Food Safety and Health最新文献

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by a variety of fungal and mold species. One of the mycotoxin families that is often regarded as the most concerned one in human and animal feeds, is aflatoxin. Aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus species are very toxic and cause significant contamination of food supplies, resulting in serious health repercussions including carcinogenicity. To date, several regulations on aflatoxin permissible level limits have been established in a number of nations. Based on government guidelines and restrictions, consumers and food producers anticipate that aflatoxin contamination in food should not negatively impact human and animal health. Aflatoxin contamination of food commodities poses a consequential risk to humans and is also associated with substantial financial losses. Conventional mycotoxin reduction strategies involve both preventative and decontamination approaches. The present review gives an update on recent research on conventional approaches, including pre- and post-harvest procedures that could potentially be used to decontaminate aflatoxin. Additionally, the current study delves into the source of contamination, global occurrence, impact on human health, and management strategies to assure food security and safety.

Food contaminants have consistently posed a serious threat to human health and have caused various food safety problems. The most common techniques currently used for the detection of food contaminants, include instrumental and immunoassay methods; however, these traditional methods have shown some limitations when applied to the analysis of food contaminants. Therefore, in recent years, more and more researchers have been devoted to the development of rapid, reliable, sensitive, and suitable detection techniques for the detection of food contaminants in food matrices. In this review, we first classify the analytical methods proposed in recent years into colorimetric methods, fluorescence methods, photoelectrochemical methods, electrochemical methods, nucleic acid amplification methods, and other methods, and illustrate their detection principles. In addition, the paper highlights the strategies and recent research advances for each method through typical application examples. Finally, the future perspectives of these analytical methods are presented. We hope that this review will provide researchers with valuable insights to guide the sensitive detection of food contaminants.

Bletilla formosana (Hayata) Schltr. is an important economic medicinal and edible plant in China. Its tubers (BFTs) are traditionally consumed as a beverage and canned foods for promoting human health. In this paper, the nutrients, the contents of total phenol, flavonoids, and polysaccharides, and the safety and toxicity of BFT are determined. The chemical analysis reported that BFT is rich in proteins, polysaccharides, polyphenols, flavonoids, and trace elements. The acute (14 days), subacute (28 days), and sub-chronic (90 days) toxicities of BFT were evaluated for the first time in female and male rats. An acute toxicity study showed that the female rats by single oral administrations of BFT with 10,000 mg/kg body weight (BW) did not have behavioral changes and mortality, indicating that 50% lethal dose (LD50) of BFT was over 10,000 mg/kg BW. Similarly, BFT at 5000 mg/kg BW for consecutive 28 and 90 days in rats was also not toxic for rats after the analysis of physiological and biochemical parameters. Additionally, there are no significant differences on the histopathological changes of the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, ovary, or testis between the control and BFT groups. Our findings revealed that BFT with concentration of less than 5000 mg/kg BW are safe for the female or male rats, indicating that BFT could be regarded as a safe food source.

Crops produced using recombinant DNA technology have invaluable food security roles but are not broadly accepted. Food insecurity affects between 45% and 50% of the Ghanaian populace, while the debate to adopt, accept, use, and commercialize genetically modified (GM) crops is ongoing. In this study, a choice-based conjoint experimental design was adopted to investigate factors driving the acceptance or rejection of GM crops in Ghana. Results from average marginal component effect estimation suggest that safety concern is the major driver for accepting or rejecting GM crops. This was further confirmed using predicted probabilities and marginal means estimation of community acceptance especially when it possesses certain attributes. The safer the GM crop is perceived for human consumption, health, and environment, the more likely the Ghanaian populace will accept it. In addition, yield and taste were observed to be other key driving factors to accept GM crops. Importantly, the country of patency was also observed to be a critical driving factor for whether or not a GM crop is accepted in Ghana. There is a need for active and greater engagement with the Ghanaian populace to put proper legislation, regulations, policies, and knowledge co-creation process to ensure the proper use of GM crops.

The occurrence of hyperuricemia is increasing yearly. Based on network pharmacology, this study predicted the molecular targets and signaling pathways of ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid for improving hyperuricemia. The results were verified through in vitro cell experiments. After enrichment analysis of 11 core targets of ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid to improve hyperuricemia, the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway was considered as the most significant signaling pathway. In the hyperuricemia cell model, ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid significantly increased cell viability and decreased the cell uric acid (UA) content. Ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid significantly regulated the expression of UA transport-related proteins, namely urate organic anion transporter 1, glucose transporter 9, and adenosine triphosphate-binding transporter protein G2. Ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid also downregulated the phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt, which inhibited the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. This study confirmed that ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid could regulate UA-related proteins through the PI3K/Akt pathway and promote UA excretion to alleviate hyperuricemia. The results of this research provided a theoretical basis for further research and development of UA-lowering products.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has exhibited promising preventive and therapeutic attributes against COVID-19. This study aims to investigate the active constituents within star anise and elucidate their mechanisms in combatting COVID-19, employing a combination of GC-MS analysis, network pharmacology, and molecular docking techniques. Various extraction methods were employed to obtain star anise compounds, which were subsequently subjected to GC-MS analysis. A comprehensive star anise and COVID-19-related genomic network was established through Swiss Target Prediction and disease-gene databases. Network pharmacology analysis unveiled the significant prominence of common core targets, namely TLR4, PTGS2, RELA, and ESR1. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses revealed that star anise may exert its preventive effects against COVID-19 by modulating immune responses, apoptosis, and viral infections. Molecular docking investigations provided compelling evidence of substantial interactions between the active compounds found in star anise and the key target proteins. In summary, this work has the potential to offer new avenues and a theoretical foundation for a more in-depth understanding of the multicomponents, multitarget, and multipathway properties of star anise in preventing COVID-19.

