degree in Horticulture from Auburn University.