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Research Publications (Food Safety)

This page tracks research articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Recent articles are available ahead of print and searchable by Journal, Article Title, and Category. Research publications are tracked across six categories: Bacterial Pathogens, Chemical Contaminants, Natural Toxins, Parasites, Produce Safety, and Viruses. Articles produced by USDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) and FDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) are also tracked in Scopus.

Displaying 26 - 50 of 57

  1. Adding Far-Red to Red, Blue Supplemental Light-Emitting Diode Interlighting Improved Sweet Pepper Yield but Attenuated Carotenoid Content

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Supplemental interlighting is commonly used in modern greenhouses to improve light deficiency, but the light spectrum affects fruit quality and color change. This study aimed to analyze the effect of interlighting with red, blue, and additional far-red light on the fruit qualities and carotenoid contents of red and yellow sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.).

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  2. Supplemental Blue Light Frequencies Improve Ripening and Nutritional Qualities of Tomato Fruits

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L. Micro-Tom) were grown in a plastic greenhouse. When plants anthesis, the 100 μmol m–2 s–1 blue light-emitting diode (LED) light (430 ± 10 nm) was supplemented from 6:00 to 18:00.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  3. Identification of Reference Genes for Reverse Transcription-Quantitative PCR Analysis of Ginger Under Abiotic Stress and for Postharvest Biology Studies

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Gene expression analysis largely improves our understanding of the molecular basis underpinning various plant biological processes. Stable reference genes play a foundational role during the normalization of gene expression levels. However, until now, there have been few reference genes suitable for ginger reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) research.

      • Produce Safety
      • Post Harvest
  4. γ-Aminobutyrate Improves the Postharvest Marketability of Horticultural Commodities: Advances and Prospects

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Postharvest deterioration can result in qualitative and quantitative changes in the marketability of horticultural commodities, as well as considerable economic loss to the industry. Low temperature and controlled atmosphere conditions (low O2 and elevated CO2) are extensively employed to prolong the postharvest life of these commodities. Nevertheless, they may suffer from chilling injury and other physiological disorders, as well as excessive water loss and bacterial/fungal decay.

      • Produce Safety
      • Fresh Cut
  5. Male Meiosis as a Biomarker for Endo- to Ecodormancy Transition in Apricot

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Dormancy is an adaptive strategy in plants to survive under unfavorable climatic conditions during winter. In temperate regions, most fruit trees need exposure to a certain period of low temperatures to overcome endodormancy. After endodormancy release, exposure to warm temperatures is needed to flower (ecodormancy). Chilling and heat requirements are genetically determined and, therefore, are specific for each species and cultivar.

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  6. Lack of Blue Light Regulation of Antioxidants and Chilling Tolerance in Basil

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Blue light, measuring from 400 to 500 nm, is generally assumed to increase the content of antioxidants in plants independent of the species. Blue light stimulates the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and their subclass anthocyanins from the phenylpropanoid pathway. Flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic acids are strong reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers and may lessen the symptoms of abiotic stresses such as chilling.

      • Produce Safety
      • Post Harvest
  7. Rotten Hazelnuts Prediction via Simulation Modeling—A Case Study on the Turkish Hazelnut Sector

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • The quality defects of hazelnut fruits comprise changes in morphology and taste, and their intensity mainly depends on seasonal environmental conditions. The strongest off-flavor of hazelnuts is known as rotten defect, whose candidate causal agents are a complex of fungal pathogens, with Diaporthe as the dominant genus.

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  8. The Hierarchical Contribution of Organic vs. Conventional Farming, Cultivar, and Terroir on Untargeted Metabolomics Phytochemical Profile and Functional Traits of Tomato Fruits

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • In this work, the impact of terroir, cultivar, seasonality, and farming systems on functional traits of tomato was hierarchically investigated. Untargeted metabolomics, antioxidant capacity, colorimetric assays, and enzyme inhibition were determined.

