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This study investigated the complex interactions between a novel consortium and tomato seedlings under cadmium (Cd) stress. The consortium consists of two bacteria, Pseudomonas sp. HS4 and Paenarthrobacter sp. AS8, both with proven plant growth-promoting (PGP) properties, isolated from Cd hyperaccumulators. Our research highlights the paradoxical effects of these bacteria, revealing their dual role in reducing Cd uptake while simultaneously inducing oxidative stress in plants. Hydroponic experiments showed that the consortium reduced Cd accumulation in tomato shoots by 52% compared to uninoculated controls. However, this reduction was accompanied by decreased plant biomass and increased oxidative stress, with malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) levels up to 80% and 160% higher, respectively, in inoculated plants. Root H₂O₂ production increased by 38% under 50 μM Cd without a corresponding rise in catalase (CAT) activity. Despite Cd exposure, the consortium promoted chlorophyll and carotenoid synthesis, restoring pigment levels to those of unstressed controls. Gene expression analysis revealed a complex impact on stress responses, with inoculation suppressing Sl1 gene expression in roots and upregulating the oxidative stress-related GR-1 gene in shoots. These findings highlight the complex and multifaceted relationship between beneficial bacteria and plant fitness under heavy metal stress, with significant implications for sustainable agriculture. The study raises new questions regarding the broader physiological and ecological impacts of applying hyperaccumulator-associated bacteria in crop management, emphasizing the necessity for deeper mechanistic insights into these interactions to fully harness their potential in improving crop resilience and productivity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nowadays food safety and protection are a growing concern for food producers and food industry. The stability of food-grade materials is key in food processing and shelf life. Pickering emulsions (PEs) have gained significant attention in food regimes owing to their stability enhancement of food specimens. PE can be developed by high and low-energy methods. The use of PE in the food sector is completely safe as it uses solid biodegradable particles to stabilize the oil in water and it also acts as an excellent carrier of essential oils (EOs). EOs are useful functional ingredients, the inclusion of EOs in the packaging film or coating formulation significantly helps in the improvement of the shelf life of the packed food item. The highly volatile nature, limited solubility and ease of oxidation in light of EOs restricts their direct use in packaging. In this context, the use of PEs of EOs is suitable to overcome most of the challenges, Therefore, recently there have been many papers published on PEs of EOs including active packaging film and coatings and the obtained results are promising. The current review amalgamates these studies to inform about the chemistry of PEs followed by types of stabilizers, factors affecting the stability and different high and low-energy manufacturing methods. Finally, the review summarizes the recent advancement in PEs-added packaging film and their application in the enhancement of shelf life of food., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bioplastics are a promising alternative to non-biodegradable plastics. One of these bioplastics, PBAT (polybutylene adipate co-terephthalate), is a polyester-based bioplastic commonly used to manufacture flexible packaging films. PBAT-based films have high flexibility but relatively low strength compared to other bioplastics. The strength of PBAT films can be improved by blending them with other fillers/polymers. Additionally, the functionality of PBAT films can be enhanced by incorporating bioactive functional fillers. The physical and functional properties of PBAT films produced by adding active ingredients provide functionality and are a good alternative to non-degradable petrochemical-based plastics. The PBAT-based functional films protect food and improve packaged foods' quality and life span. Thus, this review provides recent advances in PBAT-based films and their use in active food packaging applications. After briefly describing the different fabrication methods of PBAT films, various important physical and functional properties and biodegradability are comprehensively discussed. PBAT-based active packaging film in real-time food packaging is also briefly covered. Through this review, more attention is expected to be focused on research on PBAT-based biodegradable active food packaging., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Photocatalysts based on titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) were widely applied to solve environmental problems such as water and air pollution treatment. Currently, the application of these compounds for food packaging is increasing. This study prepared silver (Ag) doped TiO 2 photocatalyst (Ag/TiO 2 ) for the decomposition of gas ethylene (Eth), which is the main factor that causes fruits to over-ripen and damage or decay. It found that the doping of Ag could improve the optical property and light adsorption ability of Ag/TiO 2 photocatalyst, which directly enhanced the photocatalytic decomposition of Eth performance. Under visible light, Ag/TiO 2 could depredate 91.2% of Eth, while the removal performance by using the original TiO 2 was 43.9%. The increased initial concentration of Eth from 5 to 30 ppm could inhibit the photocatalytic efficiency of Ag/TiO 2 from 98.6 to 69.2%. Besides, the relative humidity and gas flow rate are roles in the Eth decomposition process. The recycling experiment confirmed that Ag/TiO 2 had good reusability with a slight loss in photocatalytic performance (18.6%) after ten cycles tested. The future protective application of Ag/TiO 2 for food protection during storage and transportation is discussed. This work provides a potential method to remove gas ethylene, reduce the ripening process and extend the shelf life of fruits., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

