Research Publications (Food Safety)

The concept of plant-based protein consumption has been increasing recently because of the growing health consciousness among people. Mung bean is one of the most consumed legumes with a dense nutrient profile.

Poultry products in Zambia form an integral part of the human diet in many households, as they are cheap and easy to produce. The burden of poultry diseases has, however, remained a major challenge. Growing consumer demand for poultry products in Zambia has resulted in non-prudent antimicrobial use on farms, intending to prevent and treat poultry diseases for growth optimisation and maximising profits.

Endophytic and rhizospheric microorganisms associated with plants play a crucial role in plant health, pest and disease defense, and fruit yield by actively participating in the plant’s adaptation to its environment. In this study, high–throughput sequencing technology was employed to analyze the community structure and diversity of endophytic and rhizospheric soil microorganisms in Berchemia polyphylla var. leioclada.

Shigella is an important human-adapted pathogen which contributes to a large global burden of diarrhoeal disease. Together with the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance and lack of an effective vaccine, there is great urgency to identify novel therapeutics and preventatives to combat Shigella infection. In this review, we discuss the development of innovative technologies and animal models to study mechanisms underlying Shigella infection of humans.

Background. Coliform, Salmonella, and Shigella are among the most encountered bacteria in raw milk. This study is aimed at determining the extent of coliform, Salmonella, and Shigella bacteria in raw milk and vendor hygiene practices at Asella town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, from March 1 to 30, 2022. Methods. In this study, 210 milk vendors were included; each vendor provided a 50 ml sample of raw milk. Bacteria were isolated and identified using standard bacteriological techniques.

Introduction Excessive intake of lactate caused by improper use of silage in animal husbandry has adverse effects on rumen fermentation, such as rumen acidosis. The speed of absorption and metabolism of D-lactate in rumen epithelial cells was slower than that of L-lactate, making D-lactate more prone to accumulate and induce rumen acidosis.

Possible mechanism of alleviating ulcerative colitis in mice with fermented soymilk. Scope Lactic acid bacteria with probiotic functions and their fermentation products play a role in regulating ulcerative colitis (UC). This study investigates the potential role of fermented soymilk (FSM4) rich in isoflavones on DSS‐induced UC. Methods and Results Mice received 3% DSS and are supplemented daily once for 1 week by NFSM and FSM4.

Abstract BACKGROUNDS Pickering emulsion stabilized by multi‐component particles have attracted increasing attention. Researches on characterizing the digestion and health benefit effects of these emulsions in the human gastrointestinal tract are quite limited. This work aimed to reveal the digestive characteristics of media milled purple sweet potato particle‐stabilized Pickering emulsions (PSPP‐Es) during in vitro digestion and colonic fermentation.

Abstract Aims Enteric pathogens with a livestock reservoir pose a unique risk to people in occupations with regular contact with animals. However, public health surveillance of occupational exposures is inadequate, with surveillance for occupation typically focusing on the risk of transmission and the need for worker exclusion, rather than workplace exposures.

The evidence and prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Shigella spp. poses a serious global threat to public health and the economy. Food- or water-borne MDR Shigella spp. demands an alternate strategy to counteract this threat. In this regard, phage therapy has garnered great interest from medical practitioners and researchers as a potential way to combat MDR pathogens.

Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate the effect of N‐carbamylglutamate (NCG) on the piglets’ growth performance and immune response, and unravel their mechanisms. In a 2 × 2 factorial design including diet (with or without NCG) and immunological challenge (saline or lipopolysaccharide (LPS)), 24 piglets were randomly distributed to four groups. After being fed a basic diet or a NCG‐supplemented diet for 21 days, piglets were administered LPS or saline intraperitoneally.

The swine gut microbiota is populated by large and diverse bacterial community that play an essential role in pig intestinal development. Therefore, it is important to characterize the composition of swine gut microbiota and determine which factor shape the composition of the gut microbiota. Our objective was to characterize the swine gut microbiota at the different growth stages using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing data from gastrointestinal (GI) samples.

