Research Publications (Food Safety)

Sprouting seeds are considered part of a healthy and nutritious diet, and accordingly, their consumption increases globally. However, edible sprouts are occasionally linked to outbreaks of foodborne diseases, with Salmonella enterica being a frequent contaminant. Biocontrol was recently proposed as a possible approach to combat sprout contamination during production.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a highly toxic non-steroidal mycotoxin produced via some Fusarium species that intimidate the agricultural and food industry. Therefore, it is an intense need for different groups to develop some novel, rapid, reliable, and precise analytical methods for ZEN detection to ensure food safety.

The presence of Penicillium and Aspergillus fungi during cheese production may lead to the formation of ochratoxin A, aflatoxins, as well as their partly mutagenic biosynthetic precursors. However, data about the presence of these toxins in final cheese is scarce.

H2O2 treatment fulfills the requirement of environmentally friendly and safety concerns since it can be easily removed or decomposed into water and oxygen. Even though the high efficiency in detoxifying aflatoxins (AF) in foods by H2O2 was reported by some studies, the information to utilize this reagent for practical application is very limited. This study aimed at investigating the effect of 30 g/hg H2O2 at 50 °C on catalase-inactivated peanuts.

The zearalenone (ZEN) lactonase from Gliocladium roseum (ZENG), possessing high activity but poor thermostability, is insufficient to meet the requirements of the feed industry. In this study, two potential hotspots, S162 and S220 in ZENG, were obtained through molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. In the first round, two mutants including S162P and S220R with increased thermostability were screened.

Coix seed is a minor cereal that has been used as a functional food in the Chinese diet due to its high nutritional value and health effects. These claimed health benefits include antioxidation, anti-cancer, anti-inflammation and enhancing immunological activity. But coix seed is easily contaminated by various mycotoxin, of which aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of major threat to human and animal health.

This study aims to elucidate the inhibitory activity of nisin alone or in combination with gilaburu (Viburnum opulus L.) against the foodborne Staphylococcus aureus. The effect of nisin and gilaburu on the growth of S. aureus was investigated under different pH (5–7) and salt concentrations (NaCl, 0.5–4.5% w/v) at 30 °C.

Rapid and accurate detection of foodborne pathogens is crucial for safeguarding human health. Herein, we constructed a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9-integrated lateral flow strip (Cas9-LFS) for detecting Salmonella. A primer set targeting the fimA gene of Salmonella spp. was used to amplify all Salmonella serovars.

In 2004, the Food Code of Korea adopted a multi-class multi-residue pesticide analysis method, which employed liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) and solid-phase extraction for sample purification. After several modifications, the LLE stage was replaced by the QuEChERS method in October 2021. Thus, in the current study a comparison was carried out between the new QuEChERS method and the conventional LLE method for the simultaneous analysis of multiple pesticide residues.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a highly toxic substance produced mainly by Aspergillus spp., which are known to contaminate a wide variety of foods and feeds.

In this study, we analyzed enterotoxin genes, biofilm formation, and resistance to sixteen antimicrobials and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) in Bacillus cereus group isolates (n = 76) from samples (leaves, seeds, water and nutrients, and soil) from microgreen primary producing farms. Most isolates possessed at least one enterotoxin gene, as well as resistance to β-lactam antimicrobials, and more than half of the isolates showed moderate to strong biofilm-forming ability.

Widespread use of plastics poses a serious environmental hazard to our planet and should be substituted by eco-friendly and biodegradable alternatives, simultaneously reducing waste of perishable food products and the risk of transmission of pathogenic microbes. In our study, we describe how the water solubility of the antimicrobial surfactant ethyl lauroyl arginate (LAE) can be reduced through complexation with a Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM), K8[SiW11O39].

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration, treatment time, and dwell time on the efficacy of cold plasma-activated hydrogen peroxide aerosols against bacteria on stem scar and smooth surfaces of tomatoes.

Intestinal campylobacteriosis, caused by Campylobacter ingestion, is the most reported zoonosis in the EU; it is societally costly and can lead to more severe sequelae. To reduce Campylobacter infections, biosecurity measures at both farms and slaughterhouses are warranted. However, the potential improvements achieved by these interventions have not been quantified.

Listeriosis outbreaks caused by contaminated leafy greens leaf have increased in recent years, which can pose a serious threat to public health. Thus, a rapid, precise, and effective detection method is urgently needed. We reported a novel sample pre-treatment that utilizes β-cyclodextrin and milk protein-coated activated charcoal to remove PCR inhibitors in leafy green matrices and facilitate the recovery of L. monocytogenes, which can be coupled with PCR subsequently.

The antibacterial properties of methanolic haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.) berry extracts and tannic acid were examined against Cronobacter spp. with a view to determine their potential for the control of this human pathogen in powdered infant formula. The total phenolic content (TPC) and composition of methanolic extracts from three different cultivars were determined.

Rapid detection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of food microorganisms is critical for preventing the spread of ARGs via the food chain. In this study, slipchip-based immunomagnetic separation (IMS) combined with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was developed for rapid, specific, sensitive and multi-sample detection of Bacillus cereus with tetracycline resistance gene tetL in pasteurized milk.

An ultrasound-assisted acetonitrile extraction method was applied for the determination of 43 pesticide residues in intact grape berries (Vitis Vinifera L.) by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The results showed that ultrasound-assisted extraction from intact grape berries exhibited better efficiency than extraction from homogenized grape berries.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen for humans. It can be found in ready-to-eat (RTE) products and its presence represents one of the biggest food safety concerns. Most of the cases of cheese contamination reported by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in the last 10 years did not involve Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (MBC) Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese.

Listeria monocytogenes is an infectious foodborne pathogen that greatly threatens the public health worldwide. A simple and sensitive detection of L. monocytogenes is extremely important in food safety industry. In this study, we developed an all-in-one platform, which consists of nucleic acid extraction, amplification and visual detection in a single tube.

Virulent strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups O103 and O121 are considered adulterants in beef. Two high-resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR assays were standardized for the specific detection and discrimination of potentially virulent and avirulent strains of E. coli O103 and O121. The O103 HRM assay offered the possibility to distinguish clearly STEC O103:H2 from STEC O103:H25.

This study aimed to develop innovative micro-nano fibers loaded with lemon peel essential oil for food packaging via centrifugal spinning. Lemon peel essential oil (LPO) was extracted from dried lemon peel by hydrodistillation. The major one of the 16 components of the extract detected by GS-MS was limonene (60.4%). Gelatin fibrous mats loaded with three different concentrations of LPO were fabricated with centrifugal spinning and then cross-linked.

In this study, 21 pesticides and 4 aflatoxins were monitored in baby food marketed in Brazil, applying ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS).

The antibacterial effect of oregano oil and tannic acid (TA) on the aerobic plate count (APC), Enterobacteriaceae (ENT), Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica in raw ground chicken breast meat (RGCBM) held at 4 °C and 10 °C was studied.

Diarrheic shellfish poison produced by toxic algae (e.g., Dynophysis sp.) adversely affects humans and marine ecosystems. Contamination occurs mainly from bivalve mollusks like mussels, but contamination from fishes (e.g., flatfish) has also recently been reported.