POST-RECOL

This group is comprised of research faculty who carry out professional and scientific tasks in the areas of Food Technology and Plant Physiology in the School of Engineering of Orihuela at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche. The group was formed in 1997, coinciding with the founding of the UMH. The group is comprised of 6 tenured faculty: - 4 full professors: Daniel Valero Garrido, María Serrano Mula, Domingo Martínez Romero, and Salvador Castillo García. - 2 associate professors: Fabián Guillén Arco and Pedro J. Zapata Coll. All members possess extensive experience in the field of postharvest of fruits and vegetables. In 2007, Huertas María Díaz Mula joined the group with a Predoctoral Research Grant (FPI), and then Diana Navarro Martínez did likewise in 2008 with a Caja-Murcia Predoctoral Grant; both completed their doctoral theses in the field of postharvest of fruits and vegetables. This is a very cohesive group, and this is shown by the fact that Dr. Valero was the thesis advisor for Dr. Martínez-Romero; Dr. Serrano was so for Dr. Zapata, and along with Dr. Martínez-Romero, she co-advised the thesis by Dr. Guillén. This group possesses vast research experience, and has participated in 10 regional, national, and European research projects, mostly as principal investigators, in addition to 20 research agreements with national and international firms. From this collective collaboration, numerous publications have resulted: 80 papers in JCR journals, of which 42 were published within the past five years, in addition to 120 oral and poster presentations at national and international congresses, with 70 occurring in the past five years. What's more, its tenured members have earned 10 research sexennials. <b>GROUP OBJECTIVES</b> This group carries out research aimed at improving organoleptic, nutritional, and functional quality of fruits and vegetables in addition to safety. To accomplish this, studies are conducted on food maturation processes in addition to the use of non-polluting postharvest technologies to maintain those properties.