Research Publications (Food Safety)

This study evaluated the effect of lactic acid stress on E. coli O26 biofilm formation at different temperatures. The strain 126Z with strong capacity and strain G13Z2 with medium capacity were selected for biofilm formation experiment in acidic TSB (pH 4.0 and 5.0, adjusted with lactic acid) at 15°C and 25°C, respectively. The effect of temperature on biofilm formation of different capacity strains was related to the pH value.

A strip test for the detection of all serotypes of Vibrio cholerae was developed. Detection limit of the bacterium in seafood samples was 107 CFU/ml. The sensitivity could be improved to 1 CFU/ml after pre‐incubation in APW for 24 h. Due to its simplicity and rapidity, the sample could be directly tested at point of care.

The incidence of foodborne diseases has continuingly increased over the years and resulted in public health problem globally. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) is a human pathogen that causes diarrhea and hemorrhagic colitis. E. coli O157:H7 can be found in various foods. It is important to detect this foodborne pathogen to provide safe food supply.

This study evaluated the effects of sialic acid (SA) combined with Lactobacillus on the adhesion of S. aureus by three ways: competition, exclusion and displacement. It was found that 260 μg/ml SA combined with L. plantarum had the higher inhibition effect in the competition assays. As shown in the figure, compared with the control group (Figure A), after adding 260 μg/ml SA and L. plantarum Z‐4 (Figure B), the number of fluorescently labeled S.

The scattering experiment is shown in Figure 1. The aptamer of Listeria monocytogenes is fixed on the bare electrode surface and its complementary DNA sequence (DNA1) labeled with bipyridyl ruthenium is self‐assembled to the electrode surface through base complementary pairing, which keeps the strongest electrochemical luminescence signal.

Pathogenic bacterial contamination is a serious problem for the food industry and in public health. Rapid, accurate and affordable testing for pathogenic bacterial strains is desirable. In this study, a competition visual antigen macroarray (CVAM) for rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) has been developed. This array was able to utilize an HRP‐labeled anti‐E. coli O157:H7 MAb at a concentration of 1:20000 while having a similar sensitivity of 10 5 CFU/ml for E.

A novel, label‐free, bidirectional lateral flow immunoassay strip that detected E. coli O157:H7 in food was developed, and it has good specificity, sensitivity, stability, and practicality. The low‐cost and low‐difficulty development of the strip rapid detection technology, which requires neither nano‐labeling materials nor heavily relies on antibodies, may be easier to realize commercialization.

Ohmic heating has long been used to inactivate pathogens in food products. Several research investigations on the use of ohmic heating technology in the inactivation of microbial hazards in food products are discussed in this review. These studies are discussed under the following sub‐headings: (a) inactivation of microbiological hazards, (b) in combination treatments with other sanitizing technologies, and (c) mathematical modeling, all of which are of long‐standing interest.

Self‐reported knowledge and practices of hospital food handlers’ reached satisfactory levels, however foodservices' hygienic‐sanitary conditions and microbiological analysis of food handling surfaces were inadequate. The results showed a need for motivating hospital food handlers to practice the safe handling knowledge that they have demonstrated in theory.

Rapidity, sensitivity, and selectivity of the methods have been compared. Regulations of detection methods have been covered. Limitations and further studies have been suggested. Abstract The rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of foodborne pathogens is important to ensure food safety. Culture medium‐based methods for bacteria detection have long been used since Robert Koch's first finding.

The research showed that ruminant animal is the primary factor contributing to the prevalence of the STEC‐infecting phages on the organic farm in this study. Among environmental factors, high rain precipitation is likely to facilitate phage distribution in the surrounding environment of the farm. Most importantly, the presence of these phages has a negative correlation with their STEC hosts.

Fast detection for heavy metal in vegetables is one of the most important steps to ensure the food safety. A novel method to identify lead pollution levels of lettuce based on hyperspectral image technology was proposed in this study. Firstly, hyperspectral images of lettuce samples cultivated under four lead stress levels (0 mg/L, 50 mg/L, 100 mg/L and 200 mg/L) were collected using hyperspectral image system.

