Research Publications (Food Safety)

On-site screening of biotoxins is of great importance for food safety. A new electrochemical-biosensing strategy was constructed for ochratoxin A (OTA) detection by direct using ready-made commercial portable-glucose-meter (PGM). Aptamer against OTA was adopted as the recognition probe and pre-immobilized onto the sensing interface. The complementary biotin-modified probe was further decorated by hybridization.

The aim of study was to optimize an QuEChERS extraction procedure for simultaneous determination of organic pollutants in aquaculture products. The QuEChERS extracts were measured using LC-HRMS. The target contaminants include 32 pesticides and 20 pharmaceuticals which have not been regulated for the products in Korea. The method was validated according to CODEX guideline (CAC/GL 71–2009).

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is an important risk factor threatening the safety of milk and dairy products due to its carcinogenic and teratogenic effects on humans. To prevent AFM1 from causing damage to human health, developing reliable methods to monitor its levels in milk and dairy products is of great importance. Biosensors built with recognition and detection systems have attracted extensive attention for their simplicity, portability, sensitivity, and selectivity.

Earlier studies revealed that cadmium (Cd) concentrations in cacao nibs can decrease by a factor up to 1.3 during fermentation. Here, fermentation was mimicked by incubating beans at different temperatures, and acetic acid and ethanol concentrations in the incubation media. Nib Cd concentrations decreased during incubation by mobilisation in the nibs and subsequent outward migration to the testa and the incubation solution.

A portable device is conducive to the on-site detection of heavy metal ions at trace level in food and the prevention of related food safety issues. In this work, an electrochemical device stacked up with flat electrodes was developed for the detection of Pb2+ and Cd2+. The top layer of the device is a carbon paper as working electrode, which is modified with amino functionalized cobalt-based metal-organic framework and gold nanoparticles.

Aflatoxin B1 is a potent liver toxin and easily accumulated in foodstuff and environment via the food chain, subjecting high hazards to human health. Rapid initial diagnosis is one of the most impressive monitoring procedures to overcome the potential hazards. Nevertheless, the classical approaches confront many limitations, like low specificity and sensitivity and complicated procedures.

Application of the traditional immunochromatographic assay (ICGA) has been limited by its poor sensitivity. The objective of this study was to increase the sensitivity of the traditional ICGA.

In this study, yolk-shell Fe3O4-based nanomaterials designing of fluorescent aptasensor using a new type of biomimetic network-constitutional dynamic networks (CDNs) amplification strategy was developed for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) detection. By ingeniously designing the base sequences A, a, B, b, and coupling with endonuclease (BbvCI), a constitutes of CDNs is formed as a fluorescence intensity amplifier.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a universal mycotoxin contaminant in corn and its products. A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) based test strip was proposed for the detection of ZEN, which had the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, and high sensitivity. Core-shell Au@AgNPs with embedded reporter molecules (4-MBA) were synthesized as SERS nanoprobe, which exhibited excellent SERS signals and high stability.

Cadmium is very toxic for living organisms hence selective and efficient control capturing of it is necessary. To reach this goal a novel imprinted polymer was developed using melamine anchored MnFe2O4 – cellulose. Magnetic cellulose was synthesized through an ultrasound-assisted precipitation route. Chloropropyltriethoxysilane was used to attach melamine to the magnetic cellulose surface. Response surface methodology employed to optimize effective parameters on cadmium adsorption.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants which are widely present in environment and harmful to human health. In this study, an efficient and convenient magnetic solid phase extraction method with C60 modified magnetic polyamido-amine (PAMAM) dendrimers as sorbents was established for enriching trace amounts of PCBs in beverage samples. Gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) was utilized for analysis of PCBs.

In this work, dispersive solid-phase extraction procedure was developed for trace cadmium determination before flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) measurement. Copper(II) based nanoflowers were synthesized to utilize as adsorbent for preconcentration of cadmium. The detection power of the spectrometric system was enhanced by placing a slotted quartz tube (SQT) onto the flame burner which increases the residence time of the analyte atoms in the flame region.

