The aim of this study was to evaluate element (sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, and lead) deposition in honey bees (
...Apis mellifera
L.) (worker bees, drone bees, and bee broods) and their products (wax and multifloral honey) in the central and north parts of Serbia using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study was carried out during the spring and summer seasons when the honeybees were active (2019). Fifty-four colonies of honey bees from different apiaries (located in Rudnik, Lazarevac, and Ležimir) were used in this study. Significant differences in element concentrations were found among locations (
P
< 0.05). The highest deposition of elements (sodium, calcium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium) was found in worker bees. The most commonly detected elements in wax were chromium and lead. Mg had a significant (
P
< 0.01) correlation with K, Fe, Cu, and As. This study shows that honey bees (worker bees, drone bees, and bee broods) could be more useful as bioindicators of environmental element deposition (toxic and non-toxic) than multifloral honey. Also, this study shows that Serbian multifloral honey meets safety criteria concerning the concentrations of toxic elements.
In this study, the effectiveness of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in inactivating murine norovirus (MNV/human norovirus surrogate) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) on aerosol-inoculated dark red ...Willamette raspberries was explored. Pulsed positive corona discharge system fed by synthetic air was used for the production of CAP. Raspberries were treated for 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 min at 25 W. Application of CAP enabled a 4 log10 infectivity reduction in <5 min for MNV and approximately 10 min for HAV (from starting level of 6.91 and 7.84 log10 PFU/mL, respectively). Viral genome copies reduction of 3.18 log10 for MNV and 4.32 for HAV were found from starting level of 5.76 and 6.47 log10 gc/μL, respectively. CAP treatment did not result in significant degradation of fruit color, an important quality attribute. The study demonstrated CAP as an efficient post-harvest decontamination method to reduce viral load in raspberries without significantly affecting its quality parameters.
Due to the fast-processing paces required in the raspberry industry, it is difficult to assure the complete microbiological safety of this fruit. Cold atmospheric plasma is a practical, environmentally-friendly, non-thermal tool for the effective reduction of microbial pathogens. The model developed in this study demonstrated that CAP treatment of fresh raspberries not only inactivated hazardous enteric viruses in a short time (10 min) but also unaffected fruit color stability. The simplicity of described CAP design and low-cost inputs (air and electricity) enable the commercial application of inexpensive plasma chambers for continuous surface decontamination of large volumes of raspberries without bringing processing to a standstill.
•Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) reduced murine norovirus infectivity by 4 log10 from starting level of 6.91 PFU/mL in 5 min at 25 W.•Hepatitis A virus was more resistant to CAP treatment requiring approximately 10 min to reduce its infectivity by 4 log10 from starting level of 7.84 PFU/mL.•Raspberry surface color quality was not perceptibly affected during the CAP treatment.•CAP could be used as an efficient virucidal non-thermal decontamination tool for fresh and frozen raspberries.
Mycotoxins are toxic compounds, produced by the secondary metabolism of toxigenic moulds in the Aspergillus, Alternaria, Claviceps, Fusarium, Penicillium and Stachybotrys genera occurring in food and ...feed commodities both pre- and post-harvest. Adverse human health effects from the consumption of mycotoxins have occurred for many centuries. When ingested, mycotoxins may cause a mycotoxicosis which can result in an acute or chronic disease episode. Chronic conditions have a much greater impact, numerically, on human health in general, and induce diverse and powerful toxic effects in test systems: some are carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, estrogenic, hemorrhagic, immunotoxic, nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, dermotoxic and neurotoxic. Although mycotoxin contamination of agricultural products still occurs in the developed world, the application of modern agricultural practices and the presence of a legislatively regulated food processing and marketing system have greatly reduced mycotoxin exposure in these populations. However, in developing countries, where climatic and crop storage conditions are frequently conducive to fungal growth and mycotoxin production, much of the population relies on subsistence farming or on unregulated local markets. Therefore both producers and governmental control authorities are directing their efforts toward the implementation of a correct and reliable evaluation of the real status of contamination of a lot of food commodity and, consequently, of the impact of mycotoxins on human and animal health.