During recent decades, the complexation of organic ligands toward several metal ions of s-p and d-block has been applied as a plan to enhance its antioxidant performance. Due to their wide range of beneficial impacts, coordination compounds are widely used in industries, specifically in the medicinal and pharmaceutical fields. The activity is generally improved by chelation consequently knowing that the characteristics of both ligands and metals can lead to the development of greatly active compounds. Chelation compounds are a substitute for using the traditional synthetic antioxidants, because metal chelates present benefits, including a variety in geometry, oxidation states, and coordination number, that assist and favor the redox methods associated with antioxidant action. As well as understanding the best studied anti-oxidative assets of these compounds, coordination compounds are involved in the free radical scavenging process and protecting human organisms from the opposing effects of these radicals. The antioxidant ability can be assessed by various interrelated systems. The methodological modification offers the most knowledge on the antioxidant property of metal chelates. Colorimetric techniques are the most used, though electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is an alternative for metallic compounds, since color does not affect the results. Information about systems, with their benefits, and restrictions, permits a dependable valuation of the antioxidant performance of coordination compounds, as well as assisting application in various states wherever antioxidant drugs are required, such as in food protection, appropriate good-packaged foods, dietary supplements, and others. Because of the new exhaustive analysis of organic ligands, it has become a separate field of research in chemistry. The present investigation will be respected for providing a foundation for the antioxidant properties of organic ligands, future tests on organic ligands, and building high-quality antioxidative compounds.

Trehalose is a nonreducing disaccharide composed of two glucose molecules linked by α, α-1,1-glycosidic bond. It is present in a wide variety of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, insects, plants, and invertebrate animals. Trehalose has distinct physical and chemical properties that have been investigated for their biological importance in a range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic species. Emerging research on trehalose has identified untapped opportunities for its application in the food, medical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. This review summarizes the chemical and biological properties of trehalose, its occurrence and metabolism in living organisms, its protective role in molecule stabilization, and natural and commercial production methods. Utilization of trehalose in the food industry, in particular how it stabilizes protein, fat, carbohydrate, and volatile compounds, is also discussed in depth. Challenges and opportunities of its application in specific applications (e.g., diagnostics, bioprocessing, ingredient technology) are described. We conclude with a discussion on the potential of leveraging the unique molecular properties of trehalose in molecular stabilization for improving the safety, quality, and sustainability of our food systems., (© 2022 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Age-related changes in spatial and temporal processing have been documented across a range of species. Rodent studies typically investigate differences in performance between adult and senescent animals; however, progressive loss of neurons in the hippocampus and cortex has been observed to occur as early as after adolescence. Therefore, the current study evaluated the effects of age in three- and ten-month-old female rats on the organization of movement in open field and food protection behaviors, two tasks that have previously dissociated hippocampal and cortical pathology. Age-related differences were observed in general measures of locomotion, spatial orientation, and attentional processing. The results of the current study are consistent with age-related changes in the processing of spatial information and motivation that occur earlier in life than previously anticipated. These observations establish a foundation for future studies evaluating interventions that influence these age-related differences in performance., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) can cause severe infections in humans, leading to serious diseases and dangerous complications, such as hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Although cattle are a major reservoir of STEC, the most commonly occurring source of human infections are food products (e.g., vegetables) contaminated with cow feces (often due to the use of natural fertilizers in agriculture). Since the use of antibiotics against STEC is controversial, other methods for protection of food against contaminations by these bacteria are required. Here, we propose a validation system for selection of bacteriophages against STEC contamination. As a model system, we have employed a STEC-specific bacteriophage vB_Eco4M-7 and the E. coli O157:H7 strain no. 86-24, bearing Shiga toxin-converting prophage ST2-8624 (Δ stx2 :: cat gfp ). When these bacteria were administered on the surface of sliced cucumber (as a model vegetable), significant decrease in number viable E. coli cells was observed after 6 h of incubation. No toxicity of vB_Eco4M-7 against mammalian cells (using the Balb/3T3 cell line as a model) was detected. A rapid decrease of optical density of STEC culture was demonstrated following addition of a vB_Eco4M-7 lysate. However, longer incubation of susceptible bacteria with this bacteriophage resulted in the appearance of phage-resistant cells which predominated in the culture after 24 h incubation. Interestingly, efficiency of selection of bacteria resistant to vB_Eco4M-7 was higher at higher multiplicity of infection (MOI); the highest efficiency was evident at MOI 10, while the lowest occurred at MOI 0.001. A similar phenomenon of selection of the phage-resistant bacteria was also observed in the experiment with the STEC-contaminated cucumber after 24 h incubation with phage lysate. On the other hand, bacteriophage vB_Eco4M-7 could efficiently develop in host bacterial cells, giving plaques at similar efficiency of plating at 37, 25 and 12 °C, indicating that it can destroy STEC cells at the range of temperatures commonly used for vegetable short-term storage. These results indicate that bacteriophage vB_Eco4M-7 may be considered for its use in food protection against STEC contamination; however, caution should be taken due to the phenomenon of the appearance of phage-resistant bacteria.

The global challenge to prevent fungal spoilage and mycotoxin contamination on foods and feeds require the development of new antifungal strategies. Filamentous fungi encode diverse antifungal proteins (AFPs), which offer a great potential for the control of contaminant fungi. In this study, four AFPs from Penicillium digitatum (PdAfpB) and Penicillium expansum (PeAfpA, PeAfpB and PeAfpC) belonging to classes A, B and C, were tested against a representative panel of mycotoxin-producing fungi. They included a total of 38 strains representing 32 different species belonging to the genera Alternaria, Aspergillus, Byssochlamys, Fusarium and Penicillium. PeAfpA exhibited a potent antifungal activity, since the growth of all tested fungi was completely inhibited by concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 16 μg/mL. PdAfpB and PeAfpB, although less effective than PeAfpA, showed significant activity against most of the mycotoxigenic fungi tested. Importantly, PeAfpC previously described as inactive, showed a powerful inhibition against B. spectabilis strains, which are important spoilage and mycotoxin fungi in pasteurized foods. Although less effective than in liquid media, AFPs affected fungal growth on solid media. This study also underlines the potential of these AFPs, in particular PeAfpA, as future antifungal agents for applications in foods, on growing crops or during postharvest storage., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Food safety and health conditions are global issues that are primarily caused by insufficient nutrition or contaminated food, which have enormous social, economic, and public health implications. Foodomics study mainly involves nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics, and nutritional epigenetics, which help in finding the correlation between genetic variation and nutrient-driven epigenetic alterations that are suggested as a primary challenge to nutritional needs. Micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are non-coding RNA molecules that have recently gained in popularity as a result of their critical roles in gene regulation and nutritional studies. In this commentary, the relevance of miRNAs to human nutrition is discussed. This study emphasizes the importance of dietary miRNAs based on numerous independent studies, which have explained the unique characteristics of dietary miRNAs in terms of gene expression regulation mechanism. There is an urgent requirement of measurement techniques to detect miRNA in food and evolutionary samples. These techniques may be helpful to find even low levels of miRNAs because of their high susceptibility and selectivity. There is a desperate requisite to evaluate the impact of dietary supplement compounds on circulating and tissue miRNAs. Food science studies in humans may aid in the identification of novel biomarkers and other necessary mode of action of certain dietary compounds, with the goal of facilitating how nutrients and bioactive components can influence miRNAs and enforce biological effects. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Dietary microRNAs may be helpful to find even the low levels of miRNAs due to their high susceptibility and selectivity. There is also desperate need to evaluate the impact of dietary supplement compounds effect on circulating and tissue miRNAs. There is also requirement for new analytical tools to study the role of gene regulations and nutrition in different diseases. The quality of dietary miRNAs should be investigated, particularly the exogenous types which are used as high doses in food supplements. It would also be of great interest to use antagomir technology in food science research, in addition to omics technology. Dietary miRNAs may also aid in the identification of novel biomarkers. These are some of the practical applications of dietary miRNAs., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Consortia of Streptomyces spp. (colonies 169, 194, 165 and 130) used in this study are an efficient producer of secondary metabolites like chitinases and antifungal compounds, which may help in the protection of surplus food from spoilage. Qualitative screening for chitinase production and taxonomy of these colonies were undertaken in our previous studies. In the current study, GC-MS analysis of extract produced from the consortia of Streptomyces strains was done for the identification of antifungal compounds. Treatment of surplus food with activated consortia of Streptomyces spp. has protected powdered food for a month, whereas fresh food (unpowdered) was preserved for two days. A control sample of surplus food (untreated) was kept to check the contamination, which resulted in the growth of three fungi (FP-1, FG-1, and FB-1). Taxonomic characterization of fungi and identification of toxic compounds produced from them were done by ITS amplification and GC-MS analysis, respectively. The study shows that the secondary metabolites from Streptomyces spp. have the potential to protect the food from mycotoxin contamination. Based on literature reports, this is for the first time that bioactive compounds and chitinases produced from Streptomyces are being used for the protection and management of surplus food.

