Research Publications (Food Safety)

Skimmia anquetilia N.P. Taylor and Airy Shaw (Rutaceae) is a perennial, aromatic, gregarious wild ornamental shrub native to the Western Himalaya. The plant is used in the traditional medicinal system to treat copious health conditions like rheumatism, fever, inflammation, headache, influenza, body-ache, clearing of the nose, diabetes, lowering the body temperature, smallpox, wounds, burns, snake, and scorpion bites.

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to induce plant resistance for several environmental stresses. The protective roles of NO in cadmium (Cd) toxicity have been well documented for various plant species; nevertheless, little information is available about its molecular regulation in improving Cd tolerance of barley plants.

Oreochromis niloticus was subjected to sub-lethal Cd and Zn concentrations for 14 days in order to evaluate their accumulation in the gills, liver, and muscle. Following that, the fish were placed to uncontaminated water for 7 days to allow the metals to be removed from the tissues. The gills had the highest bio-concentration factor for Cd and Zn. The gills showed the highest Cd accumulation rate, and the muscle showed the lowest.

Several apolipoprotein genes are located at the APOE locus on chromosome 19q13.32. This study explored the genetic determinants of cardiometabolic traits and metabolic syndrome at the APOE locus in a Taiwanese population. A total of 81,387 Taiwan Biobank (TWB) participants were enrolled to undergo genotype–phenotype analysis using data from the Axiom Genome-Wide CHB arrays.

Four-week-old female ICR mice were exposed to Cd through drinking water from puberty through lactation to investigate the effects of reproductive development in female offspring. Our results showed that maternal Cd exposure from puberty to lactation induced vaginal opening delay, and disturbed estrous cycle in the offspring on postnatal day (PND) 21, without affecting the body weight at vaginal opening.

In this growing age of population, agriculture plays a significant role by providing food and employment to millions of people. But to meet the growing need of food day by day the demand of fast and quality plant production becomes a must. Fertilization is one of such activities which are people accustomed to do for this purpose from a very long time. But the excessive uses of chemical fertilizers are showing negative influence on the environmental and public health.

Due to high mercury and arsenic toxicity, post-mining Hg-As-contaminated sites can cause varied and complex environmental and health problems. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the significance of the health risk assessment tool for remediation of post-mining soil contaminated with Hg and As.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has accumulated a wealth of ecological wisdom and is regarded as an outstanding cultural and medical resource in China.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid and has a multi-functional role in abiotic stress tolerance. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the role of exogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) application to modulate the growth, yield, and related physio-biochemical mechanisms in two aromatic rice cultivars i.e., Guixiangzhan (GXZ) and Nongxiang 18 (NX-18) under Pb toxic and normal conditions.

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) induced by the overuse of antibiotics has become a serious threat to public health. Heavy metals will bring longer-term selection pressure to ARGs when the concentration of their residues is higher than that of antibiotics in environmental media.

Background Heavy metal cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental contaminant with a potential toxicity that might negatively affect female reproduction and fertility. It has been reported that Cd exposure impaired the quality of oocytes and led to a defective maturation and fertilization, through oxidative stress induction.

Cadmium (Cd) is the main environmental pollutant causing endocrine and nervous system dysfunction in animals. High doses of Cd cause cytotoxicity, including programmed necrosis and apoptosis, which has aroused widespread concern. Mitochondrial dynamics plays a key role in programmed necrosis and apoptosis of endocrine organs.

Probiotic lactic acid bacteria exhibit metal ion binding properties, which can be employed as metal bio-adsorbents in the human system. Lead is a prevalent dietary contaminant that causes lead toxicity in humans, especially children. In the present investigation, we evaluated the indigenous lactobacilli for their lead bioadsorption potential that can offer a pre-emptive approach for bioremediating lead toxicity.

Due to various characteristics properties lead(II) metal is utilized in many applications like lead ion batteries, water pipes, ammunition and paints. For this reason, concentration of lead(II) ions in water is increasing days by days which is alarming for water pollution.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of toxic metal in environment and is thought to affect nervous system. There were an increasing number of studies on selenium (Se)-enriched probiotics which were believed to produce bioactive nanoselenium. The antagonism of Se on heavy metals can significantly affect biological toxicity of heavy metals.

Peganum harmala L. is a perennial herb of the Tribulus family and its aerial parts and seeds can be used as medicine in the traditional medicine of China. However, the differences in chemical components and antibacterial activity between different parts have not been reported. In this study, the chemical composition of the different parts of P.

Ionomics, the study of the composition of mineral nutrients and trace elements in organisms that represent the inorganic component of cells and tissues, has been widely studied to explore to unravel the molecular mechanism regulating the elemental composition of plants. However, the genetic factors of rice subspecies in the interaction between arsenic and functional ions have not yet been explained.

Chronic lead exposure can result in cognitive dysfunction and behavioral disorders. However, the current treatments for alleviating lead poisoning have many side effects. Previous studies have suggested that probiotics may have the potential to ameliorate neurotoxicity caused by lead exposure.

A novel heavy metal resistant actinobacterial strain was isolated from an old lead and zinc mine in north-eastern Algeria. This strain was shown to resist high concentrations of heavy metals, including up to 500 ppm arsenic, 700 ppm cadmium, 1750 ppm chromium, 1250 ppm cobalt, 1000 ppm copper, 2750 ppm iron, 2750 ppm lead, 800 ppm mercury, 1750 ppm nickel, and 2750 ppm zinc.

Cadmium is very toxic for living organisms hence selective and efficient control capturing of it is necessary. To reach this goal a novel imprinted polymer was developed using melamine anchored MnFe2O4 – cellulose. Magnetic cellulose was synthesized through an ultrasound-assisted precipitation route. Chloropropyltriethoxysilane was used to attach melamine to the magnetic cellulose surface. Response surface methodology employed to optimize effective parameters on cadmium adsorption.

The developing brain is susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of lead. Exposure to lead has main effects on the cholinergic system and causes reduction of cholinergic neuron function during brain development. Disruption of the cholinergic system by chemicals, which play important roles during brain development, causes of neurodevelopmental toxicity. Differentiation of stem cells to neural cells is recently considered a promising tool for neurodevelopmental toxicity studies.

Arsenic (As) is the most toxic metalloid and class I carcinogen present in the drinking water affecting around 200 M people worldwide. Among various strategies microalgal biofilm based As removal is considered as most suitable option. However, sustainable technologies for As removal from water is scanty.

Melatonin is an indoleamine produced in the pineal gland and has many physiological roles. There is increasing evidence that melatonin ameliorates cadmium (Cd)-induced nephrotoxicity. The potential protective impact of melatonin against Cd-induced nephrotoxicity and the mechanisms behind this protection are unknown.

The main aim of the current study was to investigate the role of Cistus salviifolius leaves extract (CSE) in alleviating the toxic effect of cadmium (Cd) in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) plants. The plants exposed to Cd (200 µM) exhibited limited growth, reduced biomass, and chlorophyll content compared to unstressed ones. Nevertheless, supplementation of CSE restored the negative effect of Cd and increased biomass and pigment content.

High arsenic groundwater has been observed throughout the world, which poses severe health impacts on human beings. It urgently needs effective adsorbents to lower arsenic concentration from the target groundwater for the purpose of drinking. In this study, siderite-modified biochar (SID-BC) was synthesized with the hydrothermal method as an adsorbent for arsenate (As(V)) removal from aqueous solution.