Tel-Hai Magazine 2022

select cultivars possessing advantageous or preferred traits. Enhancing beneficial properties At an experimental farm and plantation near Kibbutz Ne’ot Mordechai, in the Upper Galilee, Professor Amir cultivated new pomegranate trees from cuttings taken from diverse varieties. Amir also teamed up with Professor Doron Hol land from Neve/Newe Yaar, at the Vol cani Institute. “Together, we started thinking about how to improve the nutri tional value and the medicinal properties of the varieties of pomegranates grown in Israel. We hope to do this by defining the role of the genes encoding the en zymes responsible for producing the bio active compounds. The study is still on going,” Professor Amir relates. It is well known that pomegranates have medicinal properties and a high nutri tional value. Studies have shown that pomegranate juice is a potent antioxi dant that reduces the effects of stress-re lated chronic inflammatory diseases in humans, and age-related disorders, such as cardiovascular diseases, and neurode generation. The juice usually contains compounds from the peel, as well as from the juicy arils covering the seeds. Metab olite analysis strongly suggests that it is the unique metabolites of hydrolysable tannins (HTs) and anthocyanins, occur ring in the juice and peel that contribute to the health-promoting properties of the fruit. Professor Amir and her colleagues have published numerous articles over the past 18 years of their research on pomegran ates, focusing on the identification of compounds contributing to the fruit’s antioxidant and antifungal activities, and also on the ability of extracts prepared from different fruit parts to inhibit the proliferation of several types of cancer cells. In addition, they also study the ef fects of different growing conditions and the developmental stage of the fruit on the level of these compounds. Now they are searching for the genes responsible

for the hydrolysable tannins, since these could act as markers for cultivating new varieties of pomegranates, containing higher levels of the health-promoting substances, and providing enhanced ben

efits from this ancient fruit. A growing focus on agrotech

and I have gained immense satisfaction from them,” she says. “The special atmo sphere at Tel-Hai makes it an inspiring place to work. “Tel-Hai is a unique col lege, thanks to the people and to good working relationships. It’s easy to speak with the administration, the staff are wonderful people, full of good will and initiative and, moreover, they care about each other. All this makes it a great place to teach, and the students are amazing, serious young people, who love to learn.” It is no secret that Prof. Amir loves to teach. She was Chair of the Environ mental Science Department and, later, served as Chair of Graduate Studies in Sciences for six years. She says she is hap py to be part of a college that is so atten tive to the needs of students and cites the Center for Learning Disabilities, the Tel Hai Arts Institute, and the Center for Peace and Democracy as unique, in terms of what they offer students at the college. College-Community connections Another important feature of Tel-Hai College that Prof. Amir emphasizes is its connection with the local community. “Every program involves connections with local schools and residents. For ex ample, students in the Environmental Science Department work with members of the local community to preserve the water and the habitat of the Ein Zahav stream, in the neighboring town of Kiry at Shmonah. In another project, students of Nutritional Science went into schools to teach children about the nutritional value of different foods.” Professor Amir also applauds the ‘Town Square Acade my Project’ that continues to develop the connection between the local communi ty and the college.

Professor Amir’s research laboratory is at the MIGAL Research Institute, which is affiliated with Tel-Hai College, where she teaches. Her research is funded by the prestigious US-Israel Binational Ag ricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD). This research is part of the growing focus on agrotech at Tel-Hai and in the Galilee region and more fund ing is becoming available. Much of the current research builds on the high level of experience in agrotech at MIGAL. According to Professor Amir, one of the advantages of conducting research in the Galilee region is the presence of experi mental agricultural farms situated only 10 Kilometers apart, but at altitudes as low as 200 meters below sea level, and as high as over 1000 meters above sea level. “We’re able to study conditions in very diverse habitats within a small radius.” The agrotech track at Tel-Hai opened over 10 years ago, in the Biotechnology Department. Graduates are now success fully working in agrotech companies, in plant tissue culture, in fertilizer compa nies, in agriculture, and in plant biotech nology. Some graduates have remained at MIGAL as research assistants or doing doctoral research. There are over 100 students in the agrotech track, with ap proximately 40 graduates each year, and nearly 30% of graduates stay on at Tel Hai for master’s degree studies. A special atmosphere Professor Amir was the first student to do her doctoral research at MIGAL, under the auspices of the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot, and she was also one of the first faculty mem bers at Tel-Hai College. “Tel-Hai and MIGAL are like my two eldest children,

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