Biography
Dr. Pankaj B. Pathare
Dr. Pankaj B. Pathare
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Title: Quality changes in fresh horticultural produce due to impact bruising
Abstract: 
Bruising is the most common form of mechanical damage which is caused largely by excessive impact and/or compression forces mainly involved during mechanical handling. It originates from cell membrane breakage, which leads to a loss in cell wall integrity and other subsequent reductions in peel resistance due to mechanical damage. Impact is considered a common reason for mechanical damage subjected to agricultural products occurring in some agricultural operations, including harvesting, handling, transporting, and processing. Horticultural fresh produce is susceptible to injury under a variety of loads from harvest to consumers. The work presents the effect of impact bruising on fresh produce quality parameters, and a case study on tomatoes is presented. 
Impact-bruise damage measurement or analysis is important as it aids interventions to inhibit fresh produce quality changes. The bruising phenomenon of horticultural fresh under impact loading is still a very important problem to be solved in order to design optimal harvest and processing systems and for ensuring the quality of the fruit during long-term periods of storage.
Keywords: Bruising, Quality, Color, Firmness, Mechanical damage
Biography: 
Dr. Pankaj Pathare is an Assistant Professor of Postharvest Technology at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. He has graduated with a B. Tech. degree (Agricultural Engineering) from India and PhD (Process & Chemical Engineering) from the University College Cork (Ireland). Before joining at SQU, he worked as researcher at Newcastle University, UK and Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Over the years, he has gained expertise on postharvest technology & food engineering which includes quantification of Postharvest losses during transportation, Mechanical damage of perishables, Food agglomeration/granulation, Food drying and cooling, Structural design for ventilated corrugated packaging; Renewable energy in food processing for Sub-Saharan Africa and Energy efficient production processes in SME food & beverage industry based around Europe. The research results are well documented in 50 original scientific papers published in international peer-reviewed journals and several conference presentations. He also worked as supervisor/co-supervisor for 10 postgraduate research student. According to the Scopus, his h-index is 15 & citation - 2168. He is a member of the editorial board for the several research journals including PLoS ONE, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Open Agriculture (http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opag), Measurement: Food (Elsevier), Discover Food (Springer) & Current Functional Foods (Bentham Science).