Concentrations of toxic elements (lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic) were measured in water, sediment, and four commercial fish species (
Cyprinus carpio
,
Hypophthalmichthys molitrix
,
Silurus ...glanis
, and
Esox lucius
) and their tissues (muscle, liver, and kidney) from Saničani Lake, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The concentration of toxic elements was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. Toxic element concentrations were significantly affected by the fish species and tissues sampled. The lead was the most heavily deposited element in lake sediments and waters. The highest concentrations of Pb and Cd were in the kidney in all four fish species. Concentrations of Hg and As were higher in the muscle than in the kidney and liver in all four fish species. The toxic element concentrations in all examined tissues were significantly higher in
Silurus glanis
and
Esox lucius
than in the other fish species examined. Concentrations of all tested elements were present in the fish muscle at different levels, but these levels were under the maximum levels allowed by the European Union and FAO/WHO. Accordingly, fish meat from this lake is acceptable for human consumption.
Bee bread can be defined as a popular bee product (behind honey, propolis, beewax, bee pollen, royal jelly and apitoxin), a natural substance, a mixture of bee pollen, honey and lactic acid bacteria ...that is the result of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation of bee pollen collected by bees from the natural environment, and is the protein basis of food in the beehive.
Primarily, honey bees use bee bread for brood growing (nutrition), but humans use bee bread in folk medicine and apitherapy, but also as a functional food, according to the bread's powerful healing properties and content of different molecules (bioactive, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, etc.). The biological properties of bee bread depend on its chemical composition, the melliferous plants in the region, geographical area, season, climatic conditions, etc.
According to its chemical and nutritional properties, bee bread is more valuable (higher biological value, faster digestibility and better chemical composition if compared to bee pollen) than bee pollen. Bee bread contains about 250 different substances, such as proteins, macro- and microelements, lipids, free amino acids, fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic), flavonoids, phenolic compounds, vitamins, and enzymes. Many different scientific articles have been published in international journals with focus on the chemical composition of honey, bee pollen and propolis. This paper contributes to the knowledge of the chemical composition, nutritional value and bioactivity of bee bread.
The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of marination, on the growth of
spp. in contaminated broiler breast fillets during storage. In the conducted study, broiler breast fillets were ...inoculated with a cocktail of different
strains and afterwards marinated in different solutions of table salt, sodium tripolyphosphate and/or sodium citrate. The total count of
spp. was examined on the 0, 3
, 6
and 9
day of storage. Broiler breast fillets salted in 6% solution of table salt were used as the control. Proximate composition and salt content, pH value and a
value, were determined as the meat quality parameters and parameters which can affect environmental conditions for bacterial growth, as well. Compared to initial contamination,
spp. count in marinated and salted fillets did not change significantly (p<0.001) until the 3
and 6
day of storage, respectively, but it increased significantly on the 9
day of storage. Marination of broiler breast fillets in different solutions of table salt, sodium tripolyphosphate and/or sodium citrate had a significant influence(p<0.05; p<0.01) on pH and a
value, moisture, ash and salt content in marinated broiler meat, but there was no significant influence (p>0.05) on protein and fat content in broiler meat. According to the results obtained it can be concluded that marination of broiler breast fillets in solutions containing table salt, sodium trpolyphosphate and/or citrate, in some way, can prolongate the lag phase of
spp. growth, where sodium citrate is more effective than sodium tripolyphosphate.
Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of human diarrheal disease. The objective of this research study was to determine the prevalence of different virulence genes in isolates recovered from broiler ...meat at slaughterhouses in Serbia. Out of 115 Campylobacter spp. samples recovered, a total of 35 isolates were identified as C. jejuni on the basis of morphological, biochemical-based detection, multiplex PCR, and sequencing of the highly conserved region of the dnaJ gene encoding the DnaJ Hsp40 family protein. The isolates were screened for the presence of four pathogenic genes, namely flaA, cadF, cdtB, and cgtB, which are responsible for the expression of adherence, colonization, cytotoxin production in C. jejuni, and the onset of Guillain-Barre syndrome. The isolates showed a wide variation in the presence of these genes. All the isolates were positive for flaA. Furthermore, a high genetic heterogeneity in the C. jejuni population was found in this study, showing a pattern partially different from other reported virulence genes. Of the C. jejuni studied, 94.3%, 97.1% and 5.7% were positive for cadF, cdtB and cgtB, respectively. This study provides initial data on the prevalence and distribution of the flaA, cadF, cdtB, and cgtB genes in C. jejuni isolated from broiler meat in Serbia. Key words: slaughterhouse; C jejuni; virulence genes
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