New faculty redefining horticultural crop quality for human health

Ahmed Darwish, Ph.D., is among a scientific movement in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences that emphasizes crop quality over quantity.

Darwish joined the faculty in September as an assistant professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences. His research focuses on secondary metabolites in horticultural crops. These compounds help plants handle stress from different biotic and abiotic stresses including drought, heat and other diseases. They also connect to flavor, nutrition and human health.

“My research looks beyond the traditional goal of higher yields,” he said. “I am looking to improve horticultural crop quality in both economically and environmentally sustainable ways, like reducing the need for pesticides.

“But I am also interested in ways to enhance what plants can provide us, like their taste, aroma profiles and health-related metabolites or even their ability to help us fight chronic diseases like cancer or diabetes.”

Focused on the future of horticulture

Since his arrival, Darwish has been developing a horticulture course for undergraduate students during the spring semester. One of those classes will teach students about plant metabolomics, which is the study of measuring metabolites and their interactions with biological systems.

These interactions involve plants and their surroundings. They also include how plants respond to pests and drought. Additionally, metabolomic research might consider how healthy beneficial compounds in plants affect overall human health including gut health.

His course development is laying the groundwork for stacked courses for undergraduate and graduate students.

Outside of the classroom, Darwish has worked with various horticulture industries, such as wine grape, vegetable and fruit production. He aims to address the challenges growers face and identify new opportunities for the producers. Their input is helping him build the framework for his research lab, and he is already working on important research for the wine industry in Texas and beyond.

In other scientific efforts, Darwish is planning to work with NASA on research about plant-based protein. This research aims to support deep space travel and living on other planets.

“My research and teaching are focused on solving long-standing problems and identifying solutions for the future,” he said. “It all relates to the key issues of human health and wellness, sustainability for producers, and educating future generations of professionals who will lead within this exciting and innovative scientific field.”

More about Darwish

Darwish earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural science at Minia University in Egypt. He also received a master’s degree in agricultural science with a focus on plant chemistry. He earned his doctorate in chemistry from Hiroshima University in Japan. He also has completed postdoctoral research at Virginia Tech and Florida A&M universities.

He has more than 30 research publications in referred journals covering a range of topics from metabolomic analyses of sour cherry cultivars to investigating anti-cancer antioxidants, cytotoxicity in chocolate and muscadine extracts, and antioxidant activities of different crops.