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  9. Ethylene Production Affects Blueberry Fruit Texture and Storability

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Ethylene, produced endogenously by plants and their organs, can induce a wide array of physiological responses even at very low concentrations. Nevertheless, the role of ethylene in regulating blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) ripening and storability is still unclear although an increase in ethylene production has been observed in several studies during blueberry ripening.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  10. Estimating Bulk Stomatal Conductance in Grapevine Canopies

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • In response to changes in their environments, grapevines regulate transpiration using various physiological mechanisms that alter conductance of water through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Expressed as bulk stomatal conductance at the canopy scale, it varies diurnally in response to changes in vapor pressure deficit and net radiation, and over the season to changes in soil water deficits and hydraulic conductivity of both the soil and plant.

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  11. Genome-Wide Analysis and Expression Profiles of Ethylene Signal Genes and Apetala2/Ethylene-Responsive Factors in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Peanut is an important oil and economic crop widely cultivated in the world. It has special characteristics such as blooming on the ground but bearing fruits underground. During the peg penetrating into the ground, it is subjected to mechanical stress from the soil at the same time. It has been proved that mechanical stress affects plant growth and development by regulating the ethylene signaling-related genes.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  12. Silicon Nanoparticles Enhance Ginger Rhizomes Tolerance to Postharvest Deterioration and Resistance to Fusarium solani

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Postharvest deterioration of ginger rhizome caused by microorganisms or wound infections causes significant economic losses. Fusarium solani is one of the important causal agents of prevalent ginger disease soft rot across the world. The massive and continuous use of chemical fungicides in postharvest preservation pose risks to human health and produce environmental contamination.

      • Produce Safety
      • Post Harvest
  13. Calcium Oxide Nanoparticles Have the Role of Alleviating Arsenic Toxicity of Barley

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Arsenic (As) contamination in agricultural soils has become a great threat to the sustainable development of agriculture and food safety. Although a lot of approaches have been proposed for dealing with soil As contamination, they are not practical in crop production due to high cost, time-taking, or operational complexity. The rapid development of nanotechnology appears to provide a novel solution to soil As contamination.

      • Chemical contaminants
      • Heavy Metals
      • Produce Safety
      • Pre Harvest
  14. The Effect of Topo-Climate Variation on the Secondary Metabolism of Berries in White Grapevine Varieties (Vitis vinifera)

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Exploiting consistent differences in radiation and average air temperature between two experimental vineyards (Ramat Negev, RN and Mitzpe Ramon, MR), we examined the impact of climate variations on total carotenoids, redox status, and phenylpropanoid metabolism in the berries of 10 white wine grapevine (Vitis vinifera) cultivars across three consecutive seasons (2017–2019). The differences in carotenoid and phenylpropanoid contents between sites were seasonal and varietal dependent.

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  15. The Calcium Sensor Calcineurin B-Like Proteins -Calcineurin B-Like Interacting Protein Kinases Is Involved in Leaf Development and Stress Responses Related to Latex Flow in Hevea brasiliensis

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Latex flow in Hevea brasiliensis (the Para rubber tree), the sole commercial source of natural rubber (cis-1,4-polyisoprene, NR), renders it uniquely suited for the study of plant stress responses. Calcineurin B-like interacting protein kinases (CIPK) serving as calcium-sensor protein kinases react with calcineurin B-like proteins (CBL) to play crucial roles in hormone signaling transduction and response to abiotic stress in plant developmental processes.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  16. Overview of Witloof Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) Discolorations and Their Underlying Physiological and Biochemical Causes

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Many fruits and vegetables suffer from unwanted discolorations that reduce product quality, leading to substantial losses along the supply chain. Witloof chicory (Cichorium intybus L. var. foliosum), a specialty crop characterized by its unique bitter taste and crunchiness, is particularly sensitive to various types of red and brown discolorations. The etiolated vegetable suffers from three predominant color disorders, i.e., core browning, internal leaf reddening, and leaf edge browning.

