Research Publications (Food Safety)

The graphical abstract presents a detailed analysis of data from the RASFF concerning herbs and spices. On the left, various herbs and spices are depicted, representing the subjects of the notifications. Below this, a pie chart categorizes the types of RASFF notifications, with border rejections constituting the majority. On the right, the graphic lists the top 10 notifying countries, countries of origin, and notified products, with chili being the most frequently reported product.

A large proportion (69%) of the imported foods tested in this study were contaminated with one or several mycotoxins, including zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, and aflatoxins. Their high levels in rice, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts, and coffee beans underscore the need for robust surveillance and quality assurance systems across the food supply chains, from production to retail, to effectively protect the public from mycotoxin exposure.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Fungi are significant contaminants and destroyers of spices. This study aimed at determining the mycoflora, mycotoxins, contaminants, and antimicrobial properties of some local spices; dawadawa (Parkia biglobosa), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), turmeric (Curcuma longa), aniseed (Pimpinella anisum), ocimum (Ocimum basilicum), and clove (Syzygium aromaticum).

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Zearalenone (ZEN) is one of the most common mycotoxin contaminants worldwide. In this study, a phage-based direct competitive fluorescence immunosorbent assay (P-dcFLISA) was developed for the detection of ZEN. In this P-dcFLISA, phage mimotope was used to replace chemically synthesized antigens to improve the safety of experiments.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Data regarding ochratoxin A (OTA) and zearalenone (ZEA) contamination in feed in South China are limited. Here, we evaluated OTA and ZEA contamination in 514 poultry feed samples collected from South China. We validated a modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method and the mycotoxins were quantified by high-pressure liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Abstract

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Despite the considerable importance of dairy consumption, aflatoxin‐M1 (AFM1) contamination can pose potential health threats for these products. In the present study, we systematically reviewed and conducted a meta‐analysis on the AFM1 contamination in yogurt samples of West Asia region.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Aflatoxin B1 is a mycotoxin that can be present in peanut‐based products, such as fried peanut biscuits, if Good Agricultural Practices are not respected. Impact of plant powder presence on aflatoxin B1 levels was investigated in contaminated peanut biscuits. It was observed that adding 2% of Moringa oleifera powder led to a significant (p < .05) reduction of the toxin after 3 hr of contact time in the dough before the frying step.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. The research was designed to investigate the amount of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in animal feed (corn, wheat bran, peanut cake, soybean meal, and cotton seed meal) and aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in raw milk of animals (cow milk, buffalo milk, goat milk and sheep milk), from Punjab, Pakistan collected March 2017 till February 2018. The samples were examined with liquid chromatography, with a fluorescence detector.

PEF treatment of sesame seeds provides significant reduction on aflatoxin producing fungi, Aspergillus paraciticus, as well as decomposition of aflatoxins with reduced mutagenity with preservation of physical properties and reduced acid number and peroxide value. Abstract Seed processing technologies are essential for seed safety and functionality through protection of physicochemical quality, pathogen inactivation, aflatoxin detoxification and alleviation of mutagenicity.

Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Alternaria species which produce toxic metabolites, create a big problem in terms of the production of reliable human food and animal feeds. This study was conducted to determine the mycotoxin contents of foodstuff collected uniformly in each year of 2017, 2018, and 2019 in Şebinkarahisar, Turkey by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay.

In this study, the effectiveness of ACP in inactivating Aspergillus flavus inoculated to military rations snack using response surface methodology (RSM) was investigated. Additionally, the effect of this treatment on the total count and yeast–mold count, as well as some quality properties of military rations snack, was examined.

Freshly harvested Bambara groundnut seed obtained from rural framers in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality of the Mpumalanga province, South Africa does not have detectable levels of mycotoxins. Freshly harvested Bambara groundnut seed were naturally contaminated with mycotoxin producing isolates from the genera Aspergillus and Fusarium. Abstract Freshly harvested Bambara groundnut (BGN) is occasionally consumed raw and can potentially become infected with mycotoxingenic field fungi.

Antifungal effects of smoldering plants are studied in vitro and pistachio nuts. The smoke of the cinnamon plant had an in vitro fungicidal effect in the PDA medium. No aflatoxin was observed in pistachios treated by cinnamon bark smoke. A reliable method is introduced for pistachio farmers to provide safe products. Abstract Aflatoxin (AF) contamination of the Iranian exporting pistachio has become a major problem in the last decades.

Nyjer and flax seeds are important oilseeds that are used for both human and animal consumption. Aspergilluscarbonariusproduced ochratoxin A (OTA) up to 271 μg/kg on ground nyjer seeds incubated with 0.98 awat 20°C, while A. carbonarius produced the highest OTA (146 μg/kg) on ground flax seeds incubated with 0.94 awat 20°C. Overall, ground nyjer seed is better than flax seed to support growth and OTA production by A. carbonarius.

Royal jelly (RJ) and propolis were able to inhibit the growth of Aspergillus parasiticus with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 3,200 and 100 μg/ml, respectively. Combination of RJ and propolis resulted in synergistic interaction with MICs of 200 and 25 μg/ml, respectively, and a fractional inhibitory concentration index of 0.312. RJ and propolis were able to down‐regulate the expression of the aflR gene and dramatically decrease the aflatoxin production by A. parasiticus.

This study aimed at evaluating the physicochemical and microbiological quality, besides the occurrence of aflatoxins M1 and B1, in samples (229) of the whole, semi‐skimmed and skimmed milk processed by the ultra‐high‐temperature system, in the three Brazilian southern states (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná).

Whey protein concentrate (WPC) mixed with various concentrations of Shirazi thyme (ST), sage, and cumin seed (CS) extracts separately. Then pistachio kernels (PK) contaminated with Aspergillus flavus (Af) were coated with each extract and the Af mycelium and generated aflatoxins measured after 3, 5, and 7‐days at 20°C.

Graphical overview of the incidence and characterization of Aspergillus section Flavi in raw materials and finished feed in Algeria and their ability to produce aflatoxins, cyclopyazonic acid and ochratoxine A. Abstract In Algeria, little information is available on the population structure of Aspergillus section Flavi in raw materials and resultant animal feeds.

The main safety issue of cereal grains is mycotoxin contamination. There is no published information about mycotoxin contamination of organic wheat in the United States. This study quantified the contents of deoxynivalenol (DON) and ochratoxin A (OTA), two frequently occurring mycotoxins, in organic wheat samples collected from six counties in North Carolina by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

This research was done on the assumption that the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development that attributed to the consumption of highly contaminated food (HCF) with aflatoxin, may have a major contribution to the total of expected risk. If this hypothesis is true, it is easy to apply an effective and low‐cost intervention approach by excluding HCF and then subjecting it to treatments before use.

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