Research Publications (Food Safety)

Dried red chili is an popular spice widely used in the world, but is vulnerable to be contaminated by toxigenic fungi, resulting in ochratoxin A contamination. The current study detected OTA contents in both chili peels (n = 49) and seeds (n = 49) of Guizhou dried red chilies.

Nitrogen (N) deposition plays a significant role in soil cadmium (Cd) phytoremediation, and poplar has been considered for the remediation of contaminated soil because of its enormous biomass and strong Cd resistance.

Background Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the leading cause of various infective diseases, including topical soft tissue infections. The goals of this study were to investigate the roles of YycF and CodY in the regulation of biofilm formation and pathogenicity.

Patulin (PAT) is one of mycotoxins that usually contaminates apple juice, and it is not easily detoxified by cysteine (CYS) at room temperature due to the highly acidic conditions based on the Michael addition reaction. However, it could be effectively degraded by a heating treatment at 120 °C for 30 min in the presence of cysteine.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print. A recent outbreak of salmonellosis in wild birds sickened 29 individuals in 12 states, leading to 14 hospitalizations. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a multidrug-resistant strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium that was isolated from a bird experiencing symptoms of salmonellosis.

Molecular Microbiology, Accepted Article. Virulence and persistence of the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii involve the secretion of effector proteins belonging to the family of dense granule proteins (GRAs) that act notably as modulators of the host defense mechanisms and participate in cyst wall formation.

Dry-fermented salami (DFS) is a popular and frequently consumed ready-to-eat food product. The safety of these products is typically ensured by the addition of well-defined starter cultures and subsequent fermentation processes.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination of paddy soil affects safe crop production. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of plant biostimulant amino acid fertilizer on the phytoremediation capability of an emergent accumulator plant Nasturtium officinale R. Br. for Cd-contaminated paddy soils. A pot study was carried out to study the effects of different concentrations of amino acid fertilizer on the Cd accumulation of N. officinale grown in Cd-contaminated paddy soil.

The increasing contamination of soil with arsenic (As), and salinity has become a menace to food security and human health. The current study investigates the comparative efficacy of plain biochar (BC), and silicon-nanoparticles doped biochar (SBC) for ameliorating the As and salinity-induced phytotoxicity in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) and associated human health risks.

Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli are one of the leading causes of gastrointestinal illnesses, and which are considered to be transmitted to humans mainly from chicken meats. Considering the less availability of quantitative contamination data in the retail chicken meats in Japan, 510 fresh chicken meats retailed at five distinct regions in Japan between June 2019 and March 2021 were examined.

Acute non-typhoidal salmonellosis (NTS) caused by a Gram-negative bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Tm) is one of the most common bacterial foodborne diseases worldwide. Bacteriophages (phages) can specifically target and lyse their host bacteria, including the multidrug-resistant strains, without collateral damage to other bacteria in the community. However, the therapeutic use of Salmonella phages in vivo is still poorly investigated.

The spread of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria and resistance genes along the food chain and the environment has become a global, but silent pandemic. To face this challenge, it is of outmost importance to develop efficient strategies to reduce potential contamination by these agents. In the present study, 30 strains of Enterococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp.

The appearance of transferable oxazolidinone resistance genes poses a major challenge to public health and environmental safety. These genes not only lead pathogenic bacteria to become resistant to linezolid but also reduce sensitivity to florfenicol, which is widely used in the veterinary field.

Bacterial pathogenesis-associated characteristics such as biofilm formation, synthesis of hydrolyzing enzymes, and toxins are regulated by Acyl Homoserine Lactones (AHLs), small peptides and diffusing signal factors (DSF). Lelliottia amnigena is gram negative bacteria and its pathogenicity is regulated by the luxR and luxI class of quorum sensing.

This manuscript provides the description of the bacterial strain A621T characterized by Gram negative motile rods, presenting green circular colonies on TCBS. It was obtained from the skin of the sharpnose pufferfish Canthigaster figueredoi (Tetraodontidae Family), collected in Arraial do Cabo, located in the Rio de Janeiro region, Brazil. Optimum growth occurs at 20–28 °C in the presence of 3% NaCl.

Traditional dry-cured hams are easily contaminated by toxigenic fungi during the fermentation and ripening stages. The detection and positive rates of ochratoxin A (OTA) are the highest among mycotoxins detected in traditional dry-cured hams, indicating that OTA in hams is a potential safety hazard to human health.

International Journal of Food Science &Technology, Accepted Article. Developing rapid detection tools and methods for foodborne pathogens has always been a research hotspot, which is undoubtedly very important for food safety. In this study, the preparation of functional magnetic nanoprobes and their application to detect target pathogens in a complex matrix by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) is demonstrated.

In the present research, in order to screen out the best candidates from 12 different EOCs, we proposed three in vivo screening methods, namely the screening method of bioluminescence of V. campbellii associated with brine shrimp, regrowth performance of V. campbellii, and immune gene expression of brine shrimp without challenge. Our result showed that challenged with V.

Aspergillus westerdijkiae is an ochratoxin A (OTA) producer mould in dry-cured meat products.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of foodborne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes is globally on the rise in the food industry.

Aflatoxins are the secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and have severe pathological effects on the health of human and animals. The present study was designed to investigate the toxicopathological changes induced by aflatoxins and mitigative potential of Lactobacillus plantarum in broiler birds.

Medicinal plants are important in the South African traditional healthcare system, the growth in the consumption has led to increase in trade through muthi shops and street vendors. Medicinal plants are prone to contamination with fungi and their mycotoxins.

Flour samples spiked with ochratoxin A (OTA) (3,10 and 20 μg kg–1), zearalenone (ZEA) (75, 100, and 200 μg kg–1), and deoxynivalenol (DON) (500, 750, and 1000 μg kg–1), and combined mycotoxins (OTA, ZEA and DON at 20,

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, and the growth boundaries of two strains of L. monocytogenes isolated from RTE foods and one ATCC7644 strain under different temperature (4, 20, and 37°C), salt (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4% w/v), and nisin (0, 50, 100, 200, and 400 µg/mL) levels with different inoculum sizes (3, 4, 5, and 6 log10 CFU/mL).

The increasingly serious pollution of microplastics and heavy metals is likely to affect the efficacy of flavonoids synthesized by dandelion in natural medicine fields.