Research Publications (Food Safety)

The escalating use of pesticides on fruits and vegetables has raised concerns about potential health risks. Therefore, we developed a superhydrophilic resin/graphene oxide (SR/GO) with rich adsorption interactions using an eco-friendly synthetic approach. SR/GO demonstrated excellent hydrophilicity, ensuring optimal contact with aqueous sample matrices.

Abstract The importance of food quality and safety lies in ensuring the best product quality to meet consumer demands and public health. Advanced technologies play a crucial role in minimizing the risk of foodborne illnesses, contamination, drug residue, and other potential hazards in food. Significant materials and technological advancements have been made throughout the food supply chain.

This study investigated the determination of 207 pesticides in hot pepper powder and found patterns of pesticide use by production from five regions, detecting a total of 50 pesticides. The LOD, LOQ and recoveries of pesticides were 0.08–2.53, 0.25–7.60 μg kg−1, and 81.0–132.1%, respectively. The Horrat values ranged from 0.07 to 1.97. A total of 50 residual pesticides were detected in 963 hot pepper powder samples.

Lycium barbarum L., also known as goji berry, is popular in China and across the world as both a food and a medicine. The pervasive use of chemical pesticides has led to widespread contamination of raw goji berries, although the impacts of pesticide contamination on goji berry-derived products have not yet been thoroughly characterized.

Abstract Conventional food preservation methods such as heat treatment, irradiation, chemical treatment, refrigeration, and coating have various disadvantages, like loss of food quality, nutrition, and cost‐effectiveness. Accordingly, cold plasma is one of the new technologies for food processing and has played an important role in preventing food spoilage. Specifically, in‐package cold plasma has become a modern trend to decontaminate, process, and package food simultaneously.

In this work, monodisperse and nano‐porous poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres with large specific surface area (427.6 m2/g) and rich pore structure were prepared by one‐pot self‐stable precipitation polymerization of 2,2′‐bis[4‐(4‐maleimidophenoxy) phenyl] propane and divinylbenzene. The prepared poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres were employed as dispersive solid‐phase extraction (DSPE) adsorbent for the extraction of triazine herbicides.

Herein, a deep eutectic solvent (DES)‐based miniaturized pressurized liquid extraction in combination with DES‐based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) was developed for the extraction of organophosphorus pesticides (parathion–methyl, triazophos, parathion, diazinon, and phoxim) from egg powder samples prior to their analysis by a high‐performance liquid chromatography‐diode array detector.

In this research, a straightforward sample treatment for multiresidue pesticide evaluation of onion samples was developed using the solid-phase extraction/quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and secure (SPE/QuEChERS) method. The suggested technique is based on acetonitrile liquid-liquid partitioning, then follows dispersive solid-phase extraction with ZrO2 particles for extract purification. ZrO2 is synthesized via co precipitation and analyzed via XRD, FTIR, and SEM.

This study explored the impact of aqueous ozone treatment on chlorpyrifos degradation in cucumbers, optimizing conditions using both response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network‐genetic algorithm (ANN‐GA). While both models demonstrated high predictability, the ANN optimized conditions surpassed RSM in chlorpyrifos degradation, resulting in enhanced physicochemical and microbial qualities in cucumbers.

Abstract Romaine lettuce outer leaves, as opposed to the more commonly marketed heart, are typically discarded and present an opportunity for upcycling as dried powders. Duquesne Romaine lettuce was evaluated to quantify and compare quality attributes of fresh outer and heart leaves, dried powders following hot air drying, and dried powders following an infrared (IR) blanching pretreatment before drying.

Botrytis blossom blight disease is one of the major challenges to wild blueberry production with annual losses frequently exceeding 20%. In this study, the effect of different fungicide treatments on Botrytis blight development and yield, as well as the mobility and persistence of these fungicides within flower tissues, and fruit of wild blueberries were evaluated under field conditions.

