Research Publications (Food Safety)

Processed wheat bran (W) is of great importance for food and feed. Consequently, the biosafety of W should be evaluated and improved with valorisation strategies. This study tested a design combining extrusion (at temperature of 115 and 130 °C; screw speeds of 16, 20, and 25 rpm) and fermentation with Lactobacillus plantarum and L. uvarum strains for the valorisation of W to provide safer food and feed stock.

Along with the excessive use of antibiotics, the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become a public health problem and a great challenge vis-à-vis the control and treatment of bacterial infections. As the natural predators of bacteria, phages have reattracted researchers’ attentions. Phage therapy is regarded as one of the most promising alternative strategies to fight pathogens in the post-antibiotic era.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. This study investigated the impacts of selected and broadband infrared (IR) wavelength treatments with tempering step on inactivation of aflatoxigenic molds and the treatments’ effects on head rice yield (HRY). Rough rice was treated with different IR intensities, product‐to‐emitter gaps, and heating durations. Afterward, the samples were tempered at 60°C for 4 h.

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. In this study, a lab‐made Parallel‐Single Drop Microextraction methodology using the magnetic ionic liquid trihexyltetradecylphosphonium tetrachloromanganate (II) as extraction solvent was developed to determine the pesticides tebuconazole, pendimethalin, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene in human urine samples.

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. In this paper, we propose a novel micro‐solid‐phase extraction and elution technique, which we called the thin‐layer solid‐phase extraction–liquid film elution technique.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. This study is to investigate the antibacterial activity of the alcoholic and hydroalcoholic extracts of Spinacia oleracea leaves, on Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC 7644), Salmonella enteritidis (ATCC 13076), Escherichia coli O157:H7 (NCTC 12900) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442), and to identify bioactive functional components including essential oil by GC–MS.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. We present a quantum dots (QDs)‐based lateral flow immunoassay for the determination of pyrimethanil in fruit and vegetable samples. This QDs‐based strip immunoassay had a cut‐off value of 25 ng/ml, under optimal conditions; linear calibration for pyrimethanil was obtained in the range of 1.9–13.3 ng/ml. The entire sample detection operation could be completed in 30 min.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Cold storage coupled with gaseous ozone represents a potential strategy to reduce or inhibit the presence of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria in a food storage cold chamber. This study aims to evaluate the impact of gaseous ozone treatment (0.05 ppm at exposure times of 30 and 60 min) on the bacterial contamination of internal surface and air in a cold chamber (3°C) intended for food storage.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. The mixed nuts snack is rich food. Considering the higher rate of spoilage in mixed nuts snack developing methods to increase the shelf life of this product is necessary. The cold plasma (CP) is an innovative non‐thermal that is able to work at atmospheric pressure.

Rice, a staple crop for nearly half the planet’s population, tends to absorb and accumulate excessive cadmium (Cd) when grown in Cd-contaminated fields. Low levels of Cd can degrade the quality of rice grains, while high levels can inhibit the growth of rice plants. There is genotypic diversity in Cd distribution and Cd tolerance in different rice varieties, but their underlying genetic mechanisms are far from elucidated, which hinders genetic improvements.

Horizontal gene transfer has shaped the evolution of Salmonella enterica as pathogen. Some functions acquired by this mechanism include enzymes involved in peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis and remodeling. Here, we report a novel serovar Typhimurium protein that is absent in non-pathogenic bacteria and bears a LprI functional domain, first reported in a Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoprotein conferring lysozyme resistance. Based on the presence of such domain, we hypothesized a role of this S.

Bacteria are the causative agents of numerous diseases. Ever increasing number of bacterial infections has generated the need to find new antibiotic materials and new ways to combat bacterial infections. Our study investigated Azadirachta indica (AI) as an alternate source of antibiotic compounds. Phytochemical and GC-MS analysis revealed presence of flavonoids, phenolic compounds, terpenoids and terpenes.

