Research Publications (Food Safety)

Members of Shewanella are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, some of which have been implicated in human infections. The progenitors of antibiotic resistance genes with clinical relevance, such as qnrA genes, have been identified in Shewanella.

Maintaining membrane integrity is of paramount importance to the survival of bacteria as the membrane is the site of multiple crucial cellular processes including energy generation, nutrient uptake and antimicrobial efflux. The DedA family of integral membrane proteins are widespread in bacteria and are associated with maintaining the integrity of the membrane. In addition, DedA proteins have been linked to resistance to multiple classes of antimicrobials in various microorganisms.

Vibrio cholerae, an important waterborne pathogen, is a rod-shaped bacterium that naturally exists in aquatic environments. When conditions are unfavorable for growth, the bacterium can undergo morphological and physiological changes to assume a coccoid morphology. This stage in its life cycle is referred to as viable but non-culturable (VBNC) because VBNC cells do not grow on conventional bacteriological culture media.

Various species of Alexandrium can produce a number of bioactive compounds, e.g., paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), spirolides, gymnodimines, goniodomins, and also uncharacterised bioactive extracellular compounds (BECs). The latter metabolites are released into the environment and affect a large range of organisms (from protists to fishes and mammalian cell lines).

Because of developing bacterial resistance and increased public awareness of health and food safety problems, the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in the chicken industry has been outlawed. This problem has spurred the poultry industry and sector to explore for safe antibiotic alternatives and to focus on developing better long-term feed management solutions in order to improve chicken health and growth.

Escherichia coli isolated from meat of different animal species may harbour antimicrobial resistance genes and may thus be a threat to human health. The objectives of this study were to define antimicrobial resistance genes in E. coli isolates from pork, beef, chicken- and turkey meat and analyse whether their resistance genotypes associated with phylogenetic groups or meat species. A total number of 313 E. coli samples were isolated using standard cultural techniques.

Salmonella is an enteric bacterial pathogen that causes foodborne illness in humans. Third-generation cephalosporin (TGC) resistance in Salmonella remains a global concern. Food workers may represent a reservoir of Salmonella, thus potentially contaminating food products. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella in food workers and characterize the isolates by serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView.

Furan is a volatile compound formed during the thermal processing of foods. Chronic exposure has been shown to cause cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular tumors in rodent models. We conducted a 90 day subchronic study in Fisher 344 rats exposed to various doses by gavage to determine the NOAEL. Previous reports have outlined changes in the liver using gross necropsy examination, histopathology, clinical biochemistry, hematology, immunohistochemistry, and toxicogenomics.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) incited by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe is a devastating disease of barley and other cereal crops worldwide. Fusarium head blight is associated with trichothecene mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON), which contaminates grains, making them unfit for malting or animal feed industries. While genetically resistant cultivars offer the best economic and environmentally responsible means to mitigate disease, parent lines with adequate resistance are limited in barley.

Eight Sicilian cultivars of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), namely-Curcia, Nociara Collica, Panottara Collica, Panottara Galati Grande, Parrinara, Panottara Baratta Piccola, Enzo, and Rossa Galvagno, registered into the Italian Cultivar Register of fruit tree species in 2017 were selected from Nebrodi area and established in vitro.

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection of the musculoskeletal system is rare but poses a grave threat to public health. These infections yield non-specific symptoms that remain undetected until the development of the later stages of the disease. In this study, we performed a retrospective review of 25 cases of musculoskeletal NTM infection at two tertiary medical centres over a 5-year period to determine the clinical features and improve the current clinical diagnosis and treatment.

ABSTRACT Background Water insecurity poses a significant global challenge to health and development. While the biophysical and economic impacts of inadequate water and sanitation are well documented, the complex emotional and social tolls of water insecurity are less understood— particularly in the global North.

by Yue Yuan, Bing Liang, Bo-wen Jiang, Ling-wei Zhu, Tie-cheng Wang, Yuan-guo Li, Jun Liu, Xue-jun Guo, Xue Ji, Yang Sun

Hunger and malnutrition continue to affect Africa especially the vulnerable children and women in reproductive age. However, Africa has indigenous foods and associated traditional technologies that can contribute to alleviation of hunger, malnutrition, and communicable and noncommunicable diseases. The importance of African indigenous vegetables is undeniable, only that they are season-linked and considered as “food for poor” despite their high nutritional contents.

Author(s): Erlong Wang, Xia Chen, Tao Liu, Kaiyu Wang

Author(s): R. Paranthaman, J.A. Moses, C. Anandharamakrishnan

Author(s): Xiaofei Li, Qinwen Chai, Lina Zheng, Pingyu Huang, Ozan Gundogdu, Xinan Jiao, Yuanyue Tang, Jinlin Huang

Author(s): Gabriella Mendes-Oliveira, Ganyu Gu, Yaguang Luo, Antonios Zografos, Ioannis Minas, Xiangwu Nou

Author(s): Jiao Hu, Qi Zhang, Peipei Peng, Rumeng Li, Jun Li, Xiaoquan Wang, Min Gu, Zenglei Hu, Shunlin Hu, Xiaowen Liu, Mei Mei, Xinan Jiao, Daxin Peng, Xiufan Liu

Author(s): Jae-Ho Guk, JungHa Woo, Hyokeun Song, Woo-Hyun Kim, Jinshil Kim, Sangryeol Ryu, Seongbeom Cho

Author(s): Rushali Girame, T.P. Ahammed Shabeer, Bappa Ghosh, Sandip Hingmire, Ramesh Natarajan, Pradyumn Narayan Dubey

Author(s): Yangliu Wu, Quanshun An, Dong Li, Lu Kang, Chunran Zhou, Jingbang Zhang, Canping Pan

Author(s): Yang Yue, Ping Deng, Heng Xiao, Miduo Tan, Hui Wang, Li Tian, Jia Xie, Mengyan Chen, Yan Luo, Liting Wang, Yidan Liang, Huifeng Pi, Zhou Zhou, Zhengping Yu

Author(s): Weifan Wu, Kevin Mis Solval, Jinru Chen Pomegranate peel contains high amounts of polyphenols that could potentially be used as natural preservatives. This study evaluated the inhibitory effect of aqueous extracts of three commercial powdered peels, a whole peel, and a juice powder, against strains of Salmonella Tennessee and S. Enteritidis.