Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods最新文献

{"title":"Vintage identification of sauce-flavor liquor based on fluorescence spectroscopy","authors":"Rizeng Tao, Huizi Liu, Chunfeng Guo, Jun Zou, Qifei Zhu, Yifan Yang, Bobo Yang, Lihua Chen","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i4.1371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i4.1371","url":null,"abstract":"The vintage of sauce-flavor liquor represents its collection value and grade, so its identification is essential for collectors and connoisseurs. In this research, a vintage identification model for sauce-flavor liquors was proposed based on the fluorescence spectroscopy method. A fluorescence spectrophotometer was used to measure the fluorescence spectrum of sauce-flavor liquors of different years, and the optimum emission peaks of the spectrum were obtained. By analyzing these optimum emission peaks, it was determined that intensity of the spectrum increased with the vintage of sauce-flavor liquor. A prediction model was established to identify quantitatively the vintage of sauce-flavor liquor according to spectrum intensity, and its coefficient of determination (R2) was 0. 995. The prediction model was verified with an average error of 0.06 years. Moreover, an online testing platform was designed to realize the real-time, rapid, and quantitative vintage identification of sauce-flavor liquors. The model and platform should be helpful for evaluating sauce-flavor liquor.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139237855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antifungal strains M1-8 and M6-4 as biocontrol agents against Aspergillus flavus on peanut kernels","authors":"Yanjie Yi, Youtian Shan, Yu Lou, Zhiwen Ning, Qingyao Zhang, Yingao Yang, Yuqian Liang, Jinsheng Shi, Zhipeng Hou","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i4.1186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i4.1186","url":null,"abstract":"Aspergillus flavus is the main pathogenic fungi for peanut kernels, and it has highly negative economic and health impacts. To explore the biological control agent against A. flavus, two antagonistic strains were screened from 70 bacteria isolates from moldy stuff and identified as Burkholderia plantarii M1-8 and Burkholderia glumae M6-4. In vitro pathogen inhibition determination indicated culture filtrates of M1-8 and M6-4 had distinct inhibition zones and could decrease the mycelial growth of A. flavus. Furthermore, the biocontrol assay showed moldy rates of peanut seeds treated with culture filtrate were much lower than that of the control group. The biocontrol efficacy of M1-8 and M6-4 culture filtrate reached 88.6% and 84.2%, respectively, which were higher than that of the sorbic acid treatment group. Moreover, culture filtrate of M1-8 was tolerant to proteinase K, high light, pH and temperature (below 70°C), and had good stability of antifungal activity. The results indicate that these two antifungal strains could be used as biocontrol agents for controlling A. flavus during the peanut supply and storage period.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139274870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Surveillance of mycotoxin contaminants and mycotoxigenic fungi in agricultural produce","authors":"S. Takooree, N. Mamode Ally, Ajjmeerah Bibi Ameerkhan, V. Ranghoo‐Sanmukhiya, R. A. Duchenne-Moutien, H. Neetoo","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i4.1211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i4.1211","url":null,"abstract":"Food crops, including vegetables, are prone to attack by pathogenic and mycotoxigenic fungi and represent a food safety and public health risk. The study aimed to detect and quantify mycotoxins in vegetables widely consumed in Mauritius. Diseased samples of garlic, onion, potato, pumpkin and tomato were collected post-harvest. Following microscopic identification of the suspect pathogen(s), samples were tested for mycotoxins by ELISA. Results demonstrated a high mean level of citrinin in garlic (5,448.6 μg/kg) and ochratoxin in onion (9.25 μg/kg), which exceeded the permissible limits, thus pointing to potential health risks associated with the consumption of these vegetables.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139277348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Potentials of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) peel extract for quality enhancement of refrigerated beef meat","authors":"Moufida Chaari, Khaoula Elhadef, S. Akermi, Hajer Ben Hlima, M. Fourati, Ahlem Chakchouk Mtibaa, M. Ennouri, T. D’Amore, Diyar Salahuddin Ali, L. Mellouli, Amin Mousavi Khaneghah, S. Smaoui","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i4.1376","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i4.1376","url":null,"abstract":"Given the significant quantity of betalain pigments, beetroot represents a potential source of natural colorants that can be employed in the food industry. The present investigation explored the impact of ethanolic beetroot peel (EBP) extract in beef meat preservation. EBP displayed a 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging effect with an IC50 value of 0.96 mg/mL. The anti-S. aureus, anti-L. monocytogenes, anti-E. coli, and anti-Salmonella enterica activity was assessed, and the minimum inhibitory concentration was ≤1.5 mg/mL. EBP extracts at three concentrations of 0.075%, 0.15%, and 0.3%, and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) concentration of 0.01%, employed at its recommended limit, were incorporated in refrigerated raw minced beef meat. The impact of these treatments on chemical stability, instrumental color, microbiological and sensory attributes of meat was monitored for 14 days at 4°C. At different levels, EBP extract led to a decrease in lipid/protein oxidation parameters and delayed microbial load throughout storage, with improved instrumental color and sensory traits. Interestingly, EBP extract at 0.3% has the strongest preservative effect until the end of storage. Using principal component analysis, effective discrimination was elucidated by linking sensory traits with chemical oxidation behavior, microbial alterations, and instrumental color. This investigation proved that EBP could be an encouraging natural additive in the meat industry.