Research Publications (Food Safety)

Iceberg lettuce among leafy vegetables is susceptible to contamination with foodborne pathogens, posing a risk of food microbial safety. Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a highly lethal pathogen that can survive and proliferate on leafy vegetables. In this paper, the contamination stage, attachment site, internalization pathway, proliferation process, extracellular substance secretion and virulence factors expression of L.

Aflatoxins are the mycotoxins that contaminate food and feed and pose health hazards to humans and animals. Here, Bacillus albus YUN5 was isolated from doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste) and examined for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and aflatoxin G1 (AFG1) degradation capabilities. The highest degradation of AFB1 (76.28 ± 0.15%) and AFG1 (98.98 ± 0.00%) was observed in the cell-free supernatant (CFS) of B.

Thermal processing is the most frequently used method to destruct bacteria in food processing. However, insufficient thermal processing may lead to the outbreak of foodborne illness. This study combined thermal processing with thermostable phage to prevent food contamination. The thermostable phages were screened which can retain activity at 70 °C for 1 h.

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of chitosan on the antibacterial efficacy of 405 nm LED illumination against Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes on fresh-cut melons. The antibacterial efficacy of LED illumination (a total dose of 1.3 kJ/cm2) with or without chitosan (0.5 and 1.0 %) against these three pathogens was determined at 4 and 10 °C, respectively.

Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii), a food-borne pathogen, can infect neonates, elderly and immunocompromised populations with a high infection and mortality rate. However, the specific molecular mechanism of its motility, biofilm formation, cell adhesion, and desiccation resistance remains unclear, and flagellum hook associated protein (FlgK), a main component of the flagellar complex, may be an important determinant of its virulence and desiccation resistance.

Pulp breakdown is the main reason for the reduction of fruit quality. However, there are relatively few studies on small molecule metabolites based on the pulp breakdown of dragon fruit. In this study, four dragon fruit cultivars were comparatively analyzed during pulp breakdown.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen causing serious public health problems. Nisin is a natural antimicrobial agent produced by Lactococcus lactis and widely used in the food industry. However, the anti-L. monocytogenes efficiency of nisin might be decreased due to natural or acquired resistance of L. monocytogenes to nisin, or complexity of the food environment.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an opportunistic foodborne pathogen whose survival in food processing environments may be associated with its tolerance to desiccation. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in desiccation stress have received little attention in S. aureus. Here, some potential genes related to desiccation stress were determined in S. aureus by the transposon random mutagenesis approach.

Rapid and sensitive quantitative detection methods are required to monitor and detect Salmonella throughout the food supply chain and early prevention of foodborne disease outbreaks. In this study, a magnetic microbead enzyme-linked immunoassay (MELISA) based on phage receptor binding protein was developed for rapid enrichment and detection of Salmonella in complex food matrices.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antibacterial effect and mechanism of cinnamaldehyde on Bacillus cereus spores in ready-to-eat beef. The colour difference and texture of the ready-to-eat beef supplemented with cinnamaldehyde did not differ greatly from the colour and texture of the blank beef. However, cinnamaldehyde has an effective antibacterial effect on the total number of bacterial colonies and B. cereus spores in ready-to-eat beef.

Scallops are delicious and healthy, but their filter feeding habits make them vulnerable to ingesting and accumulating toxic chemicals from the environment, resulting in food safety issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of steaming process on the concentration, distribution and bioaccessibility of cadmium (Cd) in Chlamys farreri tissues.

With mounting evidence indicating an enhanced thermal resistance of Salmonella at lower aw, the effectiveness of thermal treatment in wheat flour decontamination is challenged.

The physiological status of Salmonella after its ultrasonication was investigated to reveal the potential mechanism through which ultrasound enhances the lethality of chlorine dioxide against Salmonella.

Eucalyptus citriodora oil (ECO) has excellent antibacterial properties, but its application is limited due to its volatility and lack of antimicrobial targeting properties. Zinc ions are metal ions on which the active center of metalloproteinases depend and have antibacterial functions. This study aimed to prepare nanoparticles against Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E.

This study aimed to determine Patulin (PAT) in samples of organically and conventionally grown tomato varieties, to correlate it with their phenolic profile and at evaluating effects of phenolic extracts of tomato samples against the Penicillium expansum CCT 7549 strain. Four varieties of tomatoes (Cherry, Khaki, Italian and Long Life) subject to conventional and organic management were collected in markets in the south of Brazil.

Traditional method utilizes steam to pasteurize low-moisture ingredients like black peppercorns and almonds. Exposure to steam results in direct condensation on the product, unfavorable for a broader range of food ingredients such as dried herbs, fruits, and ground materials.

A multi-omics approach was applied to investigate the differences and correlations between characteristic volatile flavor substances and non-volatile metabolites in sausages fermented by Pediococcus pentosaceus (P. pentosaceus) and Staphylococcus carnosus (S. carnosus) alone and in a mixture. Twenty-seven volatile metabolites were identified by headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass.

Patulin (PAT) is a highly water soluble, heat resistant and toxic fungal metabolite mostly contaminating apple juice. Due to its serious health effects, its removal from foodstuffs is required to ensure food safety. In this study, carboxy- and amine-terminated iron oxide spheres (Fe3O4-COOH and Fe3O4-NH2) were investigated for their adsorbing capacity of PAT in both aqueous solution and apple juice, and evaluated for being an effective detoxifying agent for PAT.

The present research reports the results of a long-term study (70 days) of the dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus artificially inoculated in a Tenebrio molitor rearing chain for human consumption. To this end, a rearing substrate consisting of organic wheat middlings was spiked with S. aureus to obtain three initial contamination levels, namely 1 (low level), 5 (medium level) and 7 (high level) Log colony forming unit per gram.

Human listeriosis outbreaks are often associated with consumption of contaminated food, especially meat products. To better understand meat contamination of L. monocytogenes, whole genome sequencing(WGS) was performed on all detected isolates to investigate genetic relationships between retail markets and slaughterhouses. 110 and 13 isolates were isolated from 1914 food samples and 67 food and environmental samples, respectively.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is prevalent in wheat and threatens the health of humans and animals. It has been certificated that plasma activated water (PAW) can effectively degrade DON in wheat. However, the application of PAW used in the production of wheat flours was not reported nowadays. Thus, PAW was used to replace pure water in the traditional tempering process to eliminate DON in wheat, and DON degradation effect of PAW was compared with H2O2 and O3.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a halophilic foodborne pathogen majorly isolated from seafood, threatening public health worldwide. However, our recent study reported the presence of this bacterium in freshwater crayfish, which were rarely identified and investigated.

Barley malt, the main raw material for beer production, is at risk of Fusarium graminearum (F. graminearum) infection, leading to the possible production of large amounts of deoxynivalenol (DON) in malt. DON in malt can migrate into the final beer product, posing a food safety risk to consumers. In our work, a protonated g-C3N4/oxygen-doped g-C3N4 (CNH/OCN) composite was prepared and used for the inhibition of F.

Cold plasma technology is a novel non-thermal technology that has shown promising results for food decontamination and improving food safety. This study investigates the efficacy of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) system to reduce Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in skim and whole milk. A dielectric barrier discharge HVACP was employed at 90 kV using modified air (MA65: 65 % O2, 30 % CO2, 5 % N2) fill gas for 1,3, and 5 min.

Individual-cell heterogeneity is a major source of variability in biological systems affecting importantly, among others, microbial behavior. Characterization of cell populations of pathogenic bacterial strains in their entirety, ignoring the phenotypic variability of single cells, may result in erroneous safety risk estimates.