Research Publications (Food Safety)

The pathogenic microorganisms linked to fresh fruits and juices sold out in retail low-cost markets raise safety concerns as they may carry multidrug-resistant (MDR) genes.

Necrotic enteritis (NE), caused by Clostridium perfringens, is an emerging issue in poultry farming. New approaches, other than antibiotics, are necessary to prevent NE development and the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Enterococci are commensal microorganisms that can produce enterocins, antimicrobial peptides with activities against pathogens, and could be excellent candidates for protective cultures.

Intestinal bacterial infections are a major threat to human and animal health. In this study, we found plant-derived antibacterial xanthones, particularly α-mangostin (AMG) from the mangosteen peel, exhibiting extraordinary activities against Clostridium perfringens. Structure–activity relationship analysis showed that prenylation modulated the activity of xanthones.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of the addition of selected fruits and herbs belonging to the “superfoods” category for the bioactivity of a rapeseed honey matrix. Flavored creamed honeys with nine types of various additives (2 and 4% of content) were prepared and analyzed for the content of total phenols, flavonoids, antioxidant (FRAP, DPPH and ABTS) and antibacterial activity against four strains of bacteria.

Listeria monocytogenes biofilms are ubiquitous in the food-processing environment, where they frequently show resistance against treatment with disinfectants such as peracetic acid (PAA) due to sub-lethal damage resulting in biofilm persistence or the formation of secondary biofilms. L. monocytogenes serovar ½a EGD-e biofilms were cultivated under continuous flow conditions at 10 °C, 22 °C, and 37 °C and exposed to industrially relevant PAA concentrations.

Veterinary drugs are widely used to prevent and treat diseases. The European Union has forbidden the use of antibiotics as growth promoters since 2006. Its abusive use leads to the presence of antibiotic residues (AR) in foods of animal origin which is associated with antibiotic resistance. The monitoring of AR in food intended for human consumption is of utmost importance to assure Food Safety.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a serious infection-causing pathogen in humans and animal. In particular, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is considered one of the major life-threatening pathogens due to its rapid resistance to several antibiotics in clinical practice.

Essential oils (EOs) isolated from different plant materials, namely Origanum majorana L., Satureja hortensis L., and Satureja montana L. (OMEO, SHEO, and SMEO, respectively), were used in fresh turkey sausage processing. The chemical composition and in vitro antimicrobial potential of selected EOs and their mixture were determined.

Essential oils (EOs) and their vapour phase of Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae), Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae), Ocimum campechianum (Lamiaceae), and Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae) of cultivated plants grown in an Amazonian Ecuador area were chemically characterised by Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID), Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), and Head Space–Gas Chromatograph-Flame Ionization Detector–Mass Spectrometry (HS-GC-F

The food industry has been exploring the association of polymers with nanoparticles in packaging production, and active products are essential to increase the shelf life of food and avoid contamination. Our study developed starch-poly (adipate co-terephthalate butyl) films with silver nanoparticles produced with Fusarium oxysporum components (bio-AgNPs), intending to control foodborne pathogens.

The aim of this research is to profile the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) extracted from the aerial parts of Origanum elongatum (O. elongatum) and to evaluate its antioxidant, antibacterial and insecticidal activities on Ceratitis capitata adults. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed a total of 27 constituents in EO of O. elongatum, which accounted for 99.08% of its constituents.

Increased use of antibiotics in livestock is a public health concern, as it poses risks of antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant pathogens entering the food chains and infecting humans. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 216 poultry farms to study knowledge, attitudes and practices of poultry farmers on the use of antibiotics in urban and peri-urban areas of Ouagadougou. Results show that only 17.13% (37/216) of farmers attended training on poultry production.

The global demand for fish products is continuously increasing as the population grows, and aquaculture plays an important role in supplying this demand. However, industrial antibiotic misuse has contributed to the spread of antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic bacteria, therefore, several antibiotic alternatives have been proposed.

Honey’s antibacterial activity has been recently linked to the inhibitory effects of honey microbiota against a range of foodborne and human pathogens. In the current study, the microbial community structure of honey samples exerting pronounced antimicrobial activity was examined. The honey samples were obtained from different geographical locations in Greece and had diverse pollen origin (fir, cotton, fir–oak, and Arbutus unedo honeys).

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is problematic worldwide, and due to the loss of efficiency of many antibiotics, the pressure to discover alternative antimicrobial molecules has increased. Soil harbors a great biodiversity and biomass of microorganisms, and many antibiotics are produced by soil microbiota. Therefore, soil is a promising reservoir to find new antimicrobial agents.

Campylobacter spp. are the main cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, and broiler chicks are the main vector of transmission to humans. The high prevalence of Campylobacter in poultry meat and the increase of antibiotic resistant strains have raised the need to identify new antimicrobial agents. For this reason, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of two extracts of olive leaf against antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter strains (C. jejuni and C.

Bacteria can form biofilms in natural and clinical environments on both biotic and abiotic surfaces. The bacterial aggregates embedded in biofilms are formed by their own produced extracellular matrix. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most common pathogens of biofilm infections. The formation of biofilm can protect bacteria from being attacked by the host immune system and antibiotics and thus bacteria can be persistent against external challenges.

Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a serious food-borne pathogen that can cause listeriosis, an illness caused by eating food contaminated with this pathogen. Currently, the treatment or prevention of listeriosis is a global challenge due to the resistance of bacteria against multiple commonly used antibiotics, thus necessitating the development of novel green antimicrobials.

Twenty samples of minced chicken meat procured from butcher’s shops in León (Spain; 10 samples) and Vila Real (Portugal; 10 samples) were analyzed. Microbial concentrations (log10 cfu/g) of 7.53 ± 1.02 (viable aerobic microbiota), 7.13 ± 1.07 (psychrotrophic microorganisms), and 4.23 ± 0.88 (enterobacteria) were found.

The emergence, persistence, and spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes is a tremendous public health threat that is considered nowadays a critical One Health issue. In Lebanon, the consumption of raw bovine milk has been recently reported as a result of the financial crisis.

The resistance to antimicrobials (AMR), especially antibiotics, represents a serious problem and, at the same time, a challenge. In the last decade, a growing interest in the use of essential oils (EOs) as antimicrobial substances was observed. Commercial thyme and oregano EOs are reported to be the main responsible of the oil antimicrobial efficacy against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria.

Resistance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from food and livestock to last resort antibiotics such as linezolid is highly concerning, since treatment options for infections in humans might be diminished. Known mechanisms of linezolid resistance include point mutations in the 23S rRNA gene and in the ribosomal proteins L3, L4 and L22 as well as an acquisition of the cfr, optrA or poxtA gene.

Previous studies indicated that the use of a phage cocktail, composed of bacteriophages vB_SenM-2 and vB_Sen-TO17, is effective in killing cells of Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis in vitro and in the Galleria mellonella animal model as efficiently as antibiotics (enrofloxacin or colistin) and induced fewer deleterious changes in immune responses.

The defense system of freshwater crayfish Procambarus clarkii as a diversified source of bioactive molecules with antimicrobial properties was studied. Antimicrobial activity of two polypeptide-enriched extracts obtained from hemocytes and hemolymph of P. clarkii were assessed against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) and Gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli) bacteria and toward the yeast Candida albicans.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major nosocomial pathogen that frequently forms biofilms on indwelling medical devices. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of octyl gallate (OG) in combination with penicillin and bacitracin against S. epidermidis. Antimicrobial synergy was assessed by conducting checkerboard titration assays, and antibiofilm activity was determined with biofilm assays and fluorescence microscopy analysis.