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139277292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Combining network pharmacology and bioinformatics to identify bioactive compounds and potential mechanisms of action of Sedum aizoon L in the treatment of atherosclerosis","authors":"Bo Jie Zhu, G. Nai, Tian Xiao Pan, Zhuo Fei Ma, W. Zhou","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i3.1333","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i3.1333","url":null,"abstract":"Sedum aizoon L (SL) is a medicinal plant containing several active components with anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, and blood pressure lowering effects. The aim of this research was to investigate the main pathways, mechanisms, and active components of SL to treat atherosclerosis (AS) through network pharmacology. The active ingredients and their targets of action were obtained by setting the active ingredient-screening conditions using SL as a keyword in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform. The differentially expressed genes related to AS were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, and the targets related to the treatment of AS were retrieved from databases, such as DisGeNet and GENECARDs, and the targets of AS and SL were intersected using the Cytoscape software platform and applied to construct a drug–compound–target–pathway network map. Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses, and protein–protein interaction were performed to explore the mechanisms of action of SL against AS. In all, 12 active ingredients were screened from the chemical composition of SL, among which myricetin, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, sitosterol, and beta-sitosterol were the major active ingredients for the anti-atherosclerotic effect of SL. Combining the active ingredient–target network and disease–target protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, GO and KEGG analysis, tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, and interleukin-17 signaling pathway were the key pathways of action. SL acts as an anti-atherosclerotic agent through multiple chemical components, targets, and pathways. The active ingredients of SL mainly play the role of prevention and treatment of AS by inhibiting inflammatory response, as an antioxidant, and by lowering blood lipids, thereby providing the theoretical basis for its clinical use.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76915866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Individual and combined decontamination effect of fermentation and ultrasound on aflatoxin B1 in wheat-based doughs","authors":"Amanda Gonçalves, Sher Ali, C. Corassin, R. Rosim, C. Oliveira","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i3.1244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i3.1244","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, a preliminary investigation was conducted to examine the effect of ultrasound (US), alone or in combination with fermentation, on the reduction of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) at 50 ng/g in wheat flour-based doughs. The US treatment was performed by soaking flasks containing triplicate samples of non-fermented and fermented (18 h at 28°C; 85% relative humidity) doughs in US bath (40 kHz; 100 W/cm2) at 35°C for 10, 30 and 60 min. Percentage reduction of AFB1 levels as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography varied between 3.6% and 46.0% in non-fermented doughs, and from 6.7% to 61.7% in fermented doughs. The US treatments used in the experiment did not interfere with the titratable acidity of fermented doughs, hence confirming US as a promising technique to reduce aflatoxin levels in fermented wheat-based products. The future studies are required to determine other parameters, such as temperature and pH of the product, to optimize the decontamination process of AFB1 as well as to evaluate possible effects of US on the sensory attributes of wheat-based products.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90870608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of vitamins A, C, and D and zinc on urinary tract infections","authors":"Peng Gao, Wei-Yen Liang, Haimei Li, Lijia Guan, Qian Zhao, Dan Li","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i3.1292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i3.1292","url":null,"abstract":"Urinary tract infection (UTI) is responsible for a significant portion of the overall expenses of health care as well as mortality rates globally. We searched through the available research to evaluate whether micronutrient supplements affect the frequency and intensity of UTI in children Papers that investigated the effects of vitamins D and C, zinc, and multiple micronutrient supplementations (MMS) on the incidence and severity of UTI in pediatric patients were pooled together. A random effects model was used to conduct a meta-analysis of data. Vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of UTI and shortened the duration of symptoms in children. If a clinical diagnosis or laboratory investigation was used to confirm UTI, the relative probability of UTI with vitamin D was remote from the null than using the self-report. If vitamin C was administrated, the frequency of UTI was reduced, and the period of clinical manifestations was cut to half. It was not possible to determine the impact of using zinc supplements. According to the findings of the current review, taking micronutrient supplements such as zinc, vitamins C and D, and multiple micronutrient supplementation could assist in preventing UTI and lessen its clinical outcome in pediatric patients. More research is required to establish the effect of individual or combination of micronutrients on the treatment outcomes of UTI.