Rice is frequently contaminated with aflatoxins, that are highly toxic fungal substances and strongly involved on hepatic cancer. In this work, different extraction and clean-up methods were evaluated for the simultaneous extraction and clean-up of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 from rice.

A poly (ionic liquid) (PIL) functionalized magnetic nanoparticles methodology was developed and utilized as an efficient adsorbent for the simultaneous extraction of cadmium, lead, and copper ions from water and fruit juice samples. The novel adsorbent was fabricated by grafting DABCO-based PIL onto silica-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles via copper (0)-mediated reversible-deactivation radical polymerization. Different techniques properly characterized the developed nanoparticles.

It is of great significance to develop safe and efficient dietary selenium sources to improve lead toxicity. In this study, selenate, selenite, SeMet and Se-yeast were supplied to investigate the Se biofortification and bioaccessibility in Pleurotus eryngii. The effects of Se-enriched P. eryngii on lead binding bacteria were investigated via in vitro fermentation.

Amanitin (AMA) is responsible for human fatalities after ingestion of poisonous mushrooms, thus, a rapid and accurate detection method is urgently needed. Here, gold nanoparticle-based immunosensor with monoclonal antibody against AMA was constructed for rapid detection of alpha- and beta-amanitin (α- and β-AMA) in mushroom, serum and urine samples.

Dimeric quinoline-based Schiff base was developed (DQS) for the specific detection of Pb2+ ion via fluorimetry.

A new and novel poly(vinyl benzyl dithiocarbonate-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate) block copolymer (Pvb-DMA-Xa) as adsorbent was synthesized for the vortex-assisted dispersive solid phase microextraction (VA-DSPME) of patulin from apple products and dried fruits using Uv–visible spectrophotometer. The characterization of synthesized Pvb-DMA-Xa block copolymer was performed with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) technique.

An analytical method based on PRiME (process, robustness, improvements, matrix effects, ease of use) HLB purification followed by the ultra-high liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) detection has been developed for the determination aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 and bongkrekic acid in rice and noodle products. Five toxins were separated on a Waters BEH C18 column by gradient elution, scanned by ESI+ and ESI− dynamic switching and detected with MRM mode.

A novel sol–gel pyridylethylthiopropyl functionalized silica-based sorbent was synthesized and utilized in an on-line column preconcentration system coupled with flame atomic absorption spectrometry for metal determination.

Cadmium (Cd) causes pervasive harm on human health as a poisonous heavy metal. This study proposed a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) approach using sodium alginate (SA) as green reductant in combination with edge enrichment and chemometrics to build label-free Cd quantitative models. The silver nanoparticles synthesized by SA had good dispersion and enhancement factor (3.48 × 105).

Poultry is one of the fastest growing industries due to advantages in land use, rapid production and advances in feed technology. The rising trend in the consumption of poultry meat over the last 50 years has also increased concerns about food safety. Campylobacter jejuni is the leading bacterial cause of gastroenteritis, the foremost cause of foodborne deaths.

Electrochemiluminescent (ECL) sensors for organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) have received considerable attention, whereas complicated electrode’s immobilization, response to single hydrolysate and anodic emission correlated with ECL assays restrict their potential utilization. Herein, we developed a homogeneous dual-response cathodic ECL system for highly sensitive and reliable analysis of OP using CdTe QDs as emitters.

Currently, there is a great demand for simple, sensitive, and accurate sensors for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in dairy products. In the present research, a novel fluorescent immunosensor based on nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs) has been developed for AFM1 analysis. The N-doped CQDs were synthesized through the hydrothermal approach using citric acid and polyethyleneimine as precursors.

This study used the sexually mature Chinese mitten crabs as the research object, and the total arsenic and six major species were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS). The influence of three common cooking methods on the forms of arsenic and content in different edible parts of crabs were explored.