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Name	Nevins, Donald J.
Education	Ph.D. (1965), Plant Physiology University of California, Davis
Specialty	The role of cell walls in ripening and softening; contributions of polysaccharides to dietary fiber.
Location	129 Asmundson
Phone Number	530-752-1747
E-Mail	dnevins@ucdavis.edu
Graduate Groups	Membership in graduate groups: Horticulture, Plant Biology, International Agricultural Development
Bio	The research addressed by my laboratory focuses on resolving the structure and metabolism of those plant cell wall polysaccharides responsible for the expression of physiological functions. A major thrust of this work is directed toward evolving a concept to evaluate how specific attributes of the cell wall embody tissues of commodities with desirable qualities. We also seek to describe those specific features of the wall that serve to maintain tissue integrety during postharvest handling. The intermolecular relationships that impart texture and consistency represent important goals. More recently we have extended our interests to include the specific role of cell walls in dietary fiber. The research has had as a major objective the standardization of methodology and the development of new avenues to address the role of the cell wall in postharvest biology. A partial characterization of the changes in tomato cell walls suggests that wall metabolism is mediated by the sequential action of enzymes indicative of a system that becomes staged for a series of events. To follow more precisely the nature of change in commodities we are developing a system for measurement of viscoelastic flow in tissues. Ultimately we would like to use these measurements to predict what structural changes are specifically responsible for imparting sensory distinctions.
Selected Publications	Muramatsu, N. Sakurai, N. Wada, R. Yamamoto, T. Takahara, T Ogata, and D.J. Nevins. 1999. The evaluation of fruit tissue texture and internal defects by Doppler laser detection. Postharvest Biol. and Tech. 15:83-88. Martin. R., D. Dawson, N. Sakurai, and D. Nevins. 1998. Evaluation of rheological properties contributing to fruit texture. Postharvest '96, Acta Hortic. R. Bieleski, W. Lang and C. Clark (eds.). Intl. Soc. for Horticultural Science. 464: 405-410. Muramatsu, N., N. Sakurai, N. Wada, R. Yamamoto, and D. Nevins 1997. Critical comparison of accelerometer and laser Doppler vibrometer for measuring fruit firmness. HortTech. 7:434-438. Muramatsu, N., Sakurai, N., Yamamoto, R., Nevins, D.J., Takahara, T., and Ogata, T. 1997. Comparison of a non-destructive acoustic method with an intrusive method for firmness measurement of kiwifruit. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 12:221-228.
Expertise	Plant Sciences
Campus	UC Davis Faculty
Extension Specialist	No