The fecal indicator organism (FIO) Escherichia coli is frequently used as a general indicator of sewage contamination and for evaluating the success of shellfish cleaning (depuration) processes. To evaluate the robustness of this approach, the accumulation, retention, and depuration of non-pathogenic E. coli, pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 and norovirus GII (NoV GII) RNA were evaluated using a combination of culture-based (E. coli) and molecular methods (E.

Listeriosis, caused by Listeria monocytogenes, is a severe food-borne infection. The nationwide surveillance in China concerning listeriosis is urgently needed. In the present study, 144 L. monocytogenes isolates were collected from the samples of blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and fetal membrane/placenta in China for 12 years from 2008 to 2019. We summarized these listeriosis patients’ demographical and clinical features and outcomes.

In total, 49 clinical samples were analyzed using two typing schemes, Enhanced Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST), to describe the molecular characteristics of circulating Treponema pallidum isolates in Xiamen between 2016 and 2017. In addition, genetic mutations potentially related to antibiotic resistance of T. pallidum were also analyzed. Forty five samples were fully typed by ECDC, and 14 different subtypes were detected.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an important foodborne pathogen. Although most cases of STEC infection in humans are due to O157 and non-O157 serogroups, there are also reports of infection with STEC strains that cannot be serologically classified into any O serogroup (O-serogroup untypeable [OUT]). Recently, it has become clear that even OUT strains can be subclassified based on the diversity of O-antigen biosynthesis gene cluster (O-AGC) sequences.

We describe the design, development, analytical performance, and a limited clinical evaluation of the 10-color Xpert MTB/XDR assay (CE-IVD only, not for sale in the United States). This assay is intended as a reflex test to detect resistance to isoniazid (INH), fluoroquinolones (FLQ), ethionamide (ETH), and second-line injectable drugs (SLIDs) in unprocessed sputum samples and concentrated sputum sediments which are positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Failure to rapidly identify drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) increases the risk of patient mismanagement, the amplification of drug resistance, and ongoing transmission. We generated comparative analytical data for four automated assays for the detection of TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB): Abbott RealTime MTB and MTB RIF/INH (Abbott), Hain Lifescience FluoroType MTBDR (Hain), BD Max MDR-TB (BD), and Roche cobas MTB and MTB-RIF/INH (Roche).

Multiple rapid antigen (Ag) tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have recently received emergency-use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although less sensitive than molecular detection methods, rapid antigen testing offers the potential for inexpensive, quick, decentralized testing.

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) culture is a standard, though time-consuming, approach for identifying microorganisms in patients with severe lower respiratory tract (LRT) infections. The sensitivity of BAL culture is relatively low, and prior antimicrobial therapy decreases the sensitivity further, leading to overuse of empirical antibiotics.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are expressed in the nervous system, activated by acidosis, and implicated in pain pathways. Mambalgins are peptide inhibitors of ASIC1 and analgesic in rodents via inhibition of centrally expressed ASIC1a and peripheral ASIC1b. This activity has generated interest in mambalgins as potential therapeutics. However, most mechanism...

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the protective efficacy of a novel recombinant subunit vaccine containing the protein YidR (rYidR) against clinical mastitis (CM) caused by Klebsiella spp. and Escherichia coli. Given that E. coli infection is known to cause metritis, we also evaluated the effect of rYidR vaccination on the incidence of metritis and conception at the first artificial insemination.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the standard method used for quantification of norovirus in oysters in Japan for the provisional adaptation of the method as an alternative to ISO 15216-1:2017, to conduct a Japan baseline survey of norovirus in oysters. For this purpose, the method provided by the Japan Committee for Standardization of Virus Detection in Food was subjected to an interlaboratory study to determine the performance characteristics of the standard method used in Japan.

by M. Khalid F. Salamat, A. Richard Alejo Blanco, Sandra McCutcheon, Kyle B. C. Tan, Paula Stewart, Helen Brown, Allister Smith, Christopher de Wolf, Martin H. Groschup, Dietmar Becher, Olivier Andréoletti, Marc Turner, Jean C. Manson, E. Fiona Houston

Author(s): Nodali Ndraha, Hsin-I Hsiao