This work evaluated the biochemical responses of the endogeic earthworm Balanteodrilus extremus exposed for 14 and 48 days (d) to soils collected from two tropical agricultural systems: maize-sorghum (MS) and soybean-sorghum (SS). A soil without agricultural management (WAM) and the use of pesticides was selected as a reference. The presence of organochlorine (OC) and organophosphate (OP) pesticide residues was quantified in MS and SS soils.

The aim of the study was to develop a modified QuEChERS method coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of five multi-class pesticides in country beans collected from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Pesticides were extracted using ACN, and to minimize the co-extraction matrix, optimized d-SPE cleanup was done using sorbents (GCB, PSA, and C18).

This study examined the distribution of 37 pesticide residues in different cereal grains (rye, wheat, oat, and barley) and their fractions, including flour, bran, and feed bran. The grains used in the study were sprayed in the field before processing to provide a more accurate representation of the fate of pesticide residues in these fractions. Pesticides were extracted using the QuEChERS method and analyzed by GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS.

Abstract Aiming at accelerating the implementation of cumulative risk assessment to pesticide residues, this report describes a two‐step prioritisation analysis, on individual pesticides and on target organ systems, that allows to identify (i) low‐priority substances expected to have a marginal contribution to cumulative risk, and (ii) high priority organ systems to be addressed in future cumulative risk assessments.

Context or problem Selective herbicides control weeds in cereal crops and break down over time, allowing safe planting of legumes in the following years.

Pigeon is an essential poultry with tasty meat and high protein content, and its breeding and consumption of meat have been increasing annually. Nevertheless, technical bottlenecks still exist in detecting veterinary drug residues in pigeon muscle. A rapid and sensitive method for determining 67 veterinary drugs belonging to six major groups (quinolones, sulfonamides, macrolides, hormones, tetracyclines, and insecticides) was developed in pigeon muscle.

Abstract The conclusions of the EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State, France, and co‐rapporteur Member State, Austria, for the pesticide active substance pydiflumetofen and the assessment of applications for maximum residue levels (MRLs) are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The prevalence of pesticide usage has brought the matter of pesticide residues to the forefront, necessitating the development of effective detection methods as a crucial step towards addressing this issue. This study presents a novel approach for detecting pesticide residues in vegetables using glass slide-formula-ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The approach enables swift analysis of 36 different pesticides across three vegetable species with glass slides.

Background

Pesticides are hazardous chemical contaminants for the ecosystem that have been widely used in households and agriculture to eliminate pests for several decades, and have a variety of adverse effects on our health.

Objectives

In this work, the plant extracts were characterized for their effectiveness in decontaminating multiple pesticide residues from green bell peppers without affecting their nutritional and sensorial properties. The results of this study showed that the selected plant extracts could enhance the food safety without compromising food quality. The results of this study could be useful for formulating vegetable cleaning solutions to effectively mitigate multiple pesticide residues.

Food is closely related to human life. With the development of the times, the human demand for food has changed dramatically. People pay closer attention to the safety, health, composition, brand, origin, and processing method of food, which is precisely inseparable from food testing technology.

In agriculture, there is a constant search for increased productivity, which leads to increased use of fungicides, insecticides, and inoculants, among other products to perform seed treatment before planting. After treatment, the machines and equipment are sanitized, generating a liquid residue with potentially negative environmental impacts.

Developing a straightforward method to remove pesticide residues from fruits is essential for food safety. In this study, ozone microbubble treatment was performed on three fruits (strawberry, cherry, and apricot) to remove four pesticide residues (emamectin benzoate, azoxystrobin, boscalid, and difenoconazole) while comparing removal efficiency.

Paraquat dichloride is a widely used herbicide that poses a significant threat to human health. Its prohibition in several countries highlights the need for the development of a highly sensitive device capable of detecting minimum concentrations of this herbicide in food matrices. In this study, we developed a lateral flow test strip using gold nanoparticles conjugated to anti-paraquat antibodies for the visual and quantitative detection of paraquat in food samples.