Research Publications (Food Safety)

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. To study the effect of low-dose electron beam irradiation treatment on the postharvest storage quality of Actinidia arguta. The kiwifruit was irradiated with 300, 400, and 500 Gy electron beam, respectively, stored at 0-1°C with 90%-95% RH. The physical and chemical indexes, physiological indexes and resistance enzyme activities of the fruits were determined.

Apple is typically stored under low temperature and controlled atmospheric conditions to ensure a year round supply of high quality fruit for the consumer. During storage, losses in quality and quantity occur due to spoilage by postharvest pathogens. One important postharvest pathogen of apple is Botrytis cinerea. The fungus is a broad host necrotroph with a large arsenal of infection strategies able to infect over 1,400 different plant species. We studied the apple-B.

Use of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in pesticides may lead to residual levels in food crops, thus raising food safety and environmental concerns. Since little is known about Ag NP behavior in wash water during typical commercial washing of fresh produce, this study assessed the temporal changes in Ag NP behavior when exposed to 2–100 mg/L free chlorine (Cl 2 ) in simulated lettuce wash water for up to 10 days.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different doses (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 mM) of putrescine treatments on the postharvest weight loss, decay, firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, pH, respiration rate, L*, a*, b*, Chroma and Hue angle and phenolic compounds, organic acids and vitamin C content of kiwi (cv. Hayward.

Fungicides are often used to extend the storage time of postharvest satsuma mandarin fruit. In recent years, fungicide residue has become an issue of food safety. This study aimed to investigate the distribution and migration of three typical fungicides (imazalil, prochloraz, thiophanate-methyl) in postharvest satsuma mandarins using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, Accepted Article. Persian shallot is a valuable vegetable because of its nutritional value and medicinal attributes, but it has a short storage life. In the current study, the effects of curing treatments on Persian shallot postharvest decay, sprouting, color and biochemical changes were evaluated. Treatments included: control, sun curing, and convective mild air curing at 40 and 50 ºC with 1 m/s air velocity.

The gut microbiome performs many important functions in mammalian hosts, with community composition shaping its functional role. However, the factors that drive individual microbiota variation in wild animals and to what extent these are predictable or idiosyncratic across populations remains poorly understood.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. The health benefits of whole wheat consumption can be partially attributed to wheat's phytochemicals, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkylresorcinols, carotenoids, phytosterols, tocopherols, and tocotrienols. It is of increasing interest to produce whole wheat products that are rich in bioactive phytochemicals.

Foodborne diseases are a significant cause of illness in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Food vendors in traditional markets shoulder a heavy responsibility to keep food safe in often challenging conditions. Their ability to ensure food is safe are shaped by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Most research on food vendors in LMICs has focused on vendors of ready-to-eat street foods and not on vendors of fresh food commodities.

The combined use of ultraviolet-C light-emitting diodes (UV–C LED) irradiation and antimicrobial packaging film was used to secure the safety of fresh-cut vegetables. The antimicrobial packaging film was prepared by adding grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) to a blend film of poly(lactide) (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT).

Agricultural chemical residues in farmland and crops is one of the serious public issues that constantly threatens crop production, food security, and human health. Understanding their decay mechanism in crops for accelerating their degradative metabolism is important. In this study, a rice uncharacterized cytochrome P450 gene encoding CYP76C6 was functionally identified in rice exposed to isoproturon (IPU).

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.

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.

Outbreaks involving romaine and iceberg lettuce are frequently reported in the United States. Novel technologies are needed to inactivate pathogens without compromising product quality and shelf life. In this study, the effects of a process aid composed of silver dihydrogen citrate, glycerin, and lactic acid (SGL) on Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes concentrations on lettuce immediately after washing and during cold storage were evaluated.

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.

Grassland ecosystems cover around 37% of the ice-free land surface on Earth and have critical socioeconomic importance globally. As in many terrestrial ecosystems, biological dinitrogen (N2) fixation represents an essential natural source of nitrogen (N). The ability to fix atmospheric N2 is limited to diazotrophs, a diverse guild of bacteria and archaea.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables refer to edible commodities that are free from large scale and typical traditional processing operations. However, maintaining their nutritional value and microbiological integrity is challenging. The processing operations such as peeling, cutting and trimming done in the fresh-cut industry can trigger deteriorative reactions such as tissue softening and enzymatic browning.

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.

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.

The aim of this study was to provide realistic isocyanate and amine emission data when using different methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)-based polyurethane consumer products. Emission testing (air sampling) of diisocyanates and corresponding diamines was performed in a full-scale controlled-environment chamber during different work operations, such as gluing, mixing and foaming.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are prone to browning that leads to quality decline, low acceptability and food waste. Therefore, it is of great importance to study and alleviate the browning of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Plant extracts, rich in bioactive compounds like polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenes and other active ingredients, exhibit high antioxidant and anti-browning ability.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. In this study, high intensity ultrasound (HIU), antibrowning chemicals (calcium chloride and ascorbic acid), water bath were used to avoid the browning of kiwifruit pieces, and the shelf-life of fresh-cut was measured (two weeks). The treated fresh-cut kiwi samples were evaluated in terms of color, enzyme activities, bioactive compounds, microbial and sensory studies.

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.

by Jian-Ling Bai, Hui-Hui Wang, Ju-Mei Zhang, Qing-Ping Wu, Shu-Ping Mo, Ying-Long He, Shao-Quan Weng, Xiao-Juan Yang, Ci-Zhou Li ε-Poly-l-lysine (ε-PL) is a natural antimicrobial polymer with significant inhibitory activity against a broad spectrum of microorganisms, and nowadays used widely as a preservative in the food industry. In the present study, ε-PL broth was obtained from Streptomyces ahygroscopicus GIM8 fermentation in a nutrient-limited liquid medium.

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.