No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This study was conducted to determine the recent level of contamination with Fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ) and Fumonisin B 2 (FB 2 ) in major medicinal plants and to assess consumer exposure in northern Turkey. FB 1 and FB 2 were investigated by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fl uorescence detection after derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA). A total of 78 homemade medicinal plant samples from 14 species were analysed. The recovery in thyme was 67.2±5.2% for FB 1 and 80.8±14.3% for FB 2 spiked with 1 μg g -1 of each analyte. The minimum detectable amount for the OPA derivatives of FB 1 and FB 2 were 1 ng per injection and 2.5 ng per injection, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) S/N=10 was 0.078 and 0.313 μg g -1 , and the limit of detection (LOD) S/N=3 was 0.023 and 0.093 μg g -1 for FB 1 and FB 2 , respectively. FB 1 was detected in thyme (0.125) and mint (0.125 and 0.256 μg g -1 ) samples; however. FB 2 toxin was below the detection limit in all samples. These results indicate that toxins might be present in homemade medicinal plants; however, the risk of exposure to fumonisins by the consumption of those plants was lower than the estimated TDI limits (<2 μg kg -1 bw).

The effects of solutions of maca (Lepidium meyenii) powder as a food/feed supplement on the viability of murine macrophage cells by digital image analysis ABSTRACT Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a tuber root plant and belong to Brassicaceae family and recently used as a supplement in human and animal nutrition. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of two solutions (aqueous and ethanol) of maca root powder by digital image analysis. Maca powder was mixed in ultra distilled water and ethanol (1:2 w/v) for 24 h at 4 °C. The mixtures were centrifuged and the supernatants were ten-fold diluted for cytotoxic analysis of Raw 264.7 murine macrophage cells. After seeded the cell cultures in microplates, ten-fold dilutions (from 10 -1 to 10 -7 ) of both maca solutions were added as six replicates for 24 h. While the aqueous maca solution increased the number of dead cells at 10 -1 (50 mg mL -1 ), the ethanolic solution statistically increased the number of dead cells at 10 -1 , 10 -2 and 10 -3 (50, 5 and 0.5 mg mL -1 ) (P<0.01). In conclusion, the alcoholic preparation of maca powder caused a higher cytotoxic effect on the murine macrophage cells than the aqueous preparation due to the solvents and the dilution factor in this study.

Background: Herbal teas are produced and sold in packaged or unpackaged forms all over the world. The aim of this study was microbial evaluation of Turkish herbal teas before and after infusion in boiled water. Methods: A total of 20 packaged and unpackaged samples of Turkish herbal teas, including chamomile, salvia, green, mix, apple, mate, ginger, linden, fennel, and senna tea were collected. All of the samples were analyzed before and after infusion in hot water (~100 °C). Microbiological analyses were performed with tenfold serial dilution for yeast-mold, Salmonella, and Cronobacter sakazakii after enrichment by using the spread-on-plate method on selective agar. Data were statistically analyzed by using Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 Excel software. Results: Three out of the 20 tea samples (15%) were contaminated with C. sakazakii. None of the samples were contaminated with Salmonella spp. No significant difference was found in occurrence of C. sakazakii before and after infusion of the samples (p>0.05). Mold and yeast contamination were found in 12 out of 20 teas samples (60%). No statistical significance (p>0.05) was found between the mold-yeast contents of the unpackaged and packaged herbal teas. After infusion, neither mold nor yeast was observed in any of the samples. Conclusion: All of the herbal teas in this research were found to be within the microbiological limits for consumption according to Turkish Food Codex. However, the microbiological results highlighted the need for quality control of senna tea during production to eliminate the risk of C. sakazakii contamination.

This study aimed at developing a model for evaluating the survival of various Campylobacter jejuni strains under different conditions in culture media and poultry data from ComBase. Campylobacter data of culture media (116) and poultry (19) were collected from Microbial Responses Viewer, an additional tool of ComBase. The Weibull equation was selected as a suitable model for the analysis of survival data because of the nonlinearity of survival curves. Then, the fitting parameters (first reduction time and shape parameter) were analysed through a Kruskall–Wallis test and box-whisker plots, thus pointing out the existence of two classes of temperature (0–12 °C and 15–25 °C) and pH (4–6.5 and 7–7.5) acting on the viability of C. jejuni. Finally, a general regression model was used to build a comprehensive function; all factors were significant, but temperature was the most significant variable, followed by pH and water activity. In addition, desirability and prediction profiles highlighted a negative correlation of the first reduction time with temperature and a positive correlation with pH and water activity.

The analysis of the effects of propolis products as food supplements on the viability of baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) and murine macrophage (RAW 264.7) cells by spectrophotometric MTT assay ABSTRACT Propolis is beeswax with rich bioactive compound content. On the market, there are many propolis products as food supplements for the consumers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of food supplement products based on propolis at several concentrations on the viability of baby hamster kidney cells and murine macrophage cell lines (BHK-21 and RAW 264.7). For this purpose, both cell lines were treated with the two-fold serial dilutions (from 20 to 2-10) of each six propolis products (P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6) after reaching monolayer cell in 96-well microplates. The viability and inhibition of cells were spectrophotometrically determined by MTT assay after 24 h. For BHK-21, the CC50s of P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6 were calculated as 0.003, 0.178, 0,082, 0.451, 0.278 and 0.384 %, respectively. For RAW 264.7, the CC50 of P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6 were calculated as 0.260, 0.218, 0.115, 0.257, 0.207 and 0.265%, respectively. The CC50 value was higher for RAW 264.7 cells than for BHK-21 cells. So, the low cytotoxic effect was determined in RAW 264.7 cells. Propolis products containing some additives (aroma, flavoring) had lower the CC50 and the lower viability of BHK-21 cells. So, Additives in the propolis food supplement might be an effective factor on cell viability as much as dilution factor and propolis content.