Research Publications (Food Safety)

Using alternative feed ingredients in pig diets can lead to deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination. DON has been shown to induce anorexia, inflammation, and—more recently—alterations in the vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus metabolisms. Adding vitamin D supplementation in the form of vitamin D3 and 25-OH-D3 to the feed could modify the effects of DON in piglets. In this study, vitamin D3 or 25-OH-D3 supplementation was used in a control or DON-contaminated treatment.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in coastal British Columbia (BC), Canada, negatively impact the salmon aquaculture industry. One disease of interest to salmon aquaculture is Net Pen Liver Disease (NPLD), which induces severe liver damage and is believed to be caused by the exposure to microcystins (MCs). To address the lack of information about algal toxins in BC marine environments and the risk they pose, this study investigated the presence of MCs and other toxins at aquaculture sites.

In this study, three kinds of novel modified activated carbon adsorbent were prepared by different concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfonate solution, and carried out by FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM, and N2-adsorption-desorption analytical techniques. The adsorption mechanism of aflatoxins on three types of modified activated carbon had been systematically investigated by isotherm, kinetic, and thermodynamic studies.

Wheat grains are susceptible to contamination with various natural mycotoxins including regulated and emerging mycotoxins.

The objective of this network meta-analysis was to determine the efficacy of different mycotoxin binders (MTB) to reduce aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk. A literature search was conducted to identify in vivo research papers from different databases.

Nowadays, pseudo-cereals’ consumption is increasing due to their health benefits as they possess an excellent nutrient profile. Whole pseudo-cereal grains are rich in a wide range of compounds, namely flavonoids, phenolic acids, fatty acids, and vitamins with known beneficial effects on human and animal health. Mycotoxins are common contaminants in cereals and by-products; however, the study of their natural occurrence in pseudo-cereals is currently scarce.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of epigenetic DNA methylation and CYPs expression in AFB1-exposed broiler liver and the protective effect of curcumin. Sixty-four one-day-old AA broilers were randomly divided into four groups, including control group, AFB1 group (1 mg/kg AFB1), curcumin + AFB1 group (1 mg/kg curcumin) and curcumin group (300 mg/kg curcumin).

The armoured dinoflagellate Alexandrium can be found throughout many of the world’s temperate and tropical marine environments. The genus has been studied extensively since approximately half of its members produce a family of potent neurotoxins, collectively called saxitoxin. These compounds represent a significant threat to animal and environmental health. Moreover, the consumption of bivalve molluscs contaminated with saxitoxin poses a threat to human health.

The Galician Rías (NW Iberian Peninsula) are an important shellfish aquaculture area periodically affected by toxic episodes often caused by dinoflagellates such as Dinophysis acuminata and Alexandrium minutum, among others. In turn, water discolorations are mostly associated with non-toxic organisms such as the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans, a voracious non-selective predator.

Deoxynivalenol is present in forage crops in concentrations that endanger animal welfare but is also found in cereal-based food. The amphipathic nature of mycotoxins allows them to cross the cell membrane and interacts with different cell organelles such as mitochondria and ribosomes. In our study, we investigated the gene expression of several genes in vivo and in vitro that are related to the metabolism.

Female pigs respond sensitive both to DON and ZEN with anorexia and endocrine disruption, respectively, when critical diet concentrations are exceeded. Therefore, the frequent co-contamination of feed by DON and ZEN requires their parallel inactivation. The additive ZenA hydrolyzes ZEN while SBS inactivates DON through sulfonation.

Phenyllactic acid (PLA), a promising food preservative, is safe and effective against a broad spectrum of food-borne pathogens. However, its mechanisms against toxigenic fungi are still poorly understood. In this study, we applied physicochemical, morphological, metabolomics, and transcriptomics analyses to investigate the activity and mechanism of PLA inhibition of a typical food-contaminating mold, Aspergillus flavus. The results showed that PLA effectively inhibited the growth of A.

Red mold rice (RMR) is a traditional Chinese medicine prepared using Monascus fermentation. M. ruber (pilosus) and M. purpureus have a long history of use as food and medicine. As an economically important starter culture, the relationship between the taxonomy of Monascus and production capabilities of secondary metabolites is crucial for the Monascus food industry.

Aflatoxins (AFs) are natural toxic compounds produced by a specific type of fungi, which subsequently contaminate foods and animal feeds, potentially carcinogenic to humans. This study assessed the AFs awareness, prevalence and associated risk factors through a survey of the smallholder dairy farmers (SDFs) and livestock feeds and raw cow milk samples from three agroecological zones in Tanzania.

Deoxynivalenol (DON), one of the most common mycotoxins contaminating food and feed, has been shown to induce hepatotoxicity. Lactoferrin (LF) enriched in human milk is a critical functional food component and performs the hepatoprotection function.

Aflatoxins belong to a group of highly carcinogenic mycotoxins, produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus in various agricultural food commodities. It is hard to eliminate them from food and feed due to their high stability. Aflatoxin contamination in food grains, particularly peanut and maize, continues to cause significant health concerns in the population of developing nations. They can be fatal to humans and animals.

The problem of aflatoxin contamination emerged gradually in the field of food safety. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an ultra-sensitive and non-destructive spectroscopy technology with extensive application prospects in the detection field. In this paper, with the detection of AFB1 as the target, Au@Ag NPs substrate with uniform morphology and strong SERS effect was prepared.

Background Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is found in the milk of cows exposed to feed spoiled by Aspergillus fungi species. These fungi may produce the secondary metabolite aflatoxin B1, which is converted in the cow liver by hydroxylation to AFM1 and is then expressed in milk. AFM1 is regulated in milk and other dairy products because it can cause serious health issues, such as liver and kidney cancers, in humans and is an immunosuppressant.

Highland barley, also called “qingke” in Tibetan, is mainly cultivated in the Tibetan Plateau of China and has been used as a major staple food for Tibetans. Recently, Fusarium head blight (FHB) of qingke was frequently observed around the Brahmaputra River in Tibet. Considering the importance of qingke for Tibetans, the assessment of Fusarium mycotoxin contamination is essential for food safety.

Journal of Basic Microbiology, EarlyView. Monascus spp. can produce a variety of beneficial metabolites widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. However, some Monascus species contain the complete gene cluster responsible for citrinin biosynthesis, which raises our concerns about the safety of their fermented products.

Aflatoxins are among the main carcinogens threatening food and feed safety while imposing major detection challenges to the agrifood industry. Today, aflatoxins are typically detected using destructive and sample-based chemical analysis that are not optimally suited to sense their local presence in the food chain. Therefore, we pursued the development of a non-destructive optical sensing technique based on fluorescence spectroscopy.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a powerful mycotoxin present in a variety of food products, and its detection is important for human health. Here, a fluorescent aptasensor is reported for sensitive OTA determination.

Aflatoxin contamination in peanut kernels seriously harms the health of humans and causes significant economic losses. Rapid and accurate detection of aflatoxin is necessary to minimize its contamination. However, current detection methods are time-consuming, expensive and destructive to samples.

Background Species of the genus Monascus are economically important and widely used in the production of food colorants and monacolin K. However, they have also been known to produce the mycotoxin citrinin. Currently, taxonomic knowledge of this species at the genome level is insufficient.

Methods

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in peanut oil can lead to serious food safety problems. Thus, the development of AFB1 decontamination technology is an urgent and necessary matter. Herein, a renewable and effective biomass-derived adsorbent, namely magnetic rice husk-based biochar (MRHB), was prepared and successfully used for the removal of AFB1 from peanut oil. The adsorption conditions, adsorption mechanism, reusability and cytotoxicity of MRHB were systematically studied.