The laboratory's research focus is primarily on apples, but it has also included projects on sweet potatoes, cherries, pears, berries, pawpaw, potato, onion, leafy green, and a range of whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Our research program is driven by a determination to meet the needs of an industry that is innovative and undergoing tremendous change, adopting new cultivars and technologies such as dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA) storage, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. I have been involved in both basic and applied research projects, including national collaborations, to investigate the effects of pre-harvest application of plant growth regulators. These include ethylene inhibitors, pre and postharvest 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), and preharvest aminoethoxyvinylglycine, or ethylene accelerators such as chlorethephon on fruit quality, storability, physiological disorder development, and shelf life. Currently, we are working on the stress responses of apple fruit in low oxygen storage. This involves studying ethylene metabolism, sugar metabolism, antioxidants, enzyme activity, gene expression, sensory evaluation, aroma volatiles, physiological disorder development, and the fruit microbiome.
Outreach and Extension Focus
My goal is to provide diagnosis of postharvest storage problems for New York State growers and storage operators.
Selected Journal Publications
- Al Shoffe, Y, and Lisa K. J. 2024. "Opportunities for Prediction Models to Reduce Food Loss and Waste in the Postharvest Chain of Horticultural Crops" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7803. doi.org/10.3390/su16177803
- Lane, C., Al Shoffe, Y., Kao-Kniffin, J. and Watkins, C.B., 2024. Organic fungicides and diphenylamine shift microbiomes of ‘Fuji’apples during storage. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 218, p.113196. doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2024.113196
- Al Shoffe, Y., Rudell, D., Park, D., Algul, B.E., Qin, M., Shi, M., Dando, R. and Watkins, C.B., 2024. Aroma volatiles and sensory quality of organically-grown apple cultivars after dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA) storage and comparison with CA-stored fruit with and without 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). Postharvest Biology and Technology, 218, p.113162. doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2024.113162
- Al Shoffe, Y., Nock, J.F., Gunes, N., Maloney, K., Brown, S.K. and Watkins, C.B., 2024. Antioxidants of blushed and unblushed sides in relation to superficial scald of ‘NY2’(RubyFrost®) apples treated preharvest with 1-methylcyclopropene and aminoethoxyvinylglycine. Scientia Horticulturae, 327, p.112806. doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112806
- Al Shoffe, Y., Park. D., Algul, B.., Watkins, C.B. 2023. Short-term storage of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples at 0.5 oC does not improve control of bitter pit without increasing low temperature-induced physiological disorders. Scientia Hortic. Accepted.
- Al Shoffe, Y., Nock, F.N., Zhang, Y., Zhu, L., Watkins, C.B. 2019. Comparisons of mineral and non-mineral prediction methods for bitter pit in ‘Honeycrisp’ apples. Scientia Hortic. 254:116-123. doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2019.04.073
