Victor Rodov Ph.D.

Team members

	Batia Horev – expert technician – microbiologist bhorev@volcani.agri.gov.il
	Yakov Vinokur, Ph.D. – plant physiologist and biochemist yvinokur@volcani.agri.gov.il
	Genady Goldman, Ph.D. – food engineer and technologist genady@volcani.agri.gov.il

Research Interests

• Postharvest physiology and technology of fruits and vegetables, including strawberries, cucumbers, sweet corn, figs, citrus
• Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables: technology, physiology and food safety
• Health-related compounds (e.g., antioxidants, vitamins) in fruits and vegetables and ways to improve their content and functionality
• Modified-atmosphere and modified-humidity packaging of fruits and vegetables
• Non-chemical treatments (heat, UV light) for controlling postharvest spoilage of fruits and vegetables
• Secondary plant metabolism. Involvement of secondary metabolites (terpenoids, phenolic compounds) in disease resistance and other physiological functions

Selected Recent Publications

• Afek, U., Orenstein, J., Carmeli, S., Rodov, V., and Bar Joseph, M. (1999). Umbelliferone, a phytoalexin associated with resistance of immature ‘Marsh’ grapefruit to Penicillium digitatum. Phytochemistry 50: 1129-1132.
• Rodov, V., Copel, A., Aharoni, N., Aharoni, Y., Wiseblum, A., Horev, B., and Vinokur, Y. (2000) Nested modified-atmosphere packages maintain quality of trimmed sweet corn during cold storage and the shelf life period. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 18: 259-266.
• Fallik, E., Aharoni, Y., Copel, A., Rodov, V., Tuvia-Alkalai, S., Horev, B., Yekutieli, O., Wiseblum, A., and Regev, R. (2000). A short hot water rinse reduces postharvest losses of Galia melon. Plant Pathology 49: 333-338.
• Rodov, V., Agar, T., Peretz, J., Nafussi, B., Kim, J.J., and Ben-Yehoshua, S. (2000). Effect of combined application of heat treatments and plastic packaging on keeping quality of 'Oroblanco' fruit (Citrus grandis L. x C. paradisi Macf.) Postharvest Biol. Technol. 20: 287-294.
• Fallik, E., Alkali-Tuvia, S., Horev, B., Copel, A., Rodov, V., Aharoni, Y., Ulrich, D., and Schulz, H. (2001). Characterisation of 'Galia' melon aroma by GC and mass spectrometric sensor measurements after prolonged storage. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 22: 85-91.
• Nafussi, B., Ben-Yehoshua, S., Rodov, V., Peretz, J., Ozer, B.K., and D'hallewin, G. (2001). Mode of action of hot-water dip in reducing decay of lemon fruit. J. Agr. Food Chem. 49: 107-113.
• Vinokur, Y., Rodov, V., and Horev, B. (2001). Objective evaluation of firmness in cucumbers and its physiological implications. Acta Horticulturae 553, pp. 523-525.
• Ben-Yehoshua, S., and Rodov, V. (2002). Transpiration and water stress. In: Postharvest Physiology and Pathology of Vegetables, (J. Barz and J. K. Brecht, eds.). Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY, USA, pp. 111-159.
• Rodov, V., Horev, B., Vinokur, Y, Copel, A., Aharoni, Y., and Aharoni, N. (2002). Modified-atmosphere packaging improves keeping quality of Charentais-type melons. HortScience 37: 950-953
• Ben-Yehoshua, S., Rodov, V., Nafussi, B., Peretz, J., Porat, R., D'hallewin, G., and Schirra, M. (2003). Biotic and abiotic induction of resistance against pathogens in citrus fruits. Proc. Intl. Soc. Citriculture IX Congr. 2000, Orlando FL, USA, pp. 1107-1112.
• Vinokur, Y., Rodov, V., and Horev, B. (2002). Effect of postharvest factors on the content of ascorbic acid in Israeli varieties of strawberries. Acta Horticulturae 567, vol. 2, pp. 763-766.
• Rodov, V., De la Asuncion, R., Peretz, J., Koltai, T., and Ben-Yehoshua, S. (2003). Testing perforated heat-shrinkable films and carbon dioxide absorbers for packaging of Tommy Atkins mango Adv.Hortic. Science 17:127-134
• Rodov, V., Horev, B., Goldman, G., Vinokur, Y., and Flaishman, M. (2003). Developing dark figs for export: Trial shipment of figs of 'Brazilian' variety to Europe by sea. Alon HaNotea, 57: 118-122 (in Hebrew)
• Rodov, V., Vinokur, Y., Horev, B., and Goldman, G. (2003). Improving quality of cucumbers by alleviation of postharvest water stress and delaying senescence. Gan, Sade VeMeshek, 8:36-42 (in Hebrew)
• Rodov, V., Horev, B., Vinokur, Y., Goldman, G., and Aharoni, N. (2003). Modified-atmosphere and modified-humidity packaging of whole and lightly processed cucurbit commodities: melons, cucumbers, squash. Proc. Australasian Postharvest Horticulture Conference 2003 (T. O’Hare, ed.). Brisbane, Australia, pp. 167-168.
• Friedman, H., Rodov, V., Rot, I., Vinokur, Y., Goldman, G., Reznick, N., Hagiladi, A., and Umiel, N. (2004). Tropaeolum majus L. as edible flowers: growth and postharvest handling. Adv. Hortic. Science (submitted)
• Rodov, V. (2004). Research and development on fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in Israel In: Improving quality management in the minimally-processed fruit and vegetables industry of the Euro-Med area, IQM-MED Thematic Network (EU INCO-MED) Univ. Foggia, Italy, pp. 54-60.
• Izumi, H., Luo, Y., Rodov, V., and Watada, A. (2004). Fresh-cut produce. In: New Environmentally Friendly Technologies to Prevent Spoilage and Maintain Quality of Agricultural Produce, (S. Ben-Yehoshua and B. Patterson, eds.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA (in press).
• Rodov, V. (2004). Minimally processed (fresh-cut) fruits and vegetables: a branch of food industry in progress. Derech HaMazon 29:16-20 (in Hebrew).
• G. Goldman, G. Liguori Y. Vinokur, B. Horev, S. Lurie, and V. Rodov (2004). Fresh-cut products from cactus species. Acta Horticulturae (in press).

Current Projects

• Extending shelf life and improving quality of chilled and ready-to-eat leafy vegetable products
• Mechanically separated pomegranate arils: product development and methods for ensuring quality
• Effect of postharvest conditions on phytochemicals with nutritional and health value in fresh produce
• Improving microbiological safety of whole and minimally processed Galia melons
• Development of dark figs for export: postharvest technology
• Improving keeping quality of strawberries for export and local market
• Improving keeping quality of cucumbers and summer squash for export and local market

Teaching

• Undergraduate course 71069 'Fruit and Vegetable Storage' at the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot. Affiliated with the Dept. of Biochemistry and Food Science

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