Electron paramagnetic resonance detection of Mexican irradiated spices

Four different spices produced in Mexico, namely black pepper, two kinds of chilli and oregano, were studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique for detection purposes. In all the non‐irradiated spices we tested, the same single line signal at g = 2.0041 (native signal) was registered. Irradiation induced at least two EPR signals overlapping the native signal: an intense singlet and, with the exclusion of oregano, a weak triplet with hyperfine splitting of 3 mT due to cellulose free radicals. The recombination time of the free radicals produced by irradiation was short compared with the shelf‐life of the spices, thus limiting the application of the EPR technique for detection. To extend the time when these products may be identified as irradiated, the method proposed by Yordanov and Gancheva (Appl Radiat Isot 2000; 52 :195) was applied to the spices, but with no success. Thermoluminescence tests provided correct results for all the spices, even 2 years after irradiation.     

Heavy metals in spices and herbs from wholesale markets in Malaysia

As, Cd, Pb and Hg were analysed in commonly consumed spices and herbs in Malaysia. The range of As, Cd, Pb and Hg content was 0.24–2.54, 0.23–8.07, 1.54–8.94 and 0.06–0.52?µg?g^–1, respectively. The highest concentration of Cd, Pb and Hg in spices and herbs exceeded the maximum permitted proportion, which are 1, 2 and 0.05?µg?g^?1, respectively. This study suggests further monitoring of Cd, Pb and Hg on daily consumption of spices and herbs and its toxicological implication for consumers since only the amount of As was lower than the permitted concentration.     

热释光检测辐照香辛料影响因素的研究

影响热释光检测香辛料是否辐照的判定因素很多,包括香辛料的种类、提取矿物的方法、矿物成分、辐照剂量、检测条件、辐照抑制剂量、判定阈值等。研究了香辛料中矿物砂土的粒径、矿物砂土的质量、辐照剂量以及检测条件中的升温速率、积分取值区间对检测准确率的影响。筛选出热释光检测香辛料辐照与否的最佳条件为:矿物砂土粒径3￣8μm、质量0.5￣5.0mg;热释光仪升温速率5￣15℃/s,积分区间为150℃(升温)～260℃(降温)。     

Bacterial spores in spices and dried herbs: The risks for processed food

Production and world consumption of spices are constantly increasing. Although the antimicrobial properties of some spices are well documented, their use in the agri-food industry is also responsible for microbial contamination and spoilage. Bacterial spores introduced by spices can withstand different preparation processes, particularly thermal treatments, leading to food alterations during storage. This review brings together data from the literature about the prevalence and concentrations of spore-forming bacteria in all commercially available spices. The sporeformers found in spices belong mainly to the genera Bacillus and Clostridium. Such contaminations are very common and sometimes reach high levels, as in pepper and turmeric. Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus cereus are the most frequently detected species. Studying the harvesting, processing, and storage procedures for spices provides elements to explain why high prevalence and concentrations are observed. Spices are mostly produced in developing countries on small farms using traditional production methods. Spices become contaminated by bacterial spores in two main ways: by contact with soil during harvesting or drying, as for pepper, or by cross-contamination during the water-cooking step, as for turmeric. From these observations, we propose some recommendations. Different methods that can be used to eliminate bacterial spores from spices are presented indicating their efficiency and the limitations of their use.     

The phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity of soluble and bound extracts in selected dietary spices and medicinal herbs

Phenolic compounds, commonly found in plant‐based foods, exist in free or bound form. Despite much research on the soluble phenolics in spices and herbs, their bound phenolics have not been intensively investigated. In this study, six common dietary spices and medicinal herbs (Padang cassia, oregano, clove, Chinese cassia, Japanese knotweed and peel of pomegranate) were selected to evaluate and compare their phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity in soluble extracts (SEs) and bound extracts (BEs). Generally, the samples had high total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, with lower levels in the BEs. From the HPLC results, (+)‐catechin, (?)‐epicatechin, eugenol, cinnamaldehyde and carvacrol were the major phenolic compounds in the SEs, and gallic acid, p‐coumaric acid and ellagic acid in the BEs. Phenolic compounds are likely the major contributors to the antioxidant capacity of these plant samples. Overall, these dietary spices and medicinal herbs can be excellent sources of natural antioxidant phenolics.     

Sensitivity of four foodborne moulds to essential oils from turkish spices,herbs and citrus peel

The antifungal effects of 22 essential oils from Turkish spices, herbs and citrus peel on four foodborne moulds were evaluated for fungistatic and fungicidal activity. The most active oils were wild thyme (Thymus rariflorus L) and thyme (Thymus serpyllum L). Parsley (Penloselinum sativum Hoffin) and savory (Satureja hortensis L) oils were found to be the least active oils. Rhizopus sp displayed the greatest tolerance, and the most sensitive mould was Penicillium chrysogenum. Prolonged incubations reduced the fungistatic and fungicidal effects of oils. It was concluded that some oils may be useful as mould inhibitors at food additive levels.     

