Research Publications (Food Safety)

This study aimed to produce wheat flour and poly (butylene co-terephthalate adipate) films with the addition of free and microencapsulated oregano essential oil by blown extrusion and to evaluate its applicability as an active packaging in the preservation of the Brazilian fresh pastry, known as Pastel. The oregano essential oil microparticles were produced by spray drying and characterized in terms of morphology, encapsulation efficiency, and mean diameter.

This study was conducted to decipher the mechanism of emulsion-based food stabilization by fish-derived collagen hydrolysate. Collagen type I was isolated from seven fish processing by-products with yields ranging from 9.15 to 92.38%. The isolated samples had a mass of 110–120kDa and eluted at 30.44% NaCl in ion-exchange chromatography. The collagen samples were enzymatically digested to obtain collagen hydrolysate (CH) with mass <6kDa.

In this study, zein/polylactic acid (PLA)/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) nanofibers (NFs) were fabricated to the incorporation of Zenian (Carum copticum) essential oil (ZO) using the electrospinning method for employing in food packaging for the first time. The SEM images of optimal zein/PLA/HPMC/ZO NFs displayed homogeneous morphology. The average diameter of NFs ranged between 718 ± 186 nm and 335 ± 112 nm. Antioxidant activity of ZO-loaded NFs was 68.83 ± 0.1%.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of beef patty formulations and pressure levels on the inactivation of spoilage microbiota and native Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7. Beef patties were made with different salt and fat content (A: 1% NaCl – 10% fat, B: 2% NaCl – 10% fat, C: 1% NaCl – 20% fat and D: 2% NaCl – 20% fat) and treated at 400 and 600 MPa. STEC reductions after 400 and 600 MPa were 2 and 4 log CFU/g, respectively.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful technique to characterization of taste profile based on organic compounds from foods. Likely, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) enables the detection of aroma profile of foodstuff.

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is widely used for the preservation of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. But many commercial polymeric films are limited to MAP applicability due to a low gas permeability of these films. Laser perforation is a novel method to provide micropores that raises gas permeability.

In the present study, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of passion fruit peel extract (PPE) against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes. The application of PPE using an electrostatic spraying system for the disinfection of fresh-cut Lollo Rossa and beetroot leaves was also examined and compared with conventional PPE washing.

Cold plasma (CP) treatment for enhancing functional and cooking properties has been investigated on less rice varieties and delays the industrial adoption of this technology.

Abstract

In the present manuscript, we fabricated screen-printed electrode based biosensor and enzymatic optical biosensor for detection of carcinogenic formaldehyde. The biosensor strip using cyclic voltammetry technique exhibited high sensitivity of 352 μA mg−1 L cm−2 with detection limit of 0.03 mg/L, and sensitivity of 0.186 Abs (mg/L)−1 with detection limit of 0.02 mg/L was obtained with optical biosensor over the concentration range of 0.01–0.5 mg/L.

The present study investigated the antifungal and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) inhibitory efficacy of Jasmine essential oil-loaded in the chitosan nanoparticle (JEO-NP) with probable antifungal and anti-aflatoxin B1 mode of action against Aspergillus flavus. The prepared JEO-NP was characterized through FTIR and XRD. The maximum percent encapsulation efficiency (75.51% w/w) and loading capacity (5.65% w/w) were found at the 1:1 ratio of chitosan: JEO.

Integration of plasma and pulsed light or ultraviolet has been investigated for microbial decontamination of foods. However, no studies have reported the microbial disinfection of particulate food using a large-scale system integrating the treatments. In the present study, a large-scale plasma jet-pulsed light-ultraviolet (UV)-C (PPU) system has been developed for the microbial decontamination of particulate foods.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have been explored for controlling food spoilage microorganism. ZnO NPs were prepared by wet chemical synthesis using zinc nitrate as a precursor and sodium hydroxide as reducing agent. Nanorods and hexagonal plate shape ZnO NPs were obtained for different reaction time of 2 h and 24 h, respectively.

This study applied hurdle technology to achieve effective microbial inactivation, and concurrently improve the qualities of soft persimmon juice during storage. Hurdle technology applied was based on moderate temperature, ultrasonication, and pH adjustment (using ascorbic acid) as preservative factors.

Abstract

Enzymatic browning is one of the limiting factors in extending the shelf-life of food products. Since the chemical composition can differ depending on fruit species and variety, browning prevention treatments may not always present the same efficacy. The goal of this study was to verify if differences between two fresh-cut apple varieties, Granny Smith (GS) and Red Delicious (RD), would affect the performance of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) active films for avoiding browning.

Postharvest preservation and storage have a crucial impact on the technological quality and safety of grain. The important threat to stored grain quality and nutritional safety of cereal products is mould development and their toxic metabolites, mycotoxins.

Due to the relatively high tolerance and resistance to sanitizers, biofilms can persist in the environment resulting in cross-contamination. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of nanobubbles (NB) alone and in combination with neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) on different microbial biofilms including Escherichia coli O157:H7, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Listeria innocua on plastic and stainless steel (SS) coupons.

Active films have gained increasing interest because of their potential to reduce the amount of additives into foods. The aim of this work was to produce and characterize bi-layer films based on gelatin in both layers, in which the nisin and/or “pitanga” leaf hydroethanolic extract was loaded in the second layer.

In recent years, there has been a serious need to develop and test new biodegradable packaging. Therefore, furcellaran (FUR) and whey protein isolate (WPI) films containing pu-erh (PE) or green tea (GT) extracts were prepared in this study. The effect of the extracts on the structure, rheological and mechanical properties, and antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of FUR/WPI films was tested. The films were applied as packaging of an acid-curd cheese (quark).

The aim of this study was to develop a refrigerator performance assessment procedure based on the temperature (2 × 106 values) of ground beef stored in its bottom drawer set to Fresh Meat (0 °C). Effects analyzed were ambient temperature (LT, 21.1 °C/HT, 32.2 °C), food load (LL, 22.5 kg/HL, 39.0 kg), door openings, and refrigerator compressor mode (SS, single speed/VS, variable speed).

The hydrolysis of bovine cheese whey (BCW) proteins was performed by the Alcalase immobilized on the support glyoxyl-corn-cob-powder (AGCCP). The whey protein hydrolysates (WPH) obtained with AGCPP were fractionated by RP-HPLC according to the hydrophilicity of the peptides (F1, hydrophilic; F2, intermediate hydrophilicity; and F3, hydrophobic). The fractions were analyzed by MALDI-TOF, and molecular weight peptides (< 1500 m/z) were identified.

Nonionic (NS), cationic (CS), and anionic (ASs and AShc) starch-based films were developed using the casting method, activated with the cationic surfactant LAE, aiming to provide an alternative to extend the shelf life of food products.

Eggs are an important, low-cost, high-protein food with a balanced nutritional composition. The sanitary quality of commercial eggs is a bottleneck that needs to be overcome through the use of technologies that guarantee the safety of the product. This work aimed to prepare, characterize, and evaluate the coating of commercial eggs by chitosan filmogenic solutions and 1st- and 5th-generation quaternary ammonium salt components (QACs).

Fresh-cut lettuce, stored in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), is a frequent component of bagged salads. However, even in MAP, fresh-cut lettuce is highly perishable due to non-microbial deterioration manifested by tissue liquefaction. The present study investigated the effects of plant physiology, lettuce processing, storage conditions, and exogenous stimuli on the deterioration of fresh-cut lettuce stored in MAP.