V ISHS Postharvest Unlimited Conference: 246 delegates from 43 countries
V Postharvest Unlimited Conference was held in Cyprus during the period 10-13 June 2014, being considered by Dr. Peter Toivonen, ISHS representative, as the most successful ever carried out in this series. This is the first ISHS meeting ever held in Cyprus.
Organization of this event was a joint initiative of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology & Food Science and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Greece.
It is worth noting that CUT is a newly established University in the Republic of Cyprus that welcomed its first students only on September 2007 and managed within a few years to develop itself into a modern, pioneering and well recognized university, able to offer education and high level research in leading fields of research.
Attending crowd in the main Conference Hall.
Conference was attended by 246 delegates and accompanying persons, derived from 43 different countries. Delegates were mainly originated from Italy (37), Greece (23), Spain (17), United Kingdom (15), United States (15), Israel (14), The Netherlands (9), Czech Republic (9), Germany (8), France (7) and Brazil (6). Conference website (www.cut.ac.cy/postharvest) received ca. 10,000 unique visits from over 160 countries.
George Manganaris and Panos Kalaitzis, Conveners of the V Postharvest Unlimited Conference, during their welcome speeches.
Towards the establishment of new links and collaborations among participants, the V Postharvest Unlimited Symposium managed to bring together researchers from diverse fields of study who share a common interest in postharvest science. The conference provided the opportunity for scientists, professionals and students to present their latest findings and discuss their current work related with basic and applied aspects in postharvest issues.
Τhe main conference topics were system biology approaches and new insights in postharvest physiology and ripening of fruits and vegetables, innovations in postharvest technology, fresh produce quality and supply chain management and effects of ripening and storage on nutritional and functional components in horticultural commodities. Exceptionally, this event was supported by two COST Actions: FA1104 "Sustainable production of high-quality cherries for the European market" and FA1106 "An integrated systems approach to determine the developmental mechanisms controlling fleshy fruit quality in tomato and grapevine".
Prof. Nicolaï, central keynote speaker of the Conference.
Conference scientific programme comprised of 16 plenary talks, 68 oral presentations and 140 posters. The Keynote speakers of the Conference were: (1) John Labavitch, University of Davis, USA, (2) Bart Nicolaï, University of Leuven, Belgium, (3) Ian Ferguson, Plant & Food Research, New Zealand, (4) Mondher Bouzayen, University of Toulouse, France, (5) Pietro Tonutti, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy, (6) Susan Lurie, Volcani Center, Israel, (7) Maria Isabel Gil, Food Science & Technology Department at CEBAS-CSIC, Spain, (8) Carlos Crisosto, University of Davis, USA, (9) Leon Terry, Cranfield University, United Kingdom, (10) Beth Mitcham, University of Davis, USA, (11) Peter Toivonen, Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Summerland, Canada, (12) Daniel Valero, University Miguel Hernández, Spain, (13) Ariel Vicente, University of La Plata, Argentina, (14) Serge Delrot, lnstitut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin, Villenave d'Ornon, France, (15) Mario Pezzoti, University of Verona, Italy and (16) Arnaud Bovy, University of Wageningen, Netherlands.
ISHS business meeting was moderated by Peter Toivonen (left). Prof. Valero and Dr. Gil (right) were nominated to organize the 6th Postharvest Unlimited Conference in Madrid.
The social program of the conference included welcome reception party, Gala dinner in the premises of the Venue Hotel, excursion tour in Pafos and Lemesos, as well as a post-symposium tour to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. All details about the conference, including a descriptive set of photos from the Scientific and social program of the Conference can be retrieved from the link www.cut.ac.cy/postharvest
The conveners would like to thank Mondher Bouzayen (Chair of COST FA1106), Jose Quero (Chair of COST FA1104), James Mattheis, Peter Toivonen and the Cyprus Tourist Organization for their efforts to support this event.