Research Publications (Food Safety)

The present study aims to characterize the plant growth-promoting bacterial traits of Bacillus simplex (strain 115). This bacterium was inoculated in hydroponically conditions to improve pea (Pisum sativum L.) growth submitted to lead (Pb) toxicity. Root nodulation system was developed enough in 23-day-old plants attesting the interaction between the two organisms.

Scallops are delicious and healthy, but their filter feeding habits make them vulnerable to ingesting and accumulating toxic chemicals from the environment, resulting in food safety issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of steaming process on the concentration, distribution and bioaccessibility of cadmium (Cd) in Chlamys farreri tissues.

In order to reveal the influences of supplemented dietary selenium (Se) on the suppressive effect of cadmium (Cd) toxicity on performance and egg properties of laying hens, the effects of co-treatment Se and Cd on the performance, egg quality, levels of amino acids and the antioxidant capacity of egg and serum were investigated.

Vast quantities of synthetic pesticides have been widely applied in various fields to kill plant pathogens, resulting in increased pathogen resistance and decreased effectiveness of such chemicals. In addition, the increased presence of pesticide residues affects living organisms and the environment largely on a global scale.

This research was focused on the eco-friendly treatment of deep-sea mining tailings in the sea areas and mainly dealt with evaluating the optimal conditions by comparing aluminum sulfate (AS), which had been proven recently to have an effect as a heavy metal extractant, with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in terms of environmental and economic feasibility.

by Felipe Pinheiro Vilela, Dália dos Prazeres Rodrigues, Marc William Allard, Juliana Pfrimer Falcão Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Infantis (S. Infantis) is a non-typhoid, zoonotic and foodborne serovar with worldwide distribution, and often associated with increasing antimicrobial resistance. Efflux pumps are antimicrobial resistance mechanisms able to promote and increase resistance levels to multiple distinct drug classes.

Lead (Pb), as a deleterious heavy metal, ubiquitously exists in environment and industry, which engenders multi-organ disfunction, especially the brain of infants who are vulnerable to attack from lead-induced neurotoxicity. Although cholesterol sulfate (CS) is crucial constituent of cell membranes and precursor of neurosteroids, which maintains the function and survival of neurons, the role of CS in lead-induced neurological damage still remains incomplete.

Environmental stresses, including heavy metal pollution, are increasing at a growing rate and influencing arable lands. Chelators play an essential role in several biochemical pathways in the cells of plants treated with heavy metals. This research evaluated the modifying effect of malic acid (MA) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on the physiological and biochemical parameters of okra plants exposed to Cd stress in which the okra plants were cultivated in hydroponic conditions.

The alarming increase in soil contamination by heavy metals, such as cadmium and zinc demands immediate attention. The dioecious tree Populus cathayana, a phytoremediation plant, plays an important role in rehabilitating heavy metal contaminated areas. In this study, male and female P.

Aims Saprotrophic soil fungi participate in biomass mineralization, inhibit pathogen development and promote plant growth. Pathogens accumulate in soil and decrease crop yields. The structure of fungal communities is determined mainly by the organic matter content and pH of soil.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) mesophilic facultatively anaerobic Gram-negative rods are a public health issue and their spread from animal-source foods to humans is of concern worldwide.

Lead and zinc are indispensable nonferrous metals in the current industrialized society because of their position as raw materials for various industrial products. However, the massive environmental burden imposed by the activities of the lead–zinc industry will trigger potential social impacts.

Analytical methods based on QuEChERS and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were developed for the determination of 42 polar and semi-polar pesticides in three representative vegetable matrices, viz. corn, grapes and alfalfa. A 26-2 fractional factorial experimental design was used to cost-effectively optimize the extraction procedure. The optimal analytical approaches were validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, trueness, and precision.

Increasing demand for safe food by an ever-growing human population emphasizes the urgency for increasing crop yields and reducing the losses caused by abiotic and biotic stresses; a partial solution to this problem is to develop a better understanding of plant–microbe interactions. Plant roots continuously release a wide range of compounds including organic acids in root exudates.

As a primary goal, cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal pollutant that is readily adsorbed and retained in rice, and it becomes a serious threat to food safety and human health. Fungi have attracted interest for their ability to remove heavy metals from the environment, although the underlying mechanisms of how fungi defend against Cd toxicity are still unclear. In this study, a Cd-resistant fungus Trametes pubescens (T. pubescens) was investigated.

The flue gas desulphurisation gypsum (FGDG) produced in nonferrous metal metallurgy industry is defined as hazardous waste because of its arsenic content. In this study, a new process for arsenic removal by ultrasound-enhanced sulfuric acid leaching was developed. The leaching characteristics of arsenic under ultrasound-enhanced leaching and conventional leaching conditions were compared.

A new method for screening and identification 420 pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) were developed. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile/acetic acid (99:1, V/V), and clean-up by SinChERS-Nano (single-step, cheap, effective, rugged, safe, nano) column, determined by UPLC-Q-TOF/MS.

National and international food and feed safety authorities are shifting from routine-to risk-based monitoring. Risk-based monitoring requires flexibility in the scope of analytes, matrices, and sampling. Also, risk-based monitoring implies a desire for retrospective analysis using different scope(s) to follow trends, identify new food safety threats, and monitor the effectiveness of policy interventions.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also called senile dementia is a neurodegenerative disease seen commonly in the elderly and is characterised by the formation of β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). Though a complete understanding of the disease is lacking, recent studies showed the role of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in pathogenesis. Finding new lead compounds from natural sources has always been a quest for researchers.

Bioaccessibility of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) was conducted in soil samples collected from a dirt road that connects a former Pb and zinc (Zn) beneficiation and smelting plant in the city of Adrianópolis (Paraná state, southern Brazil). Samples were taken in three sites (beneficiation plant, slag deposit, and near Adrianópolis downtown).

As a carbon-negative emission technology, biochar has attracted extensive attention for application in fields for soil improvement and pollution control. The interactions between biochar and soil cadmium via the coupling of physical and chemical processes with extensive application and the correlation between the speciation of soil heavy metals and bioavailability are current research hotspots.

The aggregation of proteins into fibrillar, amyloid-like aggregates generally results in an improved, positive effect on various techno-functional properties within food products, such as gelation, emulsification, and foam stabilization. These highly stable structures, characterized by their repetitive, β-sheet rich motifs, may develop as the result of the thermal treatment of protein-rich food products. Heavy metal ions can influence amyloid-like aggregation of food proteins.

Recent investigations have revealed that puerarin (PU) alleviates cadmium (Cd)-caused hepatic damage via inhibiting oxidative stress. Mitochondria are dynamic organelles and play a critical part in regulating the occurrence of oxidative stress, but the role of mitochondria in the protection of PU against hepatocellular damage caused by Cd exposure remains unknown. Thus, this study was aimed to clarify this issue using mouse hepatocyte AML-12 cell line.

The impact of water and bottom sediment pollution of a river subjected to a strong industrial anthropogenic pressure of metal(loid) (including arsenic and its species) accumulation in riverbank plants such as Solidago virgaurea L., Phragmites L. and Urtica dioica L. was investigated.

Soil contamination by heavy metals has become a prevalent topic due to their widespread release from industry, agriculture, and other human activities. Great progress has been made in elucidating the uptake and translocation of cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice. However, there is still little known about corresponding progress in maize.