Position: Senior research scientist, Plant & Food Research. Field: Phytochemical antioxidants. David was born in England and attended Wallington High School, near London, where he discovered ...
Find out how and why a red-fleshed apple variety is being bred in New Zealand, and discover how genetic information, consumer research and sensory science are all involved. Red-fleshed apples – ...
Breeding a new apple cultivar takes a long time and involves many steps. The aim is to produce high-quality fruit that consumers will like and want to buy. Breeding apples to increase quality The ...
In this activity, students conduct focus group research to generate consumer feedback on a proposed future apple variety. The activity forms part of the unit plan Developing future apple ...
In this activity, students test and compare the firmness of different apple varieties using an instrumental method adapted for the classroom. The activity forms part of the unit plan Developing ...
In this activity students identify and analyse the information found on existing food labels. Purpose Students are asked to identify and analyse the information found on existing food labels to ...
In this unit, students investigate trends and drivers and what may be possible and preferable attributes for new fruit varieties in the future. Purpose To understand the influences currently ...
Students develop knowledge of prototype taewa products and design a label that reflects the cultural value and specified market for the product. Purpose Understand the attributes and benefits of ...
Farming is a way of life in New Zealand. Farms cover about half of the country’s land and are important to our economy. Agriculture has shaped who we are as a nation, but it has also had a big ...
Plant & Food Research’s Dr David Stevenson explains what free radicals are and how they are produced. He outlines the role of cellular structures called mitochondria in the production of free ...
Richard Volz of Plant & Food Research explains the key steps in breeding a new apple cultivar. He describes ‘modified backcrossing’ – the breeding strategy that’s used to introduce a simply ...
Grafting and budding are standard techniques used for propagating new apple cultivars. These techniques allow breeders to grow multiple plants of exactly the same genetic material (clones). Here ...
About 45 different attributes are assessed at various stages of developing a new apple cultivar at Plant & Food Research. Click on the labels in this interactive to learn about some of these ...
This interactive illustrates a technique used by scientists to generate transgenic plants.
This timeline follows the discovery of the bacterial disease Psa (Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae) in New Zealand, the combined efforts to first contain and manage the disease and the ...
