Research Publications (Food Safety)

After harvest at horticultural maturity, X-ray computed tomography was used for the non-destructive determination of internal defects occurring in chestnuts during storage. An image processing pipeline was established to accurately identify various types of defective chestnuts. Severely defective chestnuts, with a complete loss of eating quality, were accurately identified by their gray scale value from volume and porosity analyses.

Ethylene is a two-carbon gaseous plant growth regulator that involved in several important physiological events, including growth, development, ripening and senescence of fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops. The hormone accelerates ripening of ethylene sensitive fruits, leafy greens and vegetables at micromolar concentrations, and its accumulation can led to fruit decay and waste during the postharvest stage.

Current methods of preserving fruit and vegetables are costly with accompanying health risks from preserver residue.

The effects of postharvest applications of hot water (HWT) (45, 50, and 55°C), 1-MCP (1, 5, and 10 μL L−1), and CaCl2 (1, 2, and 3%) on polygalacturonase (PG), pectin methylesterase (PME), α-galactosidase (α-Gal), β-galactosidase (β-Gal) and β-1,4-glucanase (β-1,4-Glu) activities, and the fruit firmness and cell wall composition of eggplant fruit were investigated.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Ahead of Print. The contamination of ready-to-eat produce with Listeria monocytogenes (LM) can often be traced back to environmental sources in processing facilities and packinghouses. To provide an improved understanding of Listeria sources and transmission in produce operations, we performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of LM (n = 169) and other Listeria spp.

Plant productivity is being seriously compromised by climate-change-induced temperature extremities. Agriculture and food safety are threatened due to global warming, and in many cases the negative impacts have already begun. Heat stress leads to significant losses in yield due to changes in growth pattern, plant phonologies, sensitivity to pests, flowering, grain filling, maturity period shrinkage, and senescence. Tomato is the second most important vegetable crop.

Softening of apple fruit depends on maturity at harvest and a range of orchard and environmental factors. We investigated seasonal effects on ‘Royal Gala’ storage performance independent of maturity and separate from potential orchard effects. In two consecutive seasons, fruit were harvested at four times: very early (H1), early (H2), commercial (H3) and late (H4), and were cold-stored at 0.5 °C for 100 d followed by a shelf-life period.

The impact of red and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) irradiation on the sugar metabolism and γ-aminobutyric acid in postharvest table grapes stored at 4 °C for 21 days after harvest were explored.

During adverse postharvest storage of Red haricot beans, the inositol phosphate content, particularly InsP6, decreased significantly, along with a significant increase in InsP5. Using a texture-based classification approach, the InsP6 content in cotyledons was shown an indicator for the extent of hard-to-cook (HTC) development during bean aging.

Cell wall material was isolated from selected non-aged and aged Red haricot bean cotyledons using a texture-based classification approach. Pectin-depleted residual cell wall fractions were obtained by sequential pectin extraction and were characterized to investigate in situ cell wall related molecular changes upon ageing during adverse storage of the beans.

Climate warming may affect the performance of plants directly through altering vegetative or reproductive traits, and indirectly through modifying interactions with their pollinators. On the other hand, the addition of fertilizers to the soil may increase the quantity and quality of floral rewards, favoring the visitation of pollinators and, consequently, the reproductive success of plants.

Karst rivers are particularly vulnerable to bacterial pollution because immigrations are easily diffused from the surrounding environments due to their strong hydraulic connectivity. However, the assembly mechanism in shaping riverine bacterial biogeography is still poorly understood, especially for an ecosystem in the karst area.

Introduction: Foodborne diseases, together with increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), pose a threat to public health in an era of huge challenges with climate change and the risks of zoonotic epidemics. A One Health approach to foster food safety is a key for improvement, particularly in complex socio-ecological systems such as in Palestine, to examine human–animal-environment interfaces and promote intersectoral action.

Systemic candidiasis is the fourth leading cause of healthcare-associated infections worldwide. The combination therapy based on existing antifungal agents is well-established to overcome drug resistance and restore antifungal efficacy against drug-resistant strains.

Peaches and nectarines are temperate climate stone fruits, which should be stored at 0°C to prevent the ripening of these climacteric fruits. However, if stored for too long or if stored at a higher temperature (4 or 5°C), they develop chilling injury. Chilling injury damage includes (1) dry, mealy, wooly (lack of juice) fruits, (2) hard-textured fruits with no juice (leatheriness), (3) flesh browning, and (4) flesh bleeding or internal reddening.

Resveratrol, the most widely studied phytoalexin, derived from the skin of grapes and other fruits. Evidence from numerous studies have confirmed its extensive bioactivities, such as antioxidation, anti-inflammatory and anticancer, as well as to promote antiaging effects in organisms. However, the effect of resveratrol on prolonging the postharvest storage of tomato fruits is still unknown.

Development of fermented flavour during storage reduces acceptability of Shughri pear. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the combined effect of 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and hypobaric treatment on stability of Shughri pear during 120 days of storage. Fruit were treated individually or combinedly with 25, 50, and 75 kilo pascal hypobaric treatments for 4 h and 1-MCP (0.3 μLL−1 and 0.6 μLL−1) for 24 h, whereas control received no treatment.

Bacterial pathogens in the domestic environment present a risk to residents, particularly among susceptible populations. However, the impact of consumer demographic characteristics and food handling methods on kitchen microbiomes is not fully understood.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are healthy and convenient ready-to-eat foods, and the final quality is related to the raw materials and each step of the cutting unit. It is necessary to integrate suitable intelligent detection technologies into the production chain so as to inspect each operation to ensure high product quality.

Water is an essential part of food animal processing, and current processing practices use large volumes of water. Due to climate change, the food industry’s access to clean and inexpensive water is increasingly a challenge. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) seeks evaluation by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food (NACMCF) to facilitate the safe reuse of sources of water in order to reduce water consumption.

by Li Chunyan, Zhang Xiangchi, Li Chao, Li Cheng Background Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major food crop worldwide.

Storage at the putative chilling threshold temperature (CTT) to avoid chilling injury still limits postharvest handling of tropical fruit like banana in that ripening may occur at the CTT. To determine whether chilling injury (CI) symptoms would develop in mature green (MG) banana fruit if the CTT exposure was extended by inhibiting ethylene action and thus ripening, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) was applied.

Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has emerged as important enteric foodborne zoonotic pathogens of considerable public health significance worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the top seven STEC serotypes and to identify these serotypes in samples of animal source foods and vegetables. A total of 294 samples including 84 meat samples, 135 milk and dairy product samples and 75 green leafy vegetable samples were tested.

The seasonal effect on chemical composition and contaminants in European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) captured in Norwegian waters was investigated in three seasons (September, December, April). Fillets were compared by analysing proximate composition, lipid and protein profile, including fatty acids, lipid class distribution, free and total amino acids. Trace elements and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) were determined to assess the potential health risk of consumption.

Due to global climate change, abiotic stresses are affecting plant growth, productivity, and the quality of cultivated crops. Stressful conditions disrupt physiological activities and suppress defensive mechanisms, resulting in stress-sensitive plants.