What is your expertise?
“My research has focused on the impact that environmental stress has on the function of fungi. At Cranfield I had the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in the Plant Science Laboratory on the early detection of fungal pathogens in stone fruits and strawberries. This is when my interest for the use of VOCs as biomarkers became one of the priorities in my research.”
Why do you participate in the QCAP project?
“Having worked in the identification of fungal pathogens in stone fruits for 2 years, it was fantastic to read the first draft of the proposal. It made sense to apply the knowledge we gained in the previous project to a new crop; in this case potatoes. I could immediately see the economic gain for the farmers and the other stakeholders in the potato food chain.”
What is your most important challenge in this project?
“The most important challenge has been to develop the research under real industrial conditions. This for example means they are stored at low temperatures – 4 to 10oC – when only small compounds are volatile and the fungal pathogens grow slower. Thanks to the QCAP partners, most of the problems have now been solved and we are confident we will be delivering the expected results.”