Yong Hang

Hang received BS, MS, and PhD degrees from National Taiwan University, University of Alberta, and McGill University, respectively. He has been a faculty member of the graduate field of food science and technology at Cornell since 1976. He is also a faculty member of the graduate field of microbiology at Cornell.

Research Focus

As fruits and vegetables make their way from the producer to the consumer, they are sorted, processed, and packaged. It is essential that the quality and safety of this valuable resource be maintained. The goal of our research is to develop and improve practical methods and technology for assessing, retaining, and assuring quality, safety and integrity of fruits and vegetables through the marketing chain. Control of pathogens and toxic substances, resulting in food-borne illness and the threat of bio-terrorism, is an important issue that needs to be investigated. The functional food market is growing rapidly and research is needed to study the growth and survival of probiotic microorganisms in plant-based foods products. Fruits and vegetables contain sugar, vitamins, dietary fiber, and phyto-chemicals (anti-oxidants) than can be fermented into healthy probiotic products for consumers who are allergic to dairy foods due to lactose intolerance. In addition, the fruit and vegetable industry produces a large volume of solid residues during the processing months and current disposal of the solid wastes pose both economic and environmental problems. It’s important to find new ways to efficiently convert the solid wastes into a wide variety of value-added products to enhance the economic viability of farms in New York State.

Areas of Expertise

• Fruits and vegetables

Graduate Fields

• Food Science and Technology
• Microbiology