Food Safety and Health最新文献

Functional milk peptides, derived from enzymatic hydrolysis of milk proteins such as casein and whey, exhibit a range of bioactivities. These include antihypertensive, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial effects, which contribute to their potential health benefits.

This study introduced two triazine haptens (with 0 or 1 carbon connecting arms at nonisopropyl positions) and developed two heterologous indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) methods. The IC₅₀ values for the 17 triazine pesticides ranged from 0.84 ng/mL to 225.63 ng/mL, and the established method was applied to determine their concentrations in tea samples. This study aimed to address the current debate on the recognition mechanism of triazine haptens with shorter connecting arms. This study produced two new findings by investigating the recognition mechanism of triazine haptens and antibodies. On the one hand, the specific amino acid isoleucine (ILE-219) is crucial for isopropyl recognition. On the other hand, the selection of the connecting site of the triazine hapten has a significant effect on the specificity of the antibody, with the influence of the length of the carbon connecting arm being secondary. Our newly designed haptens show promise for diverse triazine pesticide immunoassay applications. This discovery established a foundational framework for constructing a tailored antibody library for pollutants.

​Nutrients derived from food sources, such as astaxanthin, polyphenols, dietary fiber, probiotics, and short-chain fatty acids, play a crucial role in alleviating intestinal inflammation caused by sub-health conditions.​ These sub-health states are closely associated with a range of diseases, including colitis, gastric ulcers, and colorectal cancer. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive guidelines that summarize quantitative and dynamic analysis methods for assessing the impact of nutrients on gastrointestinal inflammation, which limits accurate comparison and analysis of their mechanisms of action. Therefore, we summarized guidelines for evaluating the in vivo anti-inflammatory properties of food-derived nutrients. These guidelines encompass the selection of experimental models, dynamic assessment tools, long-term evaluation parameters, and exploration of inflammation-related mechanisms by disease activity index, murine endoscopic index of colitis severity (MEICS), spleen index, changes in colon length, and histology index, assessing inflammatory progression and tissue repair capabilities. By integrating these methods, researchers can conduct in-depth studies and systematic comparative analyses of the mechanisms by which food-derived nutrients alleviate intestinal inflammation. This approach will enable a more comprehensive understanding of the role of nutrition in gastrointestinal health and disease prevention.

Escherichia coli is one of the most important foodborne pathogens. In food industry, heat treatment is the most commonly used means of sterilization. Bacteriophage is a new type of antibacterial agent. The combination of heat stable bacteriophage and heat treatment technology to control E. coli pollution in food is a new antibacterial method. A bacteriophage P785 capable of cleaving E. coli was isolated in this study. P785 belongs to the myxoviridae family. It could cleave 21 strains of bacteria, with a cleavage capacity of 83 PFU/cell, and the optimal multiple of infection (MOI) was 0.01. It has good tolerance to high temperature, pH, ultraviolet radiation (UV), and four organic reagents. No genes encoding virulence were found in the whole genome. When P785 (MOI = 10,000) was added to milk combined with heat treatment (55°C, 30 min), the number of host bacteria was less than 1 lg (CFU/mL) in 0–15 days under the storage condition of 4°C, and no host bacteria survived in 30 days. The results showed that P785 had a good killing effect on E. coli, and its combination with thermal processing could reduce the thermal processing temperature and prolong the shelf life of food.

Diabetes mellitus involves high blood sugar levels due to insufficient insulin action. Furthermore, enzymes such as α-amylase and α-glucosidase break down carbohydrates into glucose, leading to postprandial hyperglycemia. Flavonoids, particularly quercetin, inhibit these enzymes, slowing carbohydrate digestion and reducing glucose absorption. Quercetin has significant hypoglycemic effects with inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values comparable to acarbose, a standard inhibitor, suggesting its potential as a natural alternative for diabetes management. In silico models, including molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) approaches, help researchers understand the molecular interactions of therapeutic agents. These techniques identify potential inhibitors, determine enzyme-inhibitor structures, and calculate binding energies, correlating findings with in vitro or in vivo data. Molecular docking predicts molecular orientations, MD simulations offer insights into enzyme–inhibitor dynamics, and QSAR models predict inhibitory potential based on structural properties. Studies have shown that quercetin effectively inhibits α-glucosidase and α-amylase by forming hydrogen bonds with specific amino acid residues. Quercetin interacts with starches and reduces their digestibility, increases the formation of resistant starch, lowers the glycemic index, and inhibits digestive enzymes. Studies show that the effects of quercetin on starch digestion vary with concentration and type of starch, and its incorporation into foods such as bakery products, pasta, etc. can significantly decrease starch hydrolysis. The incorporation of quercetin into starch matrices may aid in the development of functional foods aimed at improving glycemic control.