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85071506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Apple diseases: detection and classification using transfer learning","authors":"Assif Assad, M. Bhat, Z. A. Bhat, Ab Naffi Ahanger, Majid Kundroo, R. Dar, Abdul Basit Ahanger, B. N. Dar","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15isp1.1167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15isp1.1167","url":null,"abstract":"Human diagnosis of horticultural diseases comes with added monetary costs in the shape of time, cost, and acces-sibility, with still considerable possibilities of misdiagnosis. Most common plant diseases present visually recognizable symptoms like change in color, shape, or texture. Deep learning is known to work with such accuracy and precision in recognizing patterns in such visual symptoms that rivals human diagnosis. We specifically designed a deep learning–based multi-class classification model AppleNet to include extra apple plant diseases, which has not been the case with other previously designed models. Our model takes advantage of transfer learning techniques by implementing ResNET 50 Convolutional Neural Network pretrained on image-net dataset. The knowledge of features learned by ResNET 50 is being used to extract features from our dataset. This technique takes advantage of knowledge learned on a larger and more diverse dataset and also saves precious computational resources and time in training on a relatively lesser data. The hyper-parameters were uniquely fine-tuned to maximize the model efficiency. We created our own dataset from the images taken directly from the trees, which, unlike the publicly available datasets created in a controlled setting with smooth (white) background, has been created in a real world environment and includes background noise as well. This helped us train our model in a more realistic way. The results of experimentation on a collected dataset of 2897 images with data augmentation demonstrated that AppleNet can be efficiently used for apple disease detection with a classification accuracy of 96.00%. To examine the effectiveness of our proposed approach, we compared our model with other pretrained models and a baseline model created from scratch. Results of the experiment demonstrate that transfer learning improves the performance of deep learning models and using pretrained models based on residual neural network architectures gives remarkable results as compared to other pretrained models. The mean difference in classification accuracies between our proposed model AppleNet and other experimental models was 21.54%.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86579111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of nitrogen and selenium treatments on the texture parameters of ‘Qingcui’ plum fruit","authors":"Xieping Sun, M. Ling, Junyan Wang, Guoqiang Han, Xiaoli Ma, Linling Kou","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i3.1264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i3.1264","url":null,"abstract":"‘Qingcui’ plum fruit becomes soft at harvesting. In this study, we assessed the effect of the following different treatments on various fruit texture parameters: three concentrations of nitrogen (NH4NO3 0%, 0.5% and 1%) and three forms of selenium (selenomethylcysteine [C5H9NO2SSe/SeMeCys], sodium selenate [Na2SeO4] and sele-nomethionine [SeMet]). The fruit texture parameters evaluated were fracture, hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, chewiness and initial modulus under 4oC. Results showed that the optimal N concentration was 1% and the optimal Se form was SeMeCys. Fruits treated with SeMeCys had similar fruit texture parameters as those of the group under cysteine treatment. We then sprayed the fruit with approximately 2 mL/fruit of the following treatments: five different combinations ratios of Se (SeMeCys; 10 mg/L) and N (NH4NO3; 1%) (2:18; 4:16; 10:10; 16:4; 18:2), after which the fruit was stored at 4oC for 13 days. The parameters of fruit texture, fruit color, and other fruit qualities were measured. Linear correlations were observed between parameters, and main sensory qualities were analyzed. We observed that a combination of Se and N in a ratio of 18:2 produced the best results in terms of fracture, first hardness and second hardness, preventing the softening of the fruit. The parameters of soluble protein, titratable acid and soluble solids had significant linear relationships with three fixture parameters. The fruit color parameters of a* (greenness) and b* (yellowness) also had significant linear correlations with fracture and first hardness. These findings may offer a promising strategy to prolong fruit storage and maintain fruit crispness and hardness.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75321638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cortex Mori extract inhibits migration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells by blocking RECQL4-induced NF-κB and ERK signaling pathways","authors":"Qin Li, Enyao Wei, Wenbin Zhang, Feng Zhang","doi":"10.15586/qas.v15i3.1278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15586/qas.v15i3.1278","url":null,"abstract":"Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAC) is one of the usual tumors of the lung with high mortality rate. RecQ-like helicase 4 (RECQL4) gene has been discovered to take part in the progression of different cancers by undertaking as an oncogene, and is relevant with poor prognosis of LUAC. Cortex Mori (CM) extract has been investigated to affect cellular progress to regulate different diseases. However, the detailed functioning of RECQL4 and CM extract, as well as their regulatory mechanisms in LUAC, has not been illustrated. The purpose of the present study was to probe the impact of RECQL4 and CM extract on progression of LUAC. The expression of RECQL4 in LUAC was assessed by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The mRNA expression of RECQL4 was examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The protein expressions (epithelial–mesenchymal transition [EMT] process, nuclear factor kappa B [NF-κB] and extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK] signaling pathways-related proteins) were determined by Western blot analysis. The cell proliferation was tested through cell counting kit-8 assay. Cell migration and invasion was affirmed by wound-healing and transwell assays. The cell senescence was assessed through senescence-associated beta-galactosidase staining. The cell cycle was inspected by flow cytometry. Our findings demonstrated that RECQL4 exhibited higher expression in LUAC tissues and cell lines. Through functional experiments, we found that RECQL4 facilitated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion as well as EMT progression. In addition, RECQL4 relieved cell cycle arrest and cell senescence. Moreover, RECQL4 activated NF-κB and ERK signaling pathways by enhancing phospho(p)-p65–p65 and p-ERK–ERK levels in LUAC. CM extract exhibited antitumor effects in LUAC, and blocked RECQL4-induced NF-κB and ERK signaling pathways. Our results manifested that CM extract inhibited migration and invasion of LUAC cells by blocking RECQL4-induced NF-κB and ERK signaling pathways. This result could provide a promising therapeutic strategy for LUAC.","PeriodicalId":20738,"journal":{"name":"Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82154722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}