Research Publications (Food Safety)

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is widely contaminated in foods and feeds, which greatly threatens human and animal health. Due to its stable physicochemical properties, DON can be hardly eliminated by heating or ultraviolet radiation.

This work presented an electrochemical biosensor for the detection of virulence outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene of Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii), which was based on the mimic peroxidase activity of boron doped quantum dots-Au nanoparticles (BQDs-AuNPs) and a signal amplification strategy of exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted target-recycling (EATR).

In order to effectively control the excessive use of organic arsenic reagents in livestock and poultry products, there is an urgent need to develop a method for rapid detection of multiple organic arsenic reagents. In this study, two haptens were designed and derivatized around the structural formula of roxarsone, and a highly-sensitive group-selective mAb 3F2 was prepared, which can simultaneously detect roxarsone, 4-aminophenylarsonic acid, 2-aminophenylarsonic acid and phenylarsonic acid.

Salmonellosis is a symptomatic infection, a foodborne disease, caused by Salmonella that enters the body through the ingestion of contaminated food. In this study, a novel electrochemical biosensor integrated with gold nanorods (GNRs) was used to explore the interaction between in-house generated antibodies with Salmonella serovars.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a common food mycotoxin that can cause various diseases. Therefore, reliable detection methods are required to ensure food safety against mycotoxins. In this study, we design a liquid–crystal (LC)-based assay for rapid detection of AFB1 in food samples. The surface-anchored LC droplets on glass (5CBSADrop) are obtained via a solvent evaporation method.

Mycotoxins contamination, especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in edible oils, is a health hazard. Therefore, AFB1 trace analysis methods are urgently needed. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a popular sensing method because of its low background interference and high sensitivity. However, existing ECL assays for AFB1 detection are based on aqueous rather than oil systems.

This study investigates the reduction of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in skim milk by using ultraviolet light at 254 nm and the effects of influencing factors on the efficacy including treatment time (min), depth of samples (mm), contamination level (μg L-1), stirring, temperature, and fat content in milk. The colour and pH of milk samples were measured to evaluate the influence of the treatment on these values.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) has harmful effects to human and animal health; therefore, sensitive and selective detection of OTA is highly demanded. Herein, an ultrasensitive electrochemical aptasensor electrode comprising electrospun MXene/polyvinylidene fluoride (Ti3C2Tx/PVDF) nanofiber composite is presented. Addition of Ti3C2Tx up to 13% effectively increased the fiber diameter and lowered the β -phase of PVDF nanofibers, consequently lowering the charge transfer resistance.

Current regulatory limit values for paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) in shellfish products are not considering the bioaccessibility of PSTs in seafood matrix during the gastrointestinal digestion for human beings. In this study, the bioaccessibility of PSTs in the shellfish cooked by different ways was assessed using a static in vitro human digestion model.

ZEN-responsive hydrogel was prepared using ZEN aptamer and a cationic conjugated skeleton which was formed by the electrostatic interaction between acrylamide and poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). In the presence of ZEN, the binding of aptamer and ZEN caused the hydrogel to dissociate, releasing the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) encapsulated in the hydrogel into supernatant, whose color changes serving as response instructions were observed by eyes.

The trace detection of pesticide residue becomes particularly important since increasing attentions have been attached to food safety. Herein, we developed an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) covalent organic framework (COF) based-biosensor for trace pesticide detection coupling with CRISPR/Cas12a-mediated signal accumulation strategy.

It is urgent to solve the contamination of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in food and water. In this study, the mesoporous silica was prepared from rice husk, which was then magnetized using the precipitation technique, followed by amino-modification with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, forming amino-grafted magnetic mesoporous silica (NMMS).

The interest in the use of natural pigments by the food industry has grown. Some filamentous fungi can be producers of natural pigments more stable to temperature and pH. The production potential of natural pigments by endophytic fungi from grapevines was evaluated. Arcopilus aureus was selected as a potential source for the production of yellow pigment. The pigment was characterized and tested for its stability to variations in temperature and pH.

A novel magnetic dispersive SPE (MDSPE) based on magnetic covalent organic framework (M-COF) coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 in food matrices (milk, edible oil and rice). The M-COF was designed and constructed by using two novel monomers of 1,2,4,5-Tetrakis-(4-formylphenyl)benzene (TFPB) and p-Phenylenediamine (PPD) at room temperature.

Rapid detection of pesticide residues based on enzyme mimics has recently attracted much interest. However, most nanozymes have low activity. Herein, a “single-atom Ce-N-C nanozyme” (SACe-N-C nanozyme) was rationally devised and verified to mimic peroxidase (POD-like) with superior activity.

In this study, a multi-component analytical method for the detection of pesticide residues in chilli and Sichuan pepper by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF/MS) was developed and validated. The sample preparation is based on an extraction step with acetonitrile followed by a cleanup step using primary secondary amine, C18, graphitized carbon black and anhydrous magnesium sulfate.

Cold plasma has potential for the degradation of aflatoxins in corn and hazelnuts; however, this has not been demonstrated for aflatoxin in milk. In this study, the efficacy of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) on the reduction of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in skim milk improved with increasing treatment times (1-20 min), using gas containing 65% oxygen (MA65) rather than air, increasing voltage (60-80 kV) and reducing sample volume (30 mL-10 mL).

An analytical method in pomegranate whole fruits and arils was developed in LC-MS/MS and validated as per SANTE/12682/2019. Samples were extracted following acetonitrile-based modified QuEChERS protocol. The method was linear and the coefficient of determination ranged between 0.998 to 0.999. Through this method, all the pesticides were detected and quantified at 10 µg kg-1.

A quantitative multi-class multi-residue analytical method was developed for the determination of veterinary drugs in milk by high-performance liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).

In this work, a sensitive and cost-effective method for the quantitative analysis of azole pesticides residues in six medicinal plants was established based on magnetic cyclodextrin crosslinked with tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile (Fe3O4@TFN-CDPs) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Through characterization analysis, the outer shell of Fe3O4@TFN-CDPs has observed coating with a network of the polymer and forming a core–shell structure.

This study investigated the influence of a protease from Staphylococcus (S.) epidermidis on the hydrolysis and flavor development in pork myofibrillar protein (MP).

Oilseed crops are greatly extended all over the world. Their high fat content can interfere during pesticide multiresidue analysis through liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This work aimed at overcoming this issue by developing and validating two QuEChERS-based methods for LC-MS/MS determination of 42 pesticides in two fatty food matrices: olives and sunflower seeds.

The peroxide value (PV) is an important indicator to assess quality of edible oils. However, traditional methods for determining PV are complicated for operating and lack sensitivity. In this paper, we report a fast, reusable, selective and sensitive room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP)-based sensor to determine the PV of edible oils. The sensor comprises a lead-based metal–organic framework (Pb-MOF, Pb4O(TPA)3, TPA: (terephthalic acid).

An electrochemical aptasensing strategy was developed with a novel bioplatform based on a multivariate titanium metal–organic framework, i.e. MTV polyMOF(Ti), to detect zearalenone (ZEN). MTV polyMOF(Ti) was prepared by using mixed linkers of polyether polymer (pbdc-xa or L8, pbdc = poly(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) and 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (H2bdc or L0) as well as tetrabutyl titanate as nodes (MTV polyMOF(Ti)-L8,0).

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and tungsten disulfide nanosheets (WS2 NTs) have been widely studied in photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry as representative electron donor–acceptor pairs but rarely in fluorescence sensing. In this study, we investigated the effect of WS2 NTs on the fluorescence signal of cadmium telluride (CdTe) QDs by grafting an aptamer as a bridge between them.