In recent years, research on various bioactive compounds with anti-inflammation effects has become increasingly active. Evaluating anti-inflammatory activity is well established in cell models represented by RAW264.7 cells. Methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays are commonly used to detect the effects of drugs or deleterious substances on cytotoxicity, cell viability, and survival. RAW264.7 cells release nitric oxide (NO) when exposed to inflammatory stimuli, so their anti-inflammatory capacity can be assessed by detecting the NO content in cell culture supernatants, and the Griess method is one of the commonly used methods for determining NO concentration. RAW264.7 cells release a variety of inflammation-associated cytokines, such as the TNF-α and IL-1β, with ELISA being the standard method to detect the release of these inflammatory factors. For mRNA expression levels of genes associated with inflammation, real-time PCR (Quantitative Real-time PCR, qPCR) is commonly used. In addition, the well-known western blotting assay can be used to detect the expression levels of proteins associated with inflammatory signaling pathways. In this guideline, we discuss the basic principles and practices of the above experimental methods, which provide a valuable reference for the anti-inflammatory experimental methods in cellular models such as the RAW264.7 cells.

The luscious fruit-bearing plant Elaeagnus pyriformis (Hook. f.), sometimes called oleaster or silverberry, is found in northeastern India. Natives from this region consume fruit because it is believed to be nutritious and to offer protection against various diseases. This study aimed to prepare wine from Elaeagnus fruits and assess its nutritional content and antioxidant and anticancer properties in cancer cell lines. GC‒MS (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) was utilized to determine the active phytocompounds in the wine, which were then docked against cancer-related proteins. Simultaneously, 16S rRNA metagenomic analysis was conducted to identify the diverse bacterial species present in the wine samples. The results revealed significant amounts of free fatty acids, free amino acids, total sugars, total protein, macroelements, and microelements in Elaeagnus wine (oleaster wine). Oleaster wine exhibited high antioxidant activity, indicating its significant medicinal importance. Eleven putative phytocompounds were identified through GC‒MS analysis and a molecular docking study of these compounds revealed favorable interactions with the studied cancer-related proteins. A cell line study revealed that the wine possessed noteworthy anticancer activity, supporting its potential medicinal and biological benefits, as demonstrated by the in silico results. Furthermore, metagenomic analysis of the 16S rRNA V₃–V₄ region revealed that the wine sample and microbial population contained diverse bacterial species, which play a vital role in the anticancer properties. Considering all the in vitro, in silico, and metagenomic data, it can be concluded that the wine offers therapeutic and health benefits.

As a common food additive, excessive nitrite poses a great threat to human health, and monitoring its content in food products is of importance for healthy diet. Currently, the detection of nitrite content in food is primarily focused on fresh dishes, and there is a lack of research on monitoring the variations of nitrite in different foods under various storage conditions. In this study, we cascaded nanozyme catalysis with diazotization reaction and developed a ratiometric colorimetric assay to dynamically analyze nitrite in leftovers. First, nanoscale MnFe₂O₄ was synthesized as an oxidase mimic to catalyze colorless 3,3^′,5,5^′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) oxidation to blue TMBox. Then, a diazotization process of the produced TMBox took place under the stimulation of nitrite, lowering the ultraviolet-visible absorption signal (652 nm) assigned to TMBox and simultaneously generating a new signal at 445 nm ascribed to diazotized TMBox. Thus, a ratiometric colorimetric method could be constructed based on the above reversed variations of the two signals for high-selectivity nitrite determination, providing a linear range of 1.76–180 μM and a detection limit of 0.12 μM. By employing the established assay to dynamically monitor nitrite in food products, it was found that the nitrite content in overnight leftovers was higher than that in fresh dishes, presenting an increasing trend with storage time. In addition, potential impacts of storage factors on the dynamics of nitrite content were investigated, providing some implications for food preservation and daily consumption.

Due to microbial and enzymatic spoilage, dragon fruit juice has a limited shelf life. This study examines the shelf life of dragon fruit juice treated with thermal and pulsed light (PL) processing and stored at 4°C. The thermal treatment at 95°C/3 min and PL treatment at 1.4 J cm⁻² produce a microbially safe juice. Both thermal and PL-treated juice samples were packed in ethylene vinyl alcohol pouches and stored at refrigerated conditions (4°C). The juice's microbial, enzymatic, and biochemical attributes were analyzed over 30 days of refrigerated storage. There is no significant influence (p < 0.05) on total soluble solids, pH, and titratable acidity. The thermally treated juice loses 36% of the total phenols and 22% of antioxidants. The loss of bioactive compounds is higher in thermal than in PL treatment. The shelf life of PL-treated juice is 25 days, and thermal treatment juice is 30 days, based on the microbial analysis (6 log₁₀ CFU mL⁻¹). The study affirms the potential of PL treatment as an alternative technique for preserving dragon fruit juice.