Elna M Buys

I started my career in research at the Agricultural Research Council, researching the quality and safety of fresh meat. I joined the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences (then Department of Food Science), at the University of Pretoria, in 2001 and established this research area in the department with a dairy focus. I have been heading the department of Food Science (now Consumer and Food Sciences) from 2012 to 2022. I am the only researcher in South Africa focusing on dairy food quality. My research interest has always been in the effect of food processing on the adaptation of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria in dairy and meat products. South Africa is the most food-secure country on the African continent, and except for the Cape Verde Islands and Eritrea, South Africa exports food to every country in Africa. My research focus has been in response to the South African food industry's quest to produce quality meat and dairy products. Over the years, the significant impact of my research has been to enhance the safety and quality of dairy and meat products. My specific research specialty in food microbiology is assessing the effect of the greater bacterial ecology in the food matrix concerning safety and quality. Throughout my career, I have supervised postdoctoral, doctoral, master, and graduate students in a large number. My research activity is summarized in more than a100 scientific published articles in prestigious international journals, indexed in Scopus and WoS-JCR. These are related, for the most part, to Food Science and technology, and agriculture. Also nutrition, toxicology, infectious diseases, microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics. I have developed multidisciplinary research using various analytical techniques, and my research is contributing to the progress of science in multiple areas.

Papers in database

2

Years active

2024 – 2025

Total publications

148

Total citations

3,036

h-index

30