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This work aims at evaluating the antibacterial activity of 14 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains isolated from two species of marine algae (Sargassum muticum and Ulva lactuca) against six pathogenic bacteria, including Escherichia coli ATCC 10536, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 9144, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Bacillus cereus ATCC 33019, Bacillus sp. CIP 104717, and Salmonella sp. LAB inhibitory capacity was assessed by using agar well diffusion test. Results showed that significant inhibitory zones of 30.33, 23.33, 13, 12, 9, and 8 mm were obtained against E. coli, B. subtilis, B. cereus, Bacillus sp., Salmonella sp. and S. aureus, respectively. These findings underscore the potential use of marine LAB for producing antibacterial substances, suggesting their applications in biotechnological processes targeting food spoilage and human infections.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the phenolic compounds extracted from seeds of four spices belonging to Apiaceae family, namely caraway (Carum carvi), coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), mystical cumin (Ammodaucus leucotrichus), and cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.). The extraction was carried out using solvents of different polarities (water, ethanol, methanol, and hexane). The antioxidant activity of each studied spice was performed by using different methods, including total antioxidant capacity (TAC), 2,2'-azino-bis3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), 1,1-diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and metal ion chelation power (CP). On the basis of the obtained results, a significant difference in the contents of phenolic compounds of the analyzed seeds was observed. The lowest phenolic compounds level was obtained by the hexane extract (HE) for the four studied spices. Besides, the aqueous extract (AE) of conventional cumin showed the highest level of phenolic compounds (16.49 mg Gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight (DW)), followed by the AE of caraway (15.9 mg GAE/g DW), then the AE of mystical cumin (15.01 mg GAE/DW), and, at the end, by the AE of coriander (12.89 mg GAE/g DW). This work revealed a good correlation between the antioxidant activities of the studied seed and the type of solvents used for their extraction. The studied spices present a much-diversified molecular weights distribution of the phenolic compounds evaluated by exclusion chromatography on the Sephadex G50 gel. The climatological analysis also showed that the production of phenolic compounds was strongly influenced by some environmental factors, such as the mean annual rainfall and temperature values registered in the planting zones of the four studied spices in Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aflatoxins are the most harmful mycotoxins that cause human and animal health concerns. Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is the primary hydroxylated metabolite of aflatoxin B1 and is linked to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and immunotoxicity in humans and animals. Because of the important role of dairy products in human life, especially children, AFM1 is such a major concern to humans because of its frequent occurrence in dairy products at concentrations high enough to cause adverse effects to human and animal health. Reduced its bioavailability becomes a high priority in order to protect human and animal health. This study aimed to investigate, in vivo, the ability of lactic acid bacteria (lactobacillus rhamnosus GAF01, LR) and clay mineral (bentonite, BT) mixture to mitigate/reduce AFM1-induced immunotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and oxidative stress in exposed Balb/c mice. The in vivo study was conducted using male Balb/c mice that treated, orally, by AFM1 alone or in combination with LR and/or BT, daily for 10 days as follows: group 1 control received 200 µl of PBS, group 2 treated with LR alone (2.108 CFU/mL), group 3 treated with BT alone (1 g/kg bw), group 4 treated with AFM1 alone (100 μg/kg), group 5 co-treated with LR + AFM1, group 6 co-treated with BT + AFM1, group 7 co-treated with BT + LR + AFM1. Forty-eight h after the end of the treatment, the mice were sacrificed and the blood, spleen, thymus, liver and kidney were collected. The blood was used for biochemical and immunological study. Spleen and thymus samples were used to thymocytes and splenocytes assessments. Liver and kidney samples were the target for evaluation of oxidative stress enzymes status and for histological assays. The results showed that AFM1 caused toxicities in male Blab/c mice at different levels. Treatment with AFM1 resulted in severe stress of liver and kidney organs indicated by a significant change in the biochemical and immunological parameters, histopathology as well as a disorder in the profile of oxidative stress enzymes levels. Also, it was demonstrated that AFM1 caused toxicities in thymus and spleen organs. The co-treatment with LR and/or BT significantly improved the hepatic and renal tissues, regulated antioxidant enzyme activities, spleen and thymus viability and biochemical and immunological parameters. LR and BT alone showed to be safe during the treatment. In summary, the LR and/or BT was able to reduce the biochemical, histopathological and immunological damages induced by AFM1 and indeed it could be exploited as one of the biological strategies for food and feedstuffs detoxification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims at exploiting the essential oil (EO) and phenolic compounds (PC) of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in a formulation containing leaf powder stabilized with chitin (1%, w/w) to improve chicken meat and investigate their effect on qualitatively and quantitatively broiler chickens’ growth performances. To such a purpose, chicks, at 1 day of age, were distributed in pens on ground divided into four batches. The two control batches were fed with conventional feed, but the positive control contained flavomycin (0.5 g/kg) as growth factor. The two treated batches received a conventional feed supplemented with two doses of 20 and 50 g/kg of the developed formulation. Essential oil and phenolic compound contents in powdered leaves were, respectively, 1.20 and 22.86% in ethanolic extract. 1,8-Cineole (46.88%), followed by camphor (19.20%), α-pinene (9.56%), L.α.-terpineol (5.91%) and β-pinene (4.40%) were the main compounds of the used EO. The two batches of treated chicks showed a significant improvement in body weight (281.88 and 283.75 g, respectively), a decrease in feed conversion and a reduction in mortality (8%), when compared to the control batches. In addition, the elaborated formulation induced catalase activity used as an indicator of cellular antioxidant activity modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty two mycotoxins in 136 durum wheat collected from Tunisia in 2020 and 2021 were investigated. Mycotoxins were analyzed by UHPLCMS/MS. In 2020, 60.9% of the samples were contaminated with Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and/or enniatin. Whereas, in 2021, 34.4% were contaminated by enniatins. AFB1 was detected only in 2020, in the continental region (6/46) and all samples exceeded limits. AFB1 was detected in stored wheat (24-37.8 µg/kg) but also in pre-stored wheat (17-28.4 µg/kg) and in one sample collected in the field (21 µg/kg). Enniatin A1, enniatin B and enniatin B1 were detected in wheat collected in the field (30-7684 µg/kg), pre-storage (42-1266 µg/kg) and storage (65.8-498.2 µg/kg) from the continental region also, in sample collected in pre-storage (31.3-1410 µg/kg) and at harvest (48- 1060 µg/kg). Samples had a water activity less than 0.7 and moisture content ranged between 09-14%. AFB1 level represent a health risk to the Tunisian consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the level of contamination of breast milk (BM) by ochratoxin A, among Moroccan lactating mothers in the city of Rabat, and to identify the associated factors of exposure, also to estimate the degree of exposure of the breastfeed infant. The analysis of ochratoxin A (OTA) was accomplished by ELISA method on 82 colostrum samples. OTA was detectable (>0.08 ng/mL) in 55% of samples with a maximum concentration of 10.04 ng/mL, and the levels exceeded 0.5 ng /mL in 50 % of the samples. In addition, several factors and dietary habits affect significantly the level of OTA in the analyzed samples of breast milk including, the consumption of industrial dairy products, the frequency of consumption of canned foods, dried fruits and legumes, also the period of breast milk collection. Besides, OTA was higher than the tolerable daily intake for 49% newborns. However, these results need to be confirmed by multicenter studies to more broadly estimate the levels of exposition of Moroccan population to OTA. Furthermore, awareness campaigns are recommended to inform the public, especially pregnant women and lactating women about appropriate preventive measures to limit exposure to this mycotoxin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]