A new high-throughput screening method to determine multiple dyes in herbs and spices

The unauthorised addition of colours to herbs and spices is a recurrent issue affecting food business operators. Such a practice aims at improving food visual attractiveness, masking poor product quality, and/or compensating for natural colour variation with the ultimate goal to increase profits. To detect this fraud, a new LC–MS/MS method was developed for screening 58 dyes in both herbs and spices. This extended list of targets was established based on requirements from international spices organisations, past issues identified by web scouting and by notifications from the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). The method is intended to quickly detect fraudulent addition of dyes with Screening Target Concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2.5 mg/kg. Validation was performed according to the European Community Reference Laboratories Residues Guidelines 20/1/2010. False positive and false negative rates were below 5% for all analytes and applicability of the method was further demonstrated by analysing 117 samples collected worldwide. None of the surveyed dyes was found in herbs (n = 28, 16 varieties) whereas 6% of spice samples (n = 89, 21 varieties) was found contaminated with one or two dyes at levels ranging from 0.12 to 255 mg/kg. Four out of the nine detected compounds have never been reported in the RASFF, thus demonstrating the usefulness of this analytical approach.     

Inhibitory effect of mixture herbs/spices on formation of heterocyclic amines and mutagenic activity of grilled beef

ABSTRACT

Natural antioxidants in spices and herbs have attracted considerable attention as potential inhibitors against the formation of mutagenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) in heat-processed meat. In this study, the inhibitory activity of four spices/herbs and their mixtures on HCAs formation in grilled beef were examined. A simplex centroid mixture design with four components comprising turmeric, curry leaf, torch ginger and lemon grass in 19 different proportions were applied on beef samples before grilling at 240 ºC for 10 min. The HCAs were extracted from the samples using solid phase extraction (SPE) method and analysed using Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry LC-MS/MS. All spices/herbs in single or mixture forms were found to reduce total HCA concentrations in marinated grilled beef ranging from 21.2% for beef marinated with curry leaf to 94.7% for the combination of turmeric and lemon grass (50:50 w/w). At the optimum marinade formula (turmeric: lemon grass 52.4%: 47.6%), concentration of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinolone (IQ), 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), Harman, Norharman and AαC were 2.2, 1.4, 0.5, 2.8 and 1.2 ng/g, respectively. The results of the mutagenic activity demonstrated that this optimised marinade formula significantly (p < 0.05) diminished mutagenicity of marinated grilled beef in bacterial Ames test.     

Antioxidant activities of extracts from selected culinary herbs and spices

Recently, interest in plant-derived food additives has grown, mainly because synthetic antioxidants suffer from several drawbacks. Furthermore, plant extracts have been shown to possess health-promoting properties. In the present study, hydrodistilled extracts from basil, laurel, parsley, juniper, aniseed, fennel, cumin, cardamom, and ginger were assessed for their total phenol content, and antioxidant (iron(III) reduction, inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation, iron(II) chelation, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging and inhibition of hydroxyl radical-mediated 2-deoxy-d-ribose degradation, site and nonsite-specific) activities. The extracts from basil and laurel possessed the highest antioxidant activities except for iron chelation. Although parsley showed the best performance in the iron chelation assay, it was less effective at retarding the oxidation of linoleic acid. In the linoleic acid peroxidation assay, 1 g of the basil and laurel extracts were as effective as 177 and 212 mg of trolox, respectively. Thus, both extracts are promising alternatives to synthetic substances as food ingredients with antioxidant activity.     

国际香辛料真菌毒素限量标准研究现状

香辛料是一种很容易受到霉菌及其产生的真菌毒素污染的植物性农产品。这些真菌毒素的存在对消费者产生了潜在的健康危害。从香辛料真菌毒素污染情况着手，讨论了在我国建立香辛料真菌毒素限量标准的必要性。     

Molecular detection and identification of Rickettsia in psocids collected from herbs

The aims of this study were to assess the psocids that potentially carry Rickettsia and to characterize Rickettsia species. We collected booklice from dried fragments of Chinese medicinal herbs for retail. Species identification and Rickettsia detection were performed by using nondestructive DNA extraction method and PCR. Of the 224 booklice samples collected, the following species were identified: Liposcelis pearmani (50.89%), L. bostrychophila (25.89%) and L. entomophila (23.21%). Twenty-four samples were found to be positive for Rickettsia (10.71%, 24/224), and the number of Rickettsia-positive samples per species was as follows: L. pearmani (n = 10), L. bostrychophila (n = 8) and L. entomophila (n = 6). The phylogenetic tree revealed that the rickettsial agents found in booklice cluster along with Rickettsia felis belong to the spotted fever group (SFG). Mixed booklice contamination occurs in herbal fragments. The presence of Rickettsia-infected booklice suggests that there is a risk of louse-borne rickettsioses to humans in contact with herbs. These findings can contribute to the development of a disease control program that assists relevant practitioners and promotes public health.     

