Biography
Here at the food chemistry and biochemistry lab at Gilat, we work in close collaboration with Gilat experts to form multidisciplinary studies of oil and food quality.
The accessibility of all agricultural infrastructures in-house allows us to follow the food, practically from farm to fork. We work with tree physiologists, soil and water scientists year-round, considering factors like cultivation, irrigation, and fertilization. With the advanced analytical chemistry instrumentation available here in our lab, we analyze the resulting food. Such joint effort allows us to widen our understanding of how all these parameters affect the final quality of the food we consume.
Our primary focus is the quality of functional foods like olive oil, almonds, sesame, black cumin, jojoba, and avocado. These grow here, in the semi-arid area of the Negev, and we are interested in understanding how the unique climatic and other environmental conditions affect these foods’ phytochemical quality. For that, we look at the effects on their beneficial phytochemicals- like polyphenols, vitamin E, and phytosterols, as well as their fatty acid composition and oxidative stability, among others.
The global changes we are facing will necessitate substantial consequent alternations in agriculture as we know it. Our challenge is to assure growers and consumers alike that our food will remain as healthy and nutritious as it is today, and find ways to make it even healthier and better.
Education
-
1999-2014
PhD- Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Postdoc position- University of California, Davis
Research Interests
Here at the food chemistry and biochemistry lab at Gilat, we work in close collaboration with Gilat experts to form multidisciplinary studies of oil and food quality.
The accessibility of all agricultural infrastructures in-house allows us to follow the food, practically from farm to fork. We work with tree physiologists, soil and water scientists year-round, considering factors like cultivation, irrigation, and fertilization. With the advanced analytical chemistry instrumentation available here in our lab, we analyze the resulting food. Such joint effort allows us to widen our understanding of how all these parameters affect the final quality of the food we consume.
Our primary focus is the quality of functional foods like olive oil, almonds, sesame, black cumin, jojoba, and avocado. These grow here, in the semi-arid area of the Negev, and we are interested in understanding how the unique climatic and other environmental conditions affect these foods’ phytochemical quality. For that, we look at the effects on their beneficial phytochemicals- like polyphenols, vitamin E, and phytosterols, as well as their fatty acid composition and oxidative stability, among others.
The global changes we are facing will necessitate substantial consequent alternations in agriculture as we know it. Our challenge is to assure growers and consumers alike that our food will remain as healthy and nutritious as it is today, and find ways to make it even healthier and better.