P. hydropiper ethanolic extract: Chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, rutin, myricetin andquercetin. P. hydropiper essential oil: dodecanal, caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, decanal, α‐caryophyllene, citronellol, heptadecanal, linalool and phytol. Ethanolic extract and essential oil of P. hydropiper exhibited antimicrobial activity against three bacteria Staphylococcus aureus 6538P, Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 and Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028 using time‐kill kinetics assay.

Co‐microencapsulation of lactobacilli cell free and propolis extract inhibited bacterial growth considerably. Abstract Cell free extracts (CFE) obtained from Lactobacillus plantarum FI 8595 and Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730 alone or in combination with propolis ethanolic or water extracts (1%) were microencapsulated with maltodextrin (25%) before the subsequent spray drying process. They were morphologically characterized by scanning electron microscope.

Botrytis rot is a serious disease of fruit and vegetables around the globe. We tested and found that frequencies above 5 kHz and mechanical vibrations and acoustic frequencies from cold‐storage devices increase the growth rate of botrytis rot, suggesting that acoustic output from storage units could promote the mold during transport, storage, or within grocery stores.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are powerful microbial inhibitors with high potential in food preservation, despite this, their use as preservatives is very limited and one of the main reasons is the concern about their stability to food processing conditions. This manuscript offers a different view of the application of AMPs in food preservation, addressing the relationship between food processing parameters such as pH, temperature and proteases, and their influence on antimicrobial activity.

PEF treatment of sesame seeds provides significant reduction on aflatoxin producing fungi, Aspergillus paraciticus, as well as decomposition of aflatoxins with reduced mutagenity with preservation of physical properties and reduced acid number and peroxide value. Abstract Seed processing technologies are essential for seed safety and functionality through protection of physicochemical quality, pathogen inactivation, aflatoxin detoxification and alleviation of mutagenicity.

In this study, the rainbow trout was stored for 18 days. Changes in the resistance levels in head, meat and eyes, changes of color and odor in the head and meat, changes of liquid levels in the skin and meat, were measured with Arduino. Study showed that the resistance value on the meat decreased as the storage period increased; and that the color, odor and liquid level measurement sensors could be used in identifying the food quality.

Coronaviruses, enveloped non‐segmented positive‐sense RNA viruses, distinguished in the mid‐60s can infect humans and a variety of birds and mammals.

• Salmonella enterica subsp.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 entered into the Viable but Non Culturable (VBNC) state under salinity stress of 10 and 30% during production of salted silver carp. VBNC E. coli O157:H7 induced by NaCl stress during salted fish production continued to express its pathogenic genes of stx1, stx2, eae and hly. Abstract Many bacteria including Escherichia coli can enter into the viable but non‐culturable (VBNC) state under unfavorable condition. This study investigated the fate of E.

A microfluidic device was applied to enumerate Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells in lettuce and beef samples. E. coli O157:H7 inoculated in lettuce and beef were collected with high efficiency by using filtration or two‐step centrifugation. This method could quantify target microbial cells within 1 hr. Abstract Quality assurance is one of the fundamental ways of preventing infections from foodborne pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, which produces a deadly toxin.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the most hazardous pathogens causing seafood‐borne diseases in the southern Fujian coast, China. From June to October 2016, a total of 250 samples were collected from retail markets in the Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou regions. Seventy‐seven V. parahaemolyticus isolates were identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Then, molecular typing was performed using repetitive extragenic palindromic‐PCR (REP‐PCR).

Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Alternaria species which produce toxic metabolites, create a big problem in terms of the production of reliable human food and animal feeds. This study was conducted to determine the mycotoxin contents of foodstuff collected uniformly in each year of 2017, 2018, and 2019 in Şebinkarahisar, Turkey by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay.