Animal welfare and society concerns finding the missing link

Young adults in developed countries are distanced from agriculture and the meat industry needs to do a better job of communicating with them. A major welfare concern is slaughter without stunning. Other concerns, such as poor stunning or high levels of bruising, can be easily corrected by management who is committed to maintaining high standards. Another concern is biological system overload, occurring when animals are bred for more productivity. Researchers and industry need to determine optimum production levels instead of maximums. Retailers are major drivers of animal welfare standards enforcement and they respond to pressure from both activists and consumers.     

Mass spectrometry based proteomics as foodomics tool in research and assurance of food quality and safety

BackgroundAs a comprehensive discipline that studies food and nutrition, foodomics requires reliable qualitative and quantitative information about the food proteome component in order to extract new integrative information from the complex multivariable space of omics. This new information is necessary to achieve a higher level of understanding of processes in food science and technology, consequently new functions of food and improved markers of food quality and safety and completely transform concept of food safety.Scope and approachWe are making an effort to present mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomic approaches that are being utilized in different proteomic studies, not necessarily in the field of foodomics, which are important and have the potential to advance this field. Current analytical capabilities of MS-based proteomics together with sample preparation procedures and quantification strategies, and recent technical developments were presented.Key findings and conclusionsMS-based proteomics enables the analysis of different aspects of proteins and provides a variety of approaches for reliable quantification of individual proteins and/or food proteome. This is a complex field and its successful implementation requires a dedicated analyst, a thorough design of sample preparation procedure, the selection of an MS technique and approach, an adequate type of mass spectrometer, a thorough data analysis and validation. Improvements in the technology of mass spectrometers are continuously expanding capabilities of MS-based proteomics.     

Identification of phenolic constituents of Cytisus multiflorus

The phenolic composition of the ethanolic extract obtained from the flowers of the medicinal plant Cytisus multiflorus has been elucidated by high performance liquid chromatography, electrospray mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The extract was mainly composed of flavones, including the common chrysin, orientin, luteolin-5-O-glucoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, apigenin and apigenin-7-O-glucoside, which appeared as minor components. The major flavone in the extract was chrysin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, and it also contained moderate amounts of a dihydroxyflavone isomer of chrysin, as well as of 2″-O-pentosyl-6-C-hexosyl-luteolin, 2″-O-pentosyl-8-C-hexosyl-luteolin and 6″-O-(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaroyl)-2″-O-pentosyl-C-hexosyl-apigenin, which are not commonly found in the Fabaceae family. Other novel phenolic compounds found in the ethanolic extract of C. multiflorus comprised the flavones 2″-O-pentosyl-6-C-hexosyl-apigenin, 2″-O-pentosyl-8-C-hexosyl-apigenin and 6″-O-(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaroyl)-2″-O-pentosyl-C-hexosyl-luteolin. The assessment of the biological activities of the main compounds of this extract are now keen, in order to determine their relevance in the beneficial properties of the plant.     

Effect of gamma irradiation and heat treatment on the artificial contamination of maize grains by Aspergillus flavus Link NRRL 5906

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the main crops, which is easily susceptable to Aspergillus flavus infection resulting in huge losses worldwide. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of combining heat and irradiation treatments in controlling the fungal growth in maize grains. Surface disinfected maize grains were artificially contaminated with spores of Aspergillus flavus Link NRRL 5906, and then exposed to gamma radiation with doses of 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 kGy. The samples were additionally heat treated at 60 °C for 30 min. The heat and irradiation treatments showed a synergistic effect on controlling Aspergillus flavus growth. The heat treatment reduced the required radiation dose of about 0.5–1.0 kGy when 4.0 kGy or 5.0 kGy irradiation was used. The combined heat and irradiation treatment of moisture reduced the average CFU by 8 log cycles when 4 kGy or 5 kGy irradiation was used and by 7 log cycles when 3 kGy irradiation was used. The heat treatment of moisture alone reduced the average CFU by only by 0.8 log cycles. Combining irradiation with heat treatment to reduce the required radiation dose is very useful especially when there is a concern over biological side effects of irradiation.