Global Fellows Helps Tie Liu Advance Fruit Shelf-Life Research in Brazil

A mango may be harvested at exactly the right moment and still never reach someone’s table. Between the field and the consumer, fruits and vegetables continue to ripen, soften, and deteriorate after harvest, contributing to food loss and waste. Extending their shelf life can help more high-quality food reach consumers instead of being discarded.

Tie Liu, Ph.D., associate professor in UF’s Department of Horticultural Sciences, is working to address that challenge. His research uses genetics, multi-omics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to understand postharvest biology and find ways to extend the shelf life and quality of fruits and vegetables.

As a UF Global Fellow, Liu traveled to Brazil with his faculty mentor, Steven Sargent, to expand that research through international collaboration. With support from the UF International Center’s Global Fellows Program and sponsorship from the UF/IFAS Global Food Systems Institute (GFSI), the trip helped Liu deepen a research partnership with the Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), one of northeastern Brazil’s leading public research universities, with particular strengths in tropical fruit research. The Global Fellows experience also helped prepare Liu for another major step in his international trajectory: he received a prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award for 2026–2027.

 

 

Building on a promising connection

The partnership in Brazil did not begin from scratch. Liu and Sargent had previously hosted Raquel Miranda, PhD., a professor at UFC and researcher with the university’s Laboratory of Fruit Physiology and Biochemistry, at UF in 2024. During this time, they collaborated on research examining the postharvest shelf life and nutritional qualities of passion fruit using molecular and genetic approaches. That work laid the foundation for a deeper collaboration.

Through Global Fellows, Liu had an opportunity to build on that foundation in Brazil. Traveling with Sargent, he worked directly with Miranda and other UFC colleagues to expand their research in postharvest biology, omics- and AI-enabled phenotyping, and supply-chain quality for tropical and subtropical fruits important to both Florida and Northeast Brazil, including passion fruit, mango, guava, soursop and acerola.

Passion fruit provides a particularly strong link between the two regions. Native to South America and grown in Florida, the crop has potential for Florida growers. Liu, Miranda and their collaborators published a study examining why some passion fruit varieties stay fresh longer after harvest. They identified biochemical differences associated with shelf life, nutrition and flavor, as well as markers that could help breeders select varieties that better resist deterioration. The findings could help develop passion fruit varieties that stay fresh longer, retain nutritional qualities, and offer greater value to growers and consumers.

 

 

Mentorship that builds partnerships

Mentorship is central to the Global Fellows Program, helping fellows build collaborations that can extend well beyond an initial visit. For Liu, Sargent’s mentorship was particularly important in turning the opportunity to travel to Brazil into a productive network of research relationships.

Sargent, a postharvest physiologist and associate chair in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, brought decades of research experience and longstanding professional relationships in Brazil. He connected Liu with Brazilian faculty and researchers who could contribute to his emerging international research network. “Steve did a tremendous amount of work helping me prepare for the trip,” Liu said. “His long-standing relationships and experience in Brazil opened many doors for me and helped make the trip much more productive. Many of the connections and collaborations that developed from the trip would not have been possible without his mentorship and introductions.”

During the visit, Liu gave lectures to undergraduate and graduate students. The trip also exposed Liu to Ceará’s broader agricultural research and innovation ecosystem. Liu and Sargent met with researchers at Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry, a federal agricultural research center with expertise in tropical fruit production, processing and postharvest technologies. They also visited NUTEC, Ceará’s science and technology institute, and two large agricultural operations in the region. “They were able to see impressive, large-scale agricultural operations, and their talks were well received by both students and faculty, so I believe these interactions will lead to promising future developments,” Miranda said.

Those interactions are already translating into concrete outcomes. An MOU between UF’s Department of Horticultural Sciences and UFC is establishing a framework for collaborative research, faculty and student exchanges, shared academic and research resources, teaching, conferences and workshops. Liu and his collaborators are also working toward co-authored publications, a shared postharvest and phenotyping dataset, a joint grant proposal and a seminar series designed to sustain the collaboration beyond the initial visit.

The partnership is continuing to evolve. Miranda will return to UF in November 2026, when she and Liu plan to discuss a new collaborative research project that grew out of Liu’s Global Fellows experience in Brazil. The follow-up shows how relationships established and strengthened through the program can continue generating new research opportunities after the international visit ends.

 

From Global Fellow to Fulbright Scholar

Liu is now taking his international experience beyond Brazil. As a 2026–2027 Fulbright Scholar, he will expand his research collaborations in Taiwan. “The Global Fellows Program has been a transformative experience in my academic journey,” Liu said. “Through this program, I’ve strengthened my ability to build global research partnerships. The skills and connections gained are directly shaping my efforts to lead collaborative projects and broaden the impact of my work on food systems worldwide.”

Liu’s path—from Global Fellow to an expanding research partnership in Brazil and now Fulbright Scholar—shows how targeted support for early-career faculty can turn an international experience into long-term research collaborations that continue to develop well beyond the initial trip.

Interested in becoming the next Global Fellow? Applications for the 2027 Global Fellows Program are now open.