Research Publications (Food Safety)

The food industry has extensively explored postharvest microbial control, seeking viable technologies to ensure food safety. Although numerous chlorine‐based commercial sanitizers serve this purpose, many are plagued by constraints such as instability and diminished disinfectant efficacy. These issues arise from exposure to organic matter in wash water, light, or air.

Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites synthesized by various filamentous fungi genera such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Claviceps, and Alternaria, are potent toxic compounds. Their production is contingent upon specific environmental conditions during fungal growth. Arising as byproducts of fungal metabolic processes, mycotoxins exhibit significant toxicity, posing risks of acute or chronic health complications.

This study demonstrates that Cinnamomum camphora essential oil (CEO) effectively inhibits Fusarium oxysporum‐induced decay in postharvest blueberries by disrupting fungal cell membrane integrity and enhancing blueberry defence mechanisms. The findings suggest that CEO, as an eco‐friendly alternative to synthetic fungicides, can mitigate primary fungal invasion and improve blueberry preservation during postharvest storage.

Pre‐ and post‐harvest management practices to mitigate patulin. Abstract Patulin, a toxic secondary metabolite produced by certain molds (Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Byssochlamys), poses a significant health risk when present in apple juice products above permissible levels. Its presence is a major concern for both consumers and regulatory bodies due to its potential carcinogenic and mutagenic effects.

Ripening is an irreversible phenomenon involving several physiological, biochemical and organoleptic changes that affect the nutritional value, colour, texture and taste of fruit. Amongst the physical non-destructive technologies, Delayed Luminescence (DL) has been reported able to provide valid information on the functional status of living biological systems, reflecting changes in quality parameters following the occurrence of certain metabolic processes.

Abstract

Abstract In 2023, 14 Member States were affected by African swine fever (ASF), including Croatia and Sweden where ASF emerged (wild boar outbreaks only) and Greece where ASF re‐emerged after being free since 2021. The number of ASF outbreaks among domestic pigs in the EU was five times higher than in 2022, reaching a similar magnitude to that in 2019.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning is an important concern for mollusk fisheries, aquaculture, and public health. In Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula, such toxicity has been monitored for a long time using mouse bioassay. Therefore, little information exists about the precise toxin analogues and their possible transformations in diverse mollusk species and environments.

Edible grasshopper, Ruspolia ruspolia, has nutritional and cherished cultural and economic importance to people from diverse cultures, particularly in over 20 African countries. It is consumed at home or commercially traded as sautéed, deep-fried, or boiled products. However, there is limited information on the hygiene practices of the vendors and the implications on the microbial safety of the final product.

Methane is a natural product of rumen fermentation and emissions from ruminant livestock represent a major environmental concern. Methane is not only a potent greenhouse gas but also represents a loss of energy efficiency for the host. The objective of this study was to perform in vitro screening of a range of compounds with potential anti-methanogenic activity, including polyphenols, flavonoids, fatty acids, amino acids, and salts.

A systematic review of the use of Web 3.0 and Ai technologies in the meat supply chain. Summary Web 3.0 and artificial intelligence (AI) have presented unprecedent impact on the food sector. However, there is no clear scientific description yet related to their influences on food safety, quality and traceability across the meat supply chain.

60Co γ‐radiation below 1.5 kGy was applied for postharvest storage of blueberry. Low‐dose irradiation did not significantly improve fruit quality but extend the shelf life up to 15 days at 25 °C and 30 days at 4 °C and promoted post‐ripening and increased the richness of volatile substances. Summary 60Co γ‐radiation was applied to blueberry fruits in an effort to investigate a safe, eco‐friendly and effective blueberry preservation technique.

Schematic illustration of PO combined with NFT inhibiting browning and maintaing qualities of fresh‐cut nectarines. Abstract Fresh‐cut fruits were convenient for consumers but vulnerable to quality deterioration, including browning, softening, and volatile aroma loss. In this study, the whole nectarines were pretreated with 100% O2 (pure oxygen, PO) for 2 h and stored at near‐freezing temperature (NFT, −1.5 ± 0.1°C) for 9 days after cutting.

The graphical abstract represents the main steps of the study. Air plasma and helium plasma provided a maximum reduction of 2.79 Log CFU in medium and 0.9 and 1.1 Log CFU/g in fish, respectively. Summary Salmonella contamination of fish after harvest is a significant food safety risk. To control this risk, it was aimed to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis in sea bass by helium and air plasma.

This review article focuses on recent progress in understanding the toxins, pathogens and management of ergot, an important disease of cereals that affects food safety. Abstract Ergot is a fungal disease of many plants but is perhaps most commonly associated with domesticated grasses or cereals, such as rye, wheat, barley, oat, sorghum, millet, maize and rice.

Lanzhou lily (Lilium davidii var. willmottiae) is an exclusive sweet lily variety indigenous to China, which is susceptible to bulbous rot caused by fungal infection during storage. This experiment tests the pathogenicity of the pure culture isolated from the diseased tissue was confirmed in accordance with Koch's postulates, and the pathomycetes were identified based on their morphological and molecular characteristics.

The presence of microbial pathogens in ready-to-eat produce represents a serious health problem. The antibacterial activity of cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and clove (Syzygium aromaticum L. Merr. & Perry) essential oils (EOs) was determined toward food-borne pathogens by agar disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays.

CrAssphages are human gut bacteriophages with potential use as an indicator of human fecal contamination in water and other environmental systems. We determined the prevalence and abundance of crAssphages in water, food, and fecal samples and compared these estimates with the prevalence of norovirus. Samples were tested using two crAssphage-specific qPCR assays (CPQ056 and TN201-203) and for norovirus using TaqMan realtime RT-PCR.

Mycotoxins pose a major problem to poultry production as a result of feed contamination which has deleterious consequences such as production losses and human health risks. A total of 158 chicken feed samples were randomly collected from 46 consenting poultry farms in Oyo State throughout the wet season (April–October; 91 samples) and the dry season (November–March; 67 samples), including compounded feed (n = 129) and feed ingredients (n = 29).

Abstract Conventional food preservation methods such as heat treatment, irradiation, chemical treatment, refrigeration, and coating have various disadvantages, like loss of food quality, nutrition, and cost‐effectiveness. Accordingly, cold plasma is one of the new technologies for food processing and has played an important role in preventing food spoilage. Specifically, in‐package cold plasma has become a modern trend to decontaminate, process, and package food simultaneously.

Introduction

Solanum chilense is a wild relative of tomato reported to exhibit resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. There is potential to improve tomato cultivars via breeding with wild relatives, a process greatly accelerated by suitable genomic and genetic resources.

Methods

Romaine lettuce in the U.S. is primarily grown in California or Arizona and either processed near the growing regions (source processing) or transported long distance for processing in facilities serving distant markets (forward processing).