Douglas Adams

Professor Adams is currently the chair of the department’s Scholarship Committee and serves on the Teaching Committee.

Dr. Adams’ research program focuses on grape berry ripening. He has concentrated his efforts in two principle areas: the biochemical changes that occur during ripening, and the development of tannins in skins and seeds of red wine varieties. The latter leads naturally into research related to the level of tannins in wines, and he has pursued that topic with students in the university’s graduate food sciences program whose primary interest is in winemaking.

His most recent work on tannin development during ripening has led to a convenient assay for the analysis of tannins and polymeric pigments in grapes and wines. The second project in his laboratory is directed at identifying genes involved in grape berry ripening. Adams teaches Introduction to Winemaking and Grape Berry Development and Composition. He teaches a seminar in post-harvest biology, in which he organizes the class around natural products in fruits and vegetables that have been identified as having possible health benefits.

He received his B.S. in biochemistry and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis.