Sodium chloride enhances adherence and aggregation and strain variation influences invasiveness of Listeria monocytogenes strains

Some subtypes of Listeria monocytogenes can persist in the food-processing industry, but the reasons for such persistence are not known. In the present study, 10 strains of L. monocytogenes representing known persistent randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) types from fish processing plants were compared to eight strains of different RAPD type and origin (clinical, food, and animal). All 18 strains of L. monocytogenes had similar growth patterns at different temperatures (5 or 37 degrees C) or different salinities (0.5 or 5% NaCl), and all strains formed a thin layer of adhered cells on a plastic surface when cultured in tryptone soya broth (TSB) with a total of 1% glucose. Many ready-to-eat foods, such as cold-smoked fish, contain NaCl at concentrations of 2 to 5%, and NaCl is present in the processing environment. Adding NaCl to TSB changed the adhesion patterns of all strains, and all adhered better when NaCl was added. Also, the addition of NaCl caused a marked aggregation of 13 of the strains; however, 5 of the 18 strains did not aggregate in the presence of up to 5% NaCl. The aggregates stuck to the plastic surface, and this occurred in all but one of the persistent RAPD types. Four strains represented one particular RAPD type that has been isolated as a persistent RAPD type in several fish processing plants for up to 10 years. Because this RAPD type often can contaminate fish products, it is important to address its potential virulence. The 18 strains differed markedly in their ability to invade Caco-2 cells, and the four strains representing the universal persistent RAPD type were the least invasive (10(2) to 10(3) CFU/ml), whereas other strains invaded Caco-2 cells at levels of 10(4) to 10(5) CFU/ml. Five of the 18 strains belonged to the genetic lineage 1 and were the most invasive. Although the most commonly isolated persistent RAPD type was low invasive, it is important to understand why moderate salinity facilitates aggregation and biofilm formation, for this understanding can be beneficial in developing procedures to reduce processing plant contamination.     

Effects of perimortem stress on farmed Atlantic cod product quality: a baseline study

The potential effects of handling stress on the product quality of farmed Atlantic cod were studied in a controlled experiment (fish anesthetized with metomidate or isoeugenol, or subjected to stress by chasing for 30 min). For comparison, stress and fillet quality was also studied for commercially slaughtered farmed cod (fish sampled from waiting cage, after pumping and stunning with carbon dioxide, and after bleeding and chilling). Baseline values for stress-related parameters (blood chemistry, muscle high-energy phosphates and inosine monophospate, initial pH, muscle twitches, and rigor mortis) of rested Atlantic cod have been established. Since our stress bout showed that this species was not easily excitable, we were less convinced that we actually did study the other extreme, namely, exhausted fish. Nevertheless, the present data from the commercial slaughter of cod suggested that our stress bout was of adequate magnitude to represent potential poor handling routines. Our results consistently showed largely no differences between treatments, and that perimortem handling stress did not cause inferior flesh quality. This suggested that farmed cod can be processed with little risk of reducing product quality (quality index, fillet water content, water-holding capacity, ultimate pH, adenosine triphosphate-related degradation products and K-value, skin and fillet color, water and salt-soluble proteins, hardness, and gaping). For better maintenance of skin appearance after storage, the importance of storing the gutted cod on the belly, avoiding direct contact between skin and crushed ice, is demonstrated.     

Protein denaturation and water-protein interactions as affected by low temperature long time treatment of porcine longissimus dorsi

The relationship between water–protein interactions and heat-induced protein denaturation in low temperature long time (LTLT) treated pork Longissimus dorsi was investigated by combining low-field NMR T₂ relaxometry with DSC measurements and measures of shrinkage of porcine Longissimus dorsi heated to 53 °C, 55 °C, 57 °C and 59 °C for either 3 or 20 h. Water within the myofibrils, measured by NMR T₂₁ relaxation times, was affected by both temperature and holding time during LTLT treatment between 53 °C and 59 °C. The changes in NMR T₂₁ relaxation times were associated with decreased fiber diameter and increased cooking loss, revealing a relationship between transverse shrinkage, water–protein interactions and cooking loss. DSC measurements revealed a concomitant decrease in ΔH_68 °C, which suggests impact of collagen denaturation on the retention of water within the meat during LTLT treatment. Furthermore, a decrease in ΔH_75 °C suggested that prolonged cooking (20 h) resulted in actin denaturation leading to decreased T₂₁ relaxation times and higher cooking loss.     

Evaluation of cooling strategies for pumping of milk - impact of fatty acid composition on free fatty acid levels

Cooling strategies for pumping of raw milk were evaluated. Milk was pumped for 450 s at 31 degrees C, or pumped after cooling to 4 degrees C and subsequently subjected to various incubation times. Two types of milk were used; i.e. milk from cows fed a diet high in saturated fat supplements resulting in significantly larger milk fat globules than the other type of milk which comes from cows fed a low-fat diet that stimulates high de novo fat synthesis. The content of liquid fat was determined by low-field 1H NMR, which showed that milk from cows given the saturated fat diet also contained less liquid fat at both 4 degrees and 31 degrees C than the other type of milk. This can be ascribed to the differences in the fatty acid composition of the milk as a result of the fatty acid composition of the diets. After pumping of the milk at 31 degrees C, measurement of fat globule size distribution revealed a significant coalescence of milk fat globules in the milk obtained from the saturated fat diet due to pumping. Pumping at 4 degrees C or pumping the other type of milk did not result in coalescence of milk fat globules. Formation of free fatty acids increased significantly in both types of milk by pumping at 31 degrees C. Cooling the milk to 4 degrees C immediately before pumping inhibited an increased content of free fatty acids. However, when the milk was incubated at 4 degrees C for 60 min after cooling and then subjected to pumping, a significant increase in the formation of free fatty acids was observed in both types of milk. It is suggested that this increase in free fatty acids is caused by transition of polymorphic crystal forms or higher level of attached lipoprotein lipases to the milk fat globule before pumping.     

Unraveling the Rewired Metabolism in Lung Cancer Using Quantitative NMR Metabolomics

Lung cancer cells are well documented to rewire their metabolism and energy production networks to enable proliferation and survival in a nutrient-poor and hypoxic environment. Although metabolite profiling of blood plasma and tissue is still emerging in omics approaches, several techniques have shown potential in cancer diagnosis. In this paper, the authors describe the alterations in the metabolic phenotype of lung cancer patients. In addition, we focus on the metabolic cooperation between tumor cells and healthy tissue. Furthermore, the authors discuss how metabolomics could improve the management of lung cancer patients.     

Off-line signature verification using elementary combinations of directional codes from boundary pixels

Neural Computing and Applications - Verifying the genuineness of official documents, such as bank checks, certificates, contract forms, bonds, etc., remains a challenging task when it comes to...     

Determination of O2 and CO2 transmission rate of whole packages and single perforations in micro-perforated packages for fruit and vegetables

Microperforated packages are in widespread use for whole and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, and there is a need for a simple and cost efficient methodology to accurately determine gas transmission rates for different packages. This work demonstrates a static technique using a low cost gas analyser for determining the O₂ and CO₂-transmission rates and permselectivity for whole perforated and non-perforated packages stored at different temperatures. The work further demonstrated the possibility to calculate the transmission rates for single holes, and results for single perforations agreed well with results in other studies. The O₂- and CO₂-transmission rates in perforated packages were not significantly affected by temperature in the range 5–23 °C, whereas transmission rates increased with increasing temperature for non-perforated packages. Gas transmission measurements can be used within quality control, in the choice of appropriate packaging for different fruit and vegetables and as an important parameter in EMAP modelling.