Research Interests
Dr. Alex Castillo, Associate Professor with the Department of Food Science and Technology, specializes in the pathogenic bacteriology of foods. Research interests include the ecology of bacterial pathogens in fruits and vegetables and the development of methods to minimize pathogenic contamination during fresh produce and fresh meat packing. In addition, Dr. Castillo, has an International Food Safety program where visiting scholars can conduct research in his laboratory.
Research Areas
- Food safety of tropical fruits
- Development and validation of pathogen interventions in fresh and fresh-cut produce and meats
- Food safety and international food trade
- Non-thermal processes for pathogen control in foods
Lab Capabilities
- A 1,300 ft2 biosafety level 2 (BL2) facility that holds a walk-in cold room with adequate connections for conducting food processing research in a refrigerated environment.
- Three portable greenhouses (a 54 ft2 and two 8-ft2 in space) with adequate electric supply and lighting for conducting pre-harvest trials.
- Shared spaces for media preparation and for washing and autoclaving
- Class II Type 2 biological safety cabinet
- Incubators and refrigerators
- Freezers, agitated water baths,
- BL2-compliant refrigerated centrifuge
- BAX system for Real-Time PCR pathogen detection
- Vitek 2 for automated bacterial identification
- Stomachers
- Ozone generators and sensors
- Pipettors
- 3M Petrifilm automated counters
- Thermomixer
- Galvanostat/potentiostat
- Shared autoclaves
- Shared -80 ˚C freezer
- Glassware automated washer
Staff
- Karla Solis-Salazar (Ph.D. student)
- J. Abril Benitez-Bonilla (Ph.D. student)
- Zahra Mohebi (Ph.D. student)
- Haris Jebrini (M. Sc. student)
- Mariana Gonzalez de Cossio (M. Sc. student)
- Emmanuel Kipligat (M. Sc. student)
- Carlos Carrete (M. Sc. student)