      • Produce Safety
      • Post Harvest
  17. AP2/ERF Transcription Factor NbERF-IX-33 Is Involved in the Regulation of Phytoalexin Production for the Resistance of Nicotiana benthamiana to Phytophthora infestans

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Plants recognize molecular patterns unique to a certain group of microbes to induce effective resistance mechanisms. Elicitins are secretory proteins produced by plant pathogenic oomycete genera including Phytophthora and Pythium. Treatment of INF1 (an elicitin produced by P.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  18. Effect of the Seasonal Climatic Variations on the Accumulation of Fruit Volatiles in Four Grape Varieties Under the Double Cropping System

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • The double cropping system has been widely applied in many subtropical viticultural regions. In the 2-year study of 2014–2015, four grape varieties were selected to analyze their fruit volatile compounds in four consecutive seasons in the Guangxi region of South China, which had a typical subtropical humid monsoon climate.

      • Produce Safety
      • Seasonal Produce
  19. The LcKNAT1-LcEIL2/3 Regulatory Module Is Involved in Fruitlet Abscission in Litchi

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Large and premature organ abscission may limit the industrial development of fruit crops by causing serious economic losses. It is well accepted that ethylene (ET) is a strong inducer of organ abscission in plants. However, the mechanisms underlying the control of organ abscission by ET are largely unknown.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  20. Advances in “Omics” Approaches for Improving Toxic Metals/Metalloids Tolerance in Plants

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Food safety has emerged as a high-urgency matter for sustainable agricultural production. Toxic metal contamination of soil and water significantly affects agricultural productivity, which is further aggravated by extreme anthropogenic activities and modern agricultural practices, leaving food safety and human health at risk. In addition to reducing crop production, increased metals/metalloids toxicity also disturbs plants’ demand and supply equilibrium.

      • Produce Safety
      • Pre Harvest
  21. A Sugarcane G-Protein-Coupled Receptor, ShGPCR1, Confers Tolerance to Multiple Abiotic Stresses

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a prominent source of sugar and serves as bioenergy/biomass feedstock globally. Multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, and cold, adversely affect sugarcane yield. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are components of G-protein-mediated signaling affecting plant growth, development, and stress responses. Here, we identified a GPCR-like protein (ShGPCR1) from sugarcane and energy cane (Saccharum spp.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  22. Comparative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal an Intricate Priming Mechanism Involved in PGPR-Mediated Salt Tolerance in Tomato

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Plant-associated beneficial strains inhabiting plants grown under harsh ecosystems can help them cope with abiotic stress factors by positively influencing plant physiology, development, and environmental adaptation. Previously, we isolated a potential plant growth promoting strain (AXSa06) identified as Pseudomonas oryzihabitans, possessing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity, producing indole-3-acetic acid and siderophores, as well as solubilizing inorganic phosphorus.

      • Produce Safety
      • Ethylene Sensitive
  23. Plant-Produced Vaccines: Future Applications in Aquaculture

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Aquaculture has undergone rapid development in the past decades. It provides a large part of high-quality protein food for humans, and thus, a sustainable aquaculture industry is of great importance for the worldwide food supply and economy. Along with the quick expansion of aquaculture, the high fish densities employed in fish farming increase the risks of outbreaks of a variety of aquatic diseases.

      • Antibiotic residues
      • Chemical contaminants
      • Produce Safety
  24. Mycotoxin Uptake in Wheat — Eavesdropping Fusarium Presence for Priming Plant Defenses or a Trojan Horse to Weaken Them?

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • Fusarium mycotoxins represent a major threat for cereal crops and food safety. While previous investigations have described plant biotransforming properties on mycotoxins or metabolic relapses of fungal infections in plants, so far, the potential consequences of radical exposure in healthy crops are mostly unknown.

      • Mycotoxins
      • Natural toxins
      • Produce Safety
  25. Modeling of Individual Fruit-Bearing Capacity of Trees Is Aimed at Optimizing Fruit Quality of Malus x domestica Borkh. ‘Gala’

    • Frontiers in Plant Science
    • The capacity of apple trees to produce fruit of a desired diameter, i.e., fruit-bearing capacity (FBC), was investigated by considering the inter-tree variability of leaf area (LA). The LA of 996 trees in a commercial apple orchard was measured by using a terrestrial two-dimensional (2D) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser scanner for two consecutive years.

      • Seasonal Produce
      • Produce Safety