Limited information exists regarding adulteration of Halal-certified food by substances forbidden under Islamic law (Haram substances). This study was conducted using forensic laboratory testing to investigate the prevalence of this type of adulteration. In this large-scale survey of Halal-certified food products randomly collected from markets in Thailand, 4,829 food samples from 10 food groups were tested in the laboratory for four potentially Haram substances: porcine DNA, porcine fatty acids, ethanol, and hydroxyproline (gelatin). No samples were adulterated with porcine DNA or fatty acids. However, 62 samples (approximately 1.3%) were positive for ethanol (>0.5% for non-naturally fermented products and >1% for naturally fermented products). The hydroxyproline concentration in the samples was compared with that of a negative control. Gelatin, as indicated by the presence of hydroxyproline, was the major suspicious substance found in these products. Further investigations are required to determine whether the gelatin is of Halal origin. These results from this first large-scale postmarket surveillance of Halal-certified food products for forbidden substances reveals the important role of forensic laboratory testing for supporting Halal supervision and certification. These findings provide useful information for government agencies seeking to encourage Halal compliance by food enterprises and for Muslim consumers and Halal food importers and exporters.

The food industry is advancing at a rapid pace and consumer sensitivity to food safety scares and food fraud scandals is further amplified by rapid communication such as by social media. Academia, regulators, and industry practitioners alike struggle with an evolving issue regarding new terms and definitions including food fraud, food authenticity, food integrity, food protection, economically motivated adulteration, food crime, food security, contaminant, adulterant, and others. This research addressed some of the global need for clarification and harmonization of commonly used terminology. The 150 survey responses were received from various food-related workgroups or committee members, communication with recognized experts, and announcements to the food industry in general. Overall food fraud was identified as a "food safety" issue (86%). The food quality and manufacturing respondents focused mainly on incoming goods and adulterant-substances (<50%) rather than the other illegal activities such as counterfeiting, theft, gray market/diversion, and smuggling. Of the terms included to represent "intentional deception for economic gain" the respondents generally agreed with food fraud as the preferred term. Overall, the preference was 50% "food fraud," 15% "economically motivated adulteration" EMA, 9% "food protection," 7% "food integrity," 5% "food authenticity," and 2% "food crime." It appears that "food protection" and "food integrity" are terms that cover broader concepts such as all types of intentional acts and even possibly food safety or food quality. "Food authenticity" was defined with the phrase "to ensure" so seemed to be identified as an "attribute" that helped define fraudulent acts. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Food Fraud-illegal deception for economic gain using food-is a rapidly evolving research topic and is facing confusion due to the use of different terms and definitions. This research survey presented common definitions and publication details to gain insight that could help provide clarity. The insight from this report provides guidance for others who are harmonizing terminology and setting the overall strategic direction., (© 2019 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

An overview is provided of the current technological strategies (also at the nanoscale level) recently involved in plant and/or food protection. In addition, the potential use of natural and sustainable substances, instead of traditional synthesized molecules or chemical-based compounds, is addressed both with respect to packaging systems and novel pesticide formulations. In this context, nanotechnological approaches represent promising strategies for the entire agriculture industry chain, from the field to consumers. Traditional plant protection strategies are often insufficient and the application of chemical-based pesticides has negative effects on animals, humans and the environment. Novel greener tools could represent efficient alternatives for the management of plant diseases using promising strategies; the use of nanotechnologies allows the promotion of the more efficient assembly and subsequent release of environmentally sustainable active principles, limiting the use of chemicals in terms of economic losses. At the same time, new sustainable, antimicrobial and antioxidant systems have been rapidly promoted and investigated in the food packaging sector as a valid eco-friendly possibility for improving the safety and quality of food products and reducing and/or limiting the environmental impact with respect to traditional materials. Together, the scientific community and the growing interest of consumers have promoted the development of new edible and eco-friendly packaging that reduces waste and any environmental impact. In this context, the aim is to provide evidence of the usefulness of strategies aiming to limit agrochemicals, as well as the potential of nanomaterials, in sustainable plant and food protection for agriculture management and the packaging sector. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.)