Early-life microbiome establishment and colonization is essential for gut development, nutrient digestion and metabolism, and modulation of the immune system. Microbial colonization of the infant digestive tract begins at birth, and as such, maternal microbiota has an important influence on the early-life establishment and colonization of the infant gut microbiota.

To investigate the prevalence of Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis in diarrhea patients and healthy individuals in Corum, Türkiye, fecal samples from 92 diarrhea patients and 50 healthy individuals were collected and evaluated using direct microscopy and molecular methods to screen for bacteria, protozoa, and viruses. The prevalence of Blastocystis was 24.6% in total and more frequent in the healthy group (30.0%).

Bordetella bronchiseptica is a widespread, highly infectious bacterial pathogen that causes respiratory disease in swine and increases the severity of respiratory infections caused by other viral or bacterial pathogens. However, the impact of B. bronchiseptica infection on the swine respiratory microbiota has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we aim to assess the influence of B. bronchiseptica infection on the community structure and abundance of members of the swine nasal microbiota.

Bacillus spp. have been widely used as probiotic supplements in animal feed as alternatives to antibiotics. In the present study, we screened a Bacillus subtilis strain named BS21 from pig feces. Antimicrobial activities, whole genome mining and UHPLC-MS/MS analysis were used to explore its antimicrobial mechanism.

Yoghurt is one of the best sources of probiotics and its importance to the human gastrointestinal system provides a perfect food matrix for transporting probiotics to the body. Unfortunately, animal milk dominates the typical commercial yoghurt; hence, the need to produce probiotic yoghurt from plant milk. This paper has outlined a new yoghurt analogue, made from a mixture of plant-based materials and analyzed their probiotic potentials, microbial assay and Antibiotic susceptibility.

Neonatal calves have a limited capacity to initiate immune responses due to a relatively immature adaptive immune system, which renders them susceptible to many on-farm diseases. At birth, the mucosal surfaces of the intestine are rapidly colonized by microbes in a process that promotes mucosal immunity and primes the development of the adaptive immune system.

Introduction Recently, the research on pig intestinal microbiota has become a hot topic in the field of animal husbandry. There are few articles describing the dynamic changes of porcine fecal microbiota and metabolites at different time points from birth to market. 

by Julie E. Hernández-Salmerón, Tanya Irani, Gabriel Moreno-Hagelsieb Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) is becoming a standard measure for bacterial species delimitation. However, its calculation can take orders of magnitude longer than similarity estimates based on sampling of short nucleotides, compiled into so-called sketches. These estimates are widely used. However, their variable correlation with ANI has suggested that they might not be as accurate.

The consumption of milk contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses a significant health threat to humans. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae producing β-lactamases (ESBL, MBL, and AmpC) in cow and buffalo milk samples from two Indian states, Haryana and Assam. A total of 401 milk samples were collected from dairy farmers and vendors in the specified districts.

In recent years, there has been an unprecedented advancement in in situ analytical approaches that contribute to the mechanistic understanding of microbial communities by explicitly incorporating ecology and studying their assembly. In this study, we have analyzed the temporal profiles of the healthy broiler cecal microbiome from day 3 to day 35 to recover the stable and varying components of microbial communities.

Summary Okara is the by‐product of soybean during processing, which is rich in dietary fiber. In this study, the effects of steam explosion (SE) treatment on the physicochemical properties and biological activities of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) from okara was investigated. Results showed that SE increased the water‐holding capacity, oil‐holding capacity, swelling capacity, water solubility, foaming ability, foaming stability, emulsifying activity and emulsion stability of SDF.

Much research has been conducted regarding the impact of diet on the gut microbiota. However, the effects of dietary habits such as intermittent fasting are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of intermittent fasting during Ramadan on the gut microbiota. The study was conducted on 12 healthy adult individuals who practiced fasting 17 h per day for 29 consecutive days during the month of Ramadan.

by Anja Lührmann, Andrea Palmini, Justinus Hellmich, Vitaly Belik, Jürgen Zentek, Wilfried Vahjen Reducing antibiotic use is one of the biggest challenges in pig farming, as antibiotics have been used for years to control typical problems such as newborn or post-weaning diarrhea.