Hazel MacTavish West

Hazel has a strong background in agricultural chemistry and extensive commercial experience of all aspects relating to phytochemicals in plants- molecules responsible for fragrance, flavour, colour and bioactivity in fresh produce, plant extracts and phyto-pharamceuticals.

In recent years she has worked on applications as diverse as finding uses for waste carrots, improving flavour of coleslaw via agronomic and processing steps, identifying causes of discolouration in lettuce, identifying new crops for UK horticultural producers and establishing agronomic practices for hydroponic production of marshmallow for cosmetics. A member of the British Institute for Agricultural Consultants, Hazel has become an unofficial ‘spokeswoman’ for the health benefits of fruits and vegetables to the UK fresh produce industry, and has been described as an international expert on flower fragrance.