Research Publications (Food Safety)

Pesticides are chemicals used in agriculture to protect crops from pests. In addition to protection during cultivation, they are also used after harvesting to extend the shelf life of products. Postharvest control stands out, especially when it comes to products imported from distant countries, resulting in increased concentration of pesticides and risk to human health consuming such products.

In order to determine the ecological risk and health risk of Arsenic (As) and Cadmium (Cd) in soils from a typical mining city in Huainan, a total of 99 soil samples were collected and analyzed. The results showed that the concentrations of As and Cd ranged from 3.2 to 39.50 and 0.01 to 0.19 mg/kg, respectively, which exceeded the soil background values by 6.06 and 14.14%, respectively.

Water and wastewater virological quality is a significant public health issue. Viral agents include emerging and re-emerging pathogens characterized by extremely small size, and high environmental stability.

Brucella, a notorious intracellular pathogen, causes chronic infections in many mammals, including humans. The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway transports folded proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane; protein substrates translocated by Brucella include ABC transporters, oxidoreductases, and cell envelope biosynthesis proteins. Previously, we showed that a Tat mutant of Brucella melitensis M28 exhibits reduced survival within murine macrophages.

The most important environmental source of boron (B) contamination is irrigation water. The data on the effect of B on the elemental composition in the edible parts of vegetables are scarce.

Little is known about microbial communities of aquatic plants despite their crucial ecosystem function in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we analyzed the microbiota of an aquatic rheophyte, Hanseniella heterophylla, growing at three areas differing in their degree of anthropogenic disturbance in Thailand employing a metabarcoding approach. Our results show that diverse taxonomic and functional groups of microbes colonize H. heterophylla.

We investigated the antibiotic resistome, mobilome, virulome, and phylogenomic lineages of Enterococcus spp. obtained from a wastewater treatment plant and its associated waters using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics tools.

It is important to track fecal sources from humans and animals that negatively influence the water quality of rural rivers and human health. In this study, microbial source tracking (MST) methods using molecular markers and the community-based FEAST (fast expectation–maximization microbial source tracking) program were synergistically applied to distinguish the fecal contributions of multiple sources in a rural river located in Beijing, China.

This study focused on the microbial and bacteriophages identification and characterization in cheese-production facilities that use natural whey starter (NWS) cultures for Trentingrana production. Bacterial and phage screening was carried out on cooked not acidified whey and NWS samples isolated from six dairy factories, for 4 consecutive days in four different months.

Background Molecular xenomonitoring (MX), the detection of pathogen DNA in mosquitoes, is a recommended approach to support lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination efforts. Potential roles of MX include detecting presence of LF in communities and quantifying progress towards elimination of the disease. However, the relationship between MX results and human prevalence is poorly understood.

The effects of curcumin on the bioavailability of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) were investigated in Sprague–Dawley rats. Tetra- and penta-chlorinated PCDFs had the lowest bioavailability and hexa-chlorinated PCDD/Fs had the highest, while there was no obvious change in that of DL-PCBs.

Author(s): Jessica Audrey Feijó Corrêa, João Vitor Garcia dos Santos, Alberto Gonçalves Evangelista, Anne Caroline Schoch Marques Pinto, Renata Ernlund Freitas de Macedo, Fernando Bittencourt Luciano

Author(s): Aline Macedo Dantas, Jéssica Dayanne Ferreira Batista, Marcos dos Santos Lima, Fabiano A.N. Fernandes, Sueli Rodrigues, Marciane Magnani, Graciele da Silva Campelo Borges

Composite indicators have gained popularity in various research areas. However, the determination of an appropriate weighting method is challenging. Subjective weighting methods are criticised for their potential bias that may reduce stakeholders’ trust in the results of a composite index. By contrast, objective weighting processes are perceived to provide unbiased results that may overcome trust issues.

A host’s immune system can be invaded by mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) poisoning and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infections, which affect the host’s natural immune function. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β and IL-6, are important regulators in the process of natural immune response, which participate in inflammatory response and enhance immune-mediated tissue damage. Preliminary studies have shown that DON promotes PCV2 infection by activating the MAPK signaling pathway.

Spain is a relevant producer of oats (Avena sativa), but to date there has been no study on the occurrence/co-occurrence of mycotoxins in oats marketed in Spain. The present study is addressed to overcome this lack of knowledge.

Bacterial ghosts (BGs) are empty cell envelopes possessing native extracellular structures without a cytoplasm and genetic materials. BGs are proposed to have significant prospects in biomedical research as vaccines or delivery carriers. The applications of BGs are often limited by inefficient bacterial lysis and a low yield.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Currently, reducing packaging plastic waste and food losses are concerning topics in the food packaging industry. As an alternative for these challenges, antimicrobial and antioxidant materials have been developed by incorporating active agents (AAs) into biodegradable polymers to extend the food shelf life.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Excessive bitterness, pastiness, and adhesiveness are the main organoleptic and textural defects of dry-cured ham, which often cause a lot of financial losses to manufacturers and seriously damage the quality of the product. These sensory and textural defects are related to the protein degradation of dry-cured ham.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Copigmentation and encapsulation are the two most commonly used techniques for anthocyanin stabilization. However, each of these techniques by itself suffers from many challenges associated with the simultaneous achievement of color intensification and high stability of anthocyanins. Integrating copigmentation and encapsulation may overcome the limitation of usage of a single technique.

Author(s): Basheer Aaliya, Kappat Valiyapeediyekkal Sunooj, Muhammed Navaf, Plachikkattu Parambil Akhila, Cherakkathodi Sudheesh, Shabir Ahmed Mir, Sarasan Sabu, Abhilash Sasidharan, Moe Theingi Hlaing, Johnsy George

Author(s): Rita Végh, Mariann Csóka, Csilla Sörös, László Sipos

Background
Bee pollen is a natural apicultural product that is becoming popular among health-conscious consumers due to its wide variety of nutrients and bioactive substances. However, only a limited number of countries have established requirements for the quality and safety of the product so far.

Author(s): Ornicha Champrasert, Jin Chu, Qi Meng, Sara Viney, Melvin Holmes, Prisana Suwannaporn, Caroline Orfila

Author(s): Jiajia Wan, Liping Zheng, Liangyu Kong, Zhaoxin Lu, Yang Tao, Zhiyang Feng, Fengxia Lv, Fanqiang Meng, Xiaomei Bie