Curcuminoids, resevetrol, and quericitin are naturally occurring compounds in various foods that contain antiviral functionalities. Among them, curcuminoids are the lipophilic phenolic compounds extracted from rhizomes of Curcuma longa. L, a perennial plant from the Zingiberaceae family. Industrial applications and popularization of curcuminoids are still developing slowly due to the unacceptable bitter taste and poor bioavailability of these components. Appropriate extraction conditions play a central role to obtain extracts and preserve the biological activity of curcuminoids. Green extraction technologies can be of great value to extract these bioactive compounds. Curcuminoids are biologically effective in terms of molecular targets and physiological effects against some of the main global diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and arthritis. Being nutraceutical, curcuminoids and its food products could be a new challenge to combat the COVID-19 like viral infections. This review summarized the latest data related to chemical composition, production, extraction methods, potential health benefits, and relation of curcuminoids to COVID-19 treatment.

Obesity has emerged as a global health epidemic, demanding a comprehensive understanding of its etiology and potential interventions. Recent studies have highlighted the crucial role of gut microbiota in maintaining host health. Additionally, dietary polysaccharides (DP), such as pectic polysaccharides, sulfated polysaccharides, glucan-like polysaccharides, and fructan-like polysaccharides, have been identified as crucial regulators that influence gut microbial composition, function, and metabolite production, thereby improving obesity and mitigating its complications. This review comprehensively summarizes the latest findings regarding the sources and structural characteristics of different DP, their shared and distinct effects on gut microbiota and associated metabolites, and the consequent influence on obesity and its complications. By unraveling the complex interplay among DP, gut microbiota, and obesity-related outcomes, we strive to offer valuable insights that can inform the development of precise dietary interventions and therapeutic strategies aimed at tackling obesity and enhancing public health.

Bakery premixes are composed of a blend of ingredients that offer convenient and quick baking solutions. In the present study, four blends were prepared by taking buckwheat, chickpea, plantain flour, and rice flour in the ratio of (40:20:10:30) T1, (40:20:20:20) T2, (40:20:30:10) T3, and (40:20:40:0) T4. Cake premixes were formulated by adding sugar, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, and glycerol monostearate in the ratio of 60:5:2.5:1:2 in all the four blends. Blends were analyzed for physicochemical, functional, thermal, bioactive, and antioxidant properties, and premixes were evaluated for cake baking quality. The T3 premix was selected based on evaluated parameters, and the prepared cake contained about 5.02% protein, 27.70% fat, and 1.22% fiber. Textural attributes of cake from the premix were comparable to nongluten cakes available in the market. The cake premix T3 remained acceptable in terms of quality with progression of the storage period of 120 days in aluminum laminates under ambient conditions. During storage, the moisture content decreased from 9.52% to 6.72%, the free fatty acid increase was up to 0.117%, and the peroxide value increased up to 0.48 meq O₂/kg. The developed gluten-free premix will provide nutritional, economic, and better texture attributes to the target segment of consumers.

Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphorus pesticide, is widely used in agriculture to protect crops from insects. However, the presence of its residues in food has caused widespread concern due to the serious risks to human health. Traditional detection methods suffer from limitations, such as low sensitivity, long detection time, and complicated operations. Herein, based on the tyramine signal amplification (TSA) strategy, we developed a sensitive and rapid magnetic relaxation switching (MRS) immunosensor for the detection of chlorpyrifos. Wherein, magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles modified with tyramine (MNP₁₅₀-tyramine) acted as magnetic probes for magnetic relaxation signal output. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), tyramine can be converted to the highly reactive intermediate that covalently binds with the nearby proteins, such as HRP and antibody, thus assembling MNPs to magnetic clusters and showing changes in transverse relaxation time (T₂) signals. Based on the “antibody–antigen” immunoreaction, chlorpyrifos could make a connection of HRP/antibody-modified MNPs and MNP₁₅₀-tyramine with a result of MNPs aggregation and strong T₂ signals. In this study, the TSA-MRS method showed sensitive detection of chlorpyrifos with a limit of detection of 0.54 ng/mL, a 4.5-fold enhancement in the sensitivity compared with the ELISA method, providing an alternative method for the detection of harmful substances in food samples.