Research interests

• Canola breeding and quality
• Quality improvement in canola crops
• Chemical analysis and evaluation of edible oils for quality and nutrition
• Harvest timing, cultivars and processing for improved olive oil production.

Background

Rod Mailer heads the NSW Department of Primary Industries edible oil research program. He joined NSW Agriculture* in 1979 and has managed research projects in various oil crops, particularly canola and olive oil during that time. He is associated with the release of 20 canola cultivars from the breeding program.

Between 1990-1993, Dr Mailer studied and obtained his PhD at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada using HPLC and DNA-PCR technology to measure canola cultivar variation. 

He represents the NSW DPI as a technical advisor to the Australian Oilseed Federation and is an honorary member of the Australian Olive Association.

He is the Australian representative on the International Standards Organisation for Fats and Oils and current President of the International Society for Fat Research based in Munster, Germany. 

Dr Mailer chaired the organisation of the International Rapeseed Congress in Canberra in 1999 and is currently chairman of the organising committee for the World Congress on Oils and Fats and 28th ISF Congress to be held in Sydney in 2009.

*NSW Department of Primary Industries was formed on July 1, 2004 through an amalgamation of NSW Agriculture, NSW Fisheries, State Forests of NSW and the NSW Department of Mineral Resources.

Qualifications

• BAppSc
• MSc.
• PhD

Current projects

• Harvest timing to improve oil quality and sensory characteristics in olive oil
• Shelf life stability in olive oil
• Improved quality characteristics in canola (National Brassica Project)
• Compliance of Australian cultivars to international standards
• Developing an Australian sensory panel network for olive oil. 

Recent Publications

Mailer RJ, Ayton J and Conlan D (2007) Influence of harvest timing on Olive (Olea europaea) oil accumulation and fruit characteristics under Australian conditions. J. Fd Agric. & Environ. Vol 5. (3 & 4).

Aksouh NM, Campbell LC, and Mailer RJ (2006) Canola response to high and moderate temperature stresses. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. Volume 86, Number 4, October 2006

Ayton J, Mailer RJ, Haigh A, Tronson D, Conlan D (2006) Quality and oxidative stability of Australian olive oil according to harvest date and irrigation. Journal of Food Lipids 14:138-156.

Mailer RJ (2005) Variation in oil quality and fatty acid composition in Australian olive oil. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture. 45:115-119.

Mailer RJ, Ayton J (2004) Comparison of olive oil (Olea europaea) quality extracted by stone mill and hammermill. New Zealand Journal of Horticultural Science. 32(3):325-330.

Mailer RJ (2004) Rapid evaluation of olive oil by NIR reflectance spectroscopy. JAOCS. 81(9):823-827

Si P, Mailer R, Galwey NW and Turner DW (2003) Influence of genotype and location on oil and protein concentrations of canola (Brassica napus L.) grown across southern Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research. 54:397-407.

Blackshaw RE, Lemerle D, Mailer R, and Young KR (2002) Influence of wild radish on yield and quality of canola. Weed Science 50:344-349

Mailer RJ and May CE (2002) Variability and interrelationships of olive trees and cultivars using RAPD analysis. Advances in Horticultural Sciences. (16)3-4: 192-197. 

Mailer RJ Ayton J and Conlan D (2002) Comparison and evaluation of the quality of thirty eight commercial Australian and New Zealand olive oils. Advances in Horticultural Sciences. (16)3-4: 259-256.

Mailer RJ, Orchard B and Vonarx MM (2002) The influence of cultivar and environment on the chlorophyll concentration of Australian canola seed. Australian Journal of Experimental Agricultural. 43:169-176.

Botha I, and Mailer RJ (2001) Evaluation of cold-test methods for screening cloudy canola oil. Journal of the American Oils Chemists’ Society. 78(4): 395-399.

Aksouh N, Jacobs B, Stoddard FL and Mailer RJ (2001) Response of canola to different heat stresses. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research. 52: 8.

Mailer RJ and May CE (1999) Heterogeneity of random amplified polymorphic DNA sequences in individual seedlings and bulked samples of four cultivars of Brassica napus L. Plant Science. 118: 465-470.

Professional associations and activities

• Adjunct Associate Professor - Charles Sturt University.
• Associate Supervisor - University of Sydney.
• Associate Supervisor – University of Western Sydney
• President (2007 -  ) – International Society for Fat Research (ISF)
• Past President - Groupe Consultatif International de Reserche sur le Colza, Paris, France (GCIRC) 1995-1999
• Executive Board member - Groupe Consultatif International de Recherche sur le Colza  
• President 1996-1997, 1997-1998 - Australasian Section of American Oil Chemists Society
• Chair – World Congress on Fats and Oils and ISF Congress, 2005- 2009.
• Honorary member - Australian Olive Association - since 1996 
• American Oil Chemists Society - Member since 1981
• German Fat Society – Member since 2006
• Australian Oilseed Federation 

1. Technical Standards Committee
2. Australia / Japan Canola Council (past)
3. Protein Meal Committee
4. Canola Quality Objectives Group Meeting
5. ISF Committee
6. Chair – Canola quality objectives group

• Charles Sturt University – Chair, Olive Advisory Committee (past)
• ISO Fats and Oils Standards. Australian representative – Standards Australia SC34/TC 11

Fields of Research

• 070305 Crop and Pasture Improvement (Selection and Breeding)
• 070602 Horticultural Crop Improvement (Selection and Breeding) 
• 030502 Natural Products Chemistry
• 030108 Separation Science
• 030101 Analytical Spectrometry  
• 030105 Other Instrumental Methods

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Keyword/phrase list of research interests

• Edible oil
• Canola
• Olive > Chemist

Contact details