Evaluation of the antioxidant and prooxidant properties of several commercial dry spices by different analytical methods

The antioxidant capacity of 12 different types of dry spices was determined using the following methods for each of them: the ORAC method, a recent biosensor method and the OXY-Adsorbent test. Furthermore, a biosensor method for the measurement of the polyphenol pool was also applied. The d-ROMs test for the measurement of hydroperoxides and a well known spectrophotometric test for the measurement of lipoperoxides were also applied to evaluate the presence of prooxidant species in the samples examined.     

香辛料及其醇提液对低盐酱中微生物抑制作用的研究

针对低盐酱中食盐含量过低不利于长期保存的问题,研究了天然香辛料对低盐酱中主要微生物的抑制作用。用平板菌落计数法比较了6种天然香辛料粉末对低盐酱中主要微生物的抑制效果,并选择抑菌效果较强的香辛料进行醇提液抑菌效果的研究。结果表明,六种香辛料均有不同程度的抑菌效果,其中丁香和桂皮的抑菌效果最佳,并且丁香醇提液的抑菌效果要优于桂皮醇提液,0.5g/mL丁香醇提液和0.5g/mL桂皮醇提液对低盐酱中主要微生物的平均抑菌圈直径分别为25.1、18.2mm。而应用于低盐酱中的具体用量还有待于进一步研究。      

The Health Benefits of Selected Culinary Herbs and Spices Found in the Traditional Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest diets in the world. This is often attributed to low saturated fat consumption, moderate wine consumption, and high vegetable consumption. However, herbs and spices associated with these diets may also play an important role in the quality of this diet. This review summarizes the most recent research regarding the anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-hypertensive properties of this collection of culinary species. Additionally, this review briefly summarizes studies performed on lesser known herbs from around the world, with the goal of identifying new culinary species that may be useful in the treatment or prevention of diseases.     

Underground networking: the potential for improving yield and quality of pot-grown herbs with mycorrhizas

With constant pressure on herb growers to perform to a continuous high standard, finding new ways to improve herb quality and or quantity are gaining importance, with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) presenting one possible solution. Viviane Schroeder, Alan Gange and Anthony Stead discuss the introduction of AMF to the herb growth cycle and discuss the benefits and costs that their symbiosis with plants bring to modern agriculture.     

Effect of Double-packaging and Acid Combination on the Quality of Irradiated Raw Turkey Pattie

ABSTRACT: Effects of double-packageing (combinational use of vacuum and aerobic packaging conditions) and acid (citric or ascorbic acid) combinations on color, lipid oxidation and volatiles of irradiated raw turkey breast were determined. Acid did not affect the a-values but increased the L-values of meat after irradiation. Citric acid promoted lipid oxidation of irradiated turkey meat, whereas ascorbic acid had an antioxidant effect. The amounts of total volatile and dimethyl sulfide in doubly packaged turkey meat were 35 to 56% and 58 to 73% lower than those of the irradiated vacuum-packageed control, respectively, and dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide were not found in double-packageed meat. The combination sequence of aerobic/anaerobic packaging was not a critical factor in the production of off-odor volatiles of irradiated turkey.     

Natural antioxidants from herbs and spices improve the oxidative stability and frying performance of vegetable oils

Lipid oxidation has been identified as the major deterioration process of vegetable oils. Undesirable effects are even more profound when food processing involves high temperatures in the presence of oxygen. Natural ground herbs (black pepper, ginger, turmeric, rosemary and oregano) were assessed for their antioxidant capacity, phenolic content and ability to improve the oxidative stability of vegetable oils. The most potent herb was incorporated in vegetable oils formulations which were subjected to consecutive frying cycles. The oxidative stability of the vegetable oils, the formation of conjugated dienes/trienes and the decimation of tocopherol levels after the frying process were assessed. Rosemary powder was the most effective antioxidant among the ones tested. The oxidative stability of tocopherol‐stripped corn oil with rosemary powder (1.53 ± 0.06 h) was significantly higher than the control (0.84 ± 0.02 h) and the oil with synthetic antioxidants (1.20 ± 0.03 h). Rosemary powder effectively improved the oxidative stability of sunflower (128.91%), olive (55.61%) and rapeseed (73.20%) oil during deep‐frying and prevented CD and CT formation in rapeseed oil.     

Dose dependence and fading effect of the thermoluminescence signals in γ-irradiated paprika

The thermoluminescence (TL) method can be used to discriminate irradiated and non-irradiated paprika. This study reports the polymineral composition of the dust adhered to paprika; radiation-specific luminescence is emitted by the inorganic material (mainly quartz, feldspars and calcite). On the basis of the shape of the TL curves (or glow curves) some physical parameters are evaluated. Natural TL curves, from non-irradiated samples, show three very low intensity peaks while induced TL curves, from irradiated paprika, seem to consist of five overlapping peaks. TL spectra reveal a very important difference in intensity and in the position of the peaks between irradiated and non-irradiated paprika. Fading observations of TL after irradiation at 5, 10 and 21 kGy, show the same behaviour in all the cases: an initial rapid decay to maintain a certain stability from 300–400 h onwards. © 1998 SCI.