Focusing on the great variety of research being done in the field of postharvest pathology, this volume presents a collection of topics concerning the diseases of harvested fruits and vegetables.Each chapter represents a separate unit which taken together create a better understanding of the whole subject. Topics include the causal agents of postharvest diseases of fruits and vegetables, their sources and their ways of penetration into the host; factors that may accelerate the development of the pathogen in the host - and those that suppress them; a list of the main pathogens of fruits and vegetables, their hosts and the diseases elicited by them; and a detailed description of the major diseases of selected groups of fruits and solanaceous vegetable fruits. Attack mechanisms of pathogens and defense mechanisms of the host are examined as are treatments aimed at suppressing postharvest diseases. The search for natural and safe chemical compounds and the variety of alternative physical and biological methods for use in postharvest disease control are emphasized.Teachers and students who focus on postharvest pathology, scientists in research institutes, companies dealing with fruit and vegetable preservation technologies and for all those striving to improve the quality of harvested fruits and vegetables will find this book of great interest.
Prof. Rivka Barkai-Golan received her Ph.D in 1956 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has been a Senior Research Scientist in Postharvest Pathology and Mycology at the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan and a Professor of Postharvest Pathology at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she has been honored a Distinguished Professor.
Prof. Barkai-Golan has been a pioneer in the research on ionizing radiation as a means for prolongation of the postharvest life of fruits and vegetables; Chairman of the microbiological Group of the Institute of Technology and Storage of Agricultural Products (1979); Chairman of the Food Technology Committee of the United States - Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) (1984); Chairman of the Steering Committee for Radiation Applications in Agriculture, and a Delegate
of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture for the International Conference on Food Irradiation in Geneva (1988) for the preparation of International Document on the Acceptance, Control and Trade in Irradiated Food.
Prof. Barkai-Golan has been the recipient of search grants from BARD (1985, 1987) and from the CDR US-Israel Cooperative Development Research Fund (1988).
She has published over 150 scientific papers as well as invited reviews and chapters. She wrote 4 books in the field of postharvest diseases. She was invited to present introductory and review lectures at International Congresses and Workshops, was the organizer and chairman of postharvest sessions in Israel, Wageningen Holland, Pretoria S.A., Caracas Venezuela, Kyoto Japan, Belgerate Italy, and presided over the Third Israeli-Italian Phytopathological Symposium, Tel Aviv (1994).
Her current research interests are host-pathogen interactions, non-chemical means for postharvest disease suppression and factors involved in mycotoxin production in harvested fruits and vegetables.