The genus Enterococcus occurs as native microbiota of fermented products due to its broad environmental distribution and its resistance to salt concentrations. Enterococcus faecalis F, a non-pathogenic strain isolated from a ripened cheese, has demonstrated useful enzymatic capabilities, a probiotic behavior and antibacterial activity against some food-borne pathogens, mainly due to peptidoglycan hydrolase activity. Its use as a natural pathogen-control agent could be further enhanced through the production of a bacteriocin, e.g. Enterocin A, because of its remarkable antilisterial activity. In this work, a markerless allelic insertion method was used to obtain an enterococcal strain capable of producing a functional enterocin. Agar diffusion tests showed that the recombinant strain was active against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and the pathogenic strain E. faecalis V583. When grown in liquid culture together with L. monocytogenes, it attained a two-log reduction of the pathogen counts in lesser time relative to the native strain. Because the DNA construction is integrated into the chromosome, the improved strain avoids the use of antibiotics as selective pressure; besides, it does not require an inductor because of the inclusion of a constitutive promoter in the construction. Its technological and antibacterial capabilities make the improved E. faecalis strain a potential culture for use in the food industry., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Spatial and temporal information processing provide a foundation for higher cognitive functions. The survival of animals depends on integrating spatial and temporal information to organize behavior. In general, previous research has focused on only one source of information processing; however, there is evidence to support a convergence in the processing of egocentric-spatial and temporal information within a cortico-striatal system of structures. The current study evaluated the contributions of the dorsocentral striatum (DCS) to egocentric-spatial and temporal (within the seconds-to-minutes range) processing of information using a food protection task. Long-Evans rats received unilateral NMDA lesions of the DCS followed by testing in a food protection task. Performance in this task is mediated by the motivation of the animal to consume a food item, their perception of the time required to consume a food item, their sensory ability to process egocentric cues, and their motor ability to evade an incoming conspecific. Unilateral DCS lesions were shown to impact both spatial and temporal characteristics of food protection. These results suggest that the DCS may be a critical structure for the integration of egocentric-spatial and temporal information within the interval timing range.

The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in free-range chickens from Uberlândia, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and characterize the genotypic and phenotypic features of two isolates of this parasite, considering the importance of these hosts in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. Serum samples from 108 free-range chickens were obtained from ten different districts, and submitted to the modified agglutination test (MAT) for the presence of anti-T. gondii antibodies, and brain and heart tissue samples from infected chickens were processed for mouse bioassay. An overall seroprevalence of 71·3% was found and antibody titres ranged from 16 to 4096. After confirmation of seropositivity by mouse bioassay, the determination of the T. gondii genotypes of two isolates was performed by PCR-RFLP, using primers for the following markers: SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, new SAG2, Apico and CS3. These T. gondii isolates, designated TgChBrUD1and TgChBrUD2, were obtained from heart samples of free-range chickens. The TgChBrUD1 isolate belonged to ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype 11 and the TgChBrUD2 isolate belonged to ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype 6. Both isolates demonstrated high virulence in a rodent model, with the TgChBrUD1 isolate able to induce brain cysts, in accord with its pattern of multiplication rates in human fibroblast culture. Taken together, these results reveal high prevalence of T. gondii infection in free-range chickens throughout Uberlândia, indicating an important degree of oocyst environmental contamination and the existence of considerable risk for T. gondii transmission to humans by consumption of free-range chicken as a food source.

There is an increasing tendency to add natural antimicrobials of plant origin into food. The objective of this work was to develop a microbial sachet incorporated with allyl isothiocyanate (AIT), a volatile compound of plant origin, and to test its efficiency against growth of yeasts and molds, Staphylococcus sp. and psychrotrophic bacteria on sliced mozzarella cheese. Another objective was to quantify the concentration of AIT in the headspace of cheese packaging. A reduction of 3.6 log cycles was observed in yeasts and molds counts in the mozzarella packed with the antimicrobial sachet over 15-day storage time. The sachet also showed an antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus sp., reducing 2.4 log cycles after 12-day storage. Psychrotrophic bacteria species were the most resistant to the antimicrobial action. The highest concentration of AIT (0.08µg.mL(-1)) inside the active packaging system was observed at the 6(-)day of storage at 12 ºC ± 2 ºC. At the end of the storage time, AIT concentration decreased to only 10% of the initial concentration. Active packaging containing antimicrobial sachet has a potential use for sliced mozzarella, with molds and yeasts being the most sensitive to the antimicrobial effects.