Research Publications (Food Safety)

To reduce the use of conventional chemical pesticides, naturally occurring biopesticides such as bacteriophages have emerged as a promising solution, but effectiveness of these biopesticides can be limited because of their UV and desiccation instability. This study developed a biopolymer formulation to improve the phage stability, enhance the antimicrobial activity of phages, and prevent bacterial contaminations on a leaf surface in the presence of UV-A.

In view of the potential harm caused by illegal feeding of clenbuterol (CLB) in the livestock industry, herein, a novel ratiometric fluorescent probe based on graphene quantum dots (GQDs)@[Ru(bpy)3]2+ was elaborately constructed for CLB detection. In this probe, GQDs acted as response signals, and their fluorescence was remarkably quenched by CLB through the diazotization-coupling reaction. As for [Ru(bpy)3]2+ as a reference signal, its fluorescence was hardly affected.

For pesticide registration a post application assessment is made on the safety of any residue remaining in the edible portion of the treated crop. This assessment does not typically consider the bioaccessibility of pesticide residues. The effects of this on potential exposure to incurred difenoconazole residues passing through the human gastrointestinal tract were studied, including the impact of commodity processing.

Zearalenone (ZEA), a nonsteroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium graminearum, induces hyperestrogenic responses in mammals and can cause reproductive disorders in farm animals.

As a good choice for food preservation, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have received much attention in recent years. In this paper, peptides derived from the turbot viscera hydrolysate were identified by ultraperformance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–Q-TOF-MS/MS), and the physicochemical properties and structural characteristics were analyzed by in silico tools.

Untargeted screening using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) is a promising approach for screening the food supply for contaminants, but the sheer amount of information inherent to the HRMS data set presents analytical challenges. Red apples, collected during the U.S. FDA’s Total Diet Study, were studied to determine whether bioinformatic software can be used to distinguish spiked model compounds from those native to apples.

Lead (Pb) is an important pollutant of worldwide concern with respect to extensive pollution sources and highly toxic effect. Flavonol can improve plant resistance to abiotic stress and is also responsible for the alleviating effect under Pb stress. The relationship between Pb stress and flavonol and the knowledge about the mechanisms of flavonol function are very limited. Pb affected the energy metabolism process and, thus, inhibited plant growth and development.

Interaction of tea phenolics with gut microbiota may play an integral role in the health benefits of these bioactive compounds, yet this interaction is not fully understood. Here, the metabolic fate of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and its impact on gut microbiota were integrally investigated viain vitro fermentation.

Smoking is an excellent food preservation method but also a source of contamination of foodstuffs with carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Herein we investigated the influence of smoking temperature, smoking time, and type of wood sawdust used as smoke source on PAH levels attained through controlled smoking of pork sausages. Four PAHs (benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene) were monitored, as required by European Commission Regulation 835/2011.

Agricultural production-caused water contamination has become an urgent environmental issue that has drawn much attention in recent years. One such contamination case is the environmental disposal of colored effluents from the food processing industry (i.e., food dyes). Effective methods for removing dye contaminants from water have been increasingly sought, and different adsorbents have been developed for this purpose.

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) coupled with the acceptance test, partial least-squares regression (PLSR) analysis, validation experiment, and preference test was used to identify the key aroma compounds in dog foods (DFs). Six DFs were evaluated by spraying six palatability enhancers onto a basal DF. The differently flavored palatability enhancers were prepared by the Maillard reaction using different protein sources and reaction conditions.

Antibiotic abuse in agricultural products leads to serious food safety issues. To this end, we proposed a mix-and-read and enzyme-free amplified assay for antibiotics based on a dual triple helix-aptamer probe, potentially applicable for on-site monitoring of antibiotic residues. A dual triple helix-aptamer probe can leverage the response toward target molecules without enzyme-based amplification, rendering it sensitive and robust for profiling target molecules.

