Speaker bio:

Debbie Rees is a Plant Physiologist working in the Natural Resources Institute (NRI). During her career she has worked as a crop physiologist in the UK and overseas, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. She is a lead scientist at the Produce Quality Centre (PQC), which is a centre of excellence run by NRI focusing on research and enterprise to optimise handling and storage of fresh produce.

Seminar synopsis:

This talk describes some of the work carried out at the PQC to improve short and long-term storage of fruit and vegetables. In particular the talk will focus on technologies for assessing the health and quality of produce by monitoring respiratory characteristics in situ within stores. This includes work on long-term storage of fruit and potatoes, as well as the development of storage protocols to enable imported produce to be transported by sea-freight rather than air freight, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

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