A convenient and straightforward method, which is based on catechol dyes and tyrosinase, for colorimetric determination and discrimination of dithiocarbamate pesticides (DTCs) has been fabricated. Three catechol dyes, including pyrocatechol violet (PV), pyrogallol red (PR), and bromopyrogallol red (BPR), were chosen as both substrates and indicators in this method. Tyrosinase can facilitate oxidation of the catechol dyes, altering color and absorbance spectra of the dyes.

A strain of thiamethoxam-degrading endophyte, named TMX13, was isolated from roots of mulberry (Morus alba L.) and was identified as Enterobacter sp. Inoculating Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis L) with strain TMX13-gfp (gfp-labeled TMX13) could significantly reduce thiamethoxam residues in the aboveground part (edible portion) of the vegetable.

Antimicrobial cross-contamination of animal feed may occur during feed manufacturing, because shared production lines can be used for the production of medicated and nonmedicated feeds, and also during feed transport, storage at the farm level, and usage. This is a major issue in the current context in which antimicrobial usage must be controlled to maintain their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to assess the antimicrobial cross-contamination rate of feed at the farm level.

The low utilization rate of pesticides causes serious problems such as food safety and environmental pollution. Stimulus-responsive release can effectively improve the utilization rate of pesticides. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst, as an early event of plant–pathogen interaction, can stimulate the release of pesticides.

Plant diseases caused by viruses and fungi have posed a serious threat to global agricultural production. The discovery of new leads based on natural products is an important way to innovate pesticides. In this work, natural product luotonin A was found to have good antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) for the first time. A series of luotonin A derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their antiviral activities and fungicidal activities systematically.

Hydrogels were synthesized by a copolymerization reaction of nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) with acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM) and N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linker and their absorption performance as a function of composition was determined. Hydrogels with 4% by weight CNF had swelling of about 250 g/g and with 7% CNF about 200 g/g for water.

Herein, a high-affinity single-stranded DNA aptamer (59 nt) against Campylobacter jejuni, defined as CJA1, was obtained using the whole-bacterium-based systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment procedure. CJA1 was analyzed with a stable secondary structure and low dissociation constant (Kd) value of 1.37 ± 0.28 nM. The potential use of CJA1 was exemplified by the construction of a hetero-sandwich platform, in which C.

Phthalates are a class of endocrine disruptors extensively used in plastic production as plasticizers, and as a result, they can be found in foods as a result of their migration ability. The occurrence of phthalates was monitored in 20 Portuguese wines using a simple, reliable, and environmentally friendly analytical method, headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is an offensive phytopathogen that can invade a wide range of plant hosts to develop bacterial diseases, including the well-known rice bacterial leaf blight. However, few agrochemicals have been identified to effectively prevent and eliminate Xoo-induced diseases. Thus, designing novel antibacterial compounds on the basis of the potential targets from Xoo may lead to the discovery of highly efficient and innovative anti-Xoo agents.

The overuse of plant growth regulators (PGRs) in agricultural products has gradually increased in recent years, resulting in hazardous effects on food safety and human health. For the first time, a sensitive, accurate, and low-cost analytical method involving improved solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed to determine trace PGRs in cherry tomatoes. Thereafter, the extraction mechanism and conditions were elucidated.

In the context of the expansion of the human population, availability of food, and in extension of animal feed, is a big issue. Favoring a circular economy by the valorization of byproducts is a sustainable way to be more efficient. Animal byproducts are an interesting source of feed materials due to their richness in proteins of high nutritional value. Prevention and control efforts have allowed a gradual lifting of the feed ban regarding the use of animal byproducts.

A novel type of temperature and pH dual-stimuli-responsive microspheric soil conditioner was prepared for the controlled release of urea. First, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) [P(NIPAM-co-MAA)] was synthesized, and the microspheric soil conditioner was prepared on the basis of chitosan-coated P(NIPAM-co-MAA) via the emulsion cross-linking method.

Lignin is the most abundant aromatic biopolymer in nature and is a major byproduct from the paper industry. The unlocking of lignin’s potential for high-value applications has gained increasing attention in recent years.