Background: Vegetarian diets are rich in vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are foods that contain considerable amounts of nitrate, which can have both positive and negative effects on the human body. Their potential carcinogenicity and toxicity have been proven, particularly after the reduction of nitrate to nitrite itself or just serving as a reactant with amines and/or amides in the formation of N-nitroso compounds -N-nitrosamines and other nitrogen compounds which may have high levels of nitrate. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference, considering the location and seasonal sampling period, in the level of nitrate in certain types of green vegetables, all in order to be able to assess their intake, and possible impact on human health, especially knowing that exposure to nitrate can be potentially higher for vegetarian population group. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the sampling of 200 different leafy green vegetables was conducted, all of which could be found in free sale in the Republic of Croatia. The sampling was conducted during two seasonal periods -the spring and autumn period. In the springtime, lettuce (sem), spinach (pinacho), kale (kale), chard (mangel) and cabbage (brassica) were sampled, and in autumn lettuce, spinach, kale, chard and arugula. Samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. Results:The results from the spring sampling phase were in the range of 603 mg/kg for cabbage -972 mg/kg for chard, and for autumn phase of 1.024 mg/kg for chard to 4.354 mg/kg for the arugula. The results showed that there were significant differences (p <0.05) for most of the samples analyzed, considering the sampling locations and time period. Conclusion:The results indicate that the analyzed vegetables contain significant amounts of nitrate in their composition, which represents relatively significant, but still acceptable intake into the human body.
Background: Citrinin is a mycotoxin produced by several species of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Monascus and it occurs mainly in stored grain. Citrinin is generally formed after harvest and occurs mainly in stored grains, it also occurs in other plant products. Often, the co-occurrence with other mycotoxins is observed, especially ochratoxin A, which is usually associated with endemic nephropathy. At the European Union level, systematic monitoring of Citrinin in grains began with the aim of determining its highest permissible amount in food. Thus, far the systematic monitoring of the above mentioned mycotoxin in Croatia is yet to begin. Materials and Methods:The main goal of this study was to determine the presence of Citrinin in grains sampled in the area of Međimurje, Osijek-Baranja, Vukovar-Srijem and Brod-Posavina County. For the purpose of identification and quantification of citrinin, high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) with fluorescence was used (Calibration curve k ≥ 0.999; Intra assay CV = 2.1%; Inter assay CV = 4.3%; LOQ < 1 µg/kg). Results: From the area of Međimurje County, 10 samples of corn and 10 samples of wheat were analyzed. None of the samples contained Citrinin (<1 µg/kg). From the area of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem County, 15 samples from each County were analyzed. The mean value for the samples of Osijek-Baranja County was 19.63 µg/kg (median=15.8 µg/kg), while for Vukovar-Srijem County the mean value of citrinin was 14,6 µg/kg (median=1.23 µg/kg). From 5 analyzed samples from Brod-Posavina County, one of the samples contained citrinin in the amount of 23.8 µg/kg, while the registered amounts in the other samples were <1 µg/kg. Conclusion:The results show that grains from several Counties contain certain amounts of Citrinin possibly indicating a significant intake of citrinin in humans. It must be stated that grains and grain-based products are the basis of everyday diet of all age groups, especially small children, where higher intake of citrinin can occur. Consequently, we emphasize the need for systematic analysis of larger amount of samples, from both large grains and small grains, especially in the area of Brod-Posavina County, in order to obtain more realistic notion of citrinin contamination of grains and to asses the health risk in humans.
Fungicides are the most common agents used in postharvest treatment of fruit and are the most effective against blue mould, primarily caused by Penicillium expansum. Alternatively, blue mould can be treated with antagonistic microorganisms naturally occurring on fruit, such as the bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans. The aim of this study was to establish the antifungal potential of the G. oxydans 1J strain isolated from apple surface against Penicillium expansum in culture and apple juice and to compare it with the effi ciency of a reference strain G. oxydans ATCC 621H. The highest antifungal activity of G. oxydans 1J was observed between days 3 and 9 with no colony growth, while on day 12, P. expansum colony diameter was reduced to 42.3 % of the control diameter. Although G. oxydans 1J did not fully inhibit mould growth, it showed a high level of effi ciency and completely prevented patulin accumulation in apple juice.
The potential application of viable and heat-treated cells of Gluconobacter oxydans for binding or degradation of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), citrinin (CIT), ochratoxin A (OTA) and patulin (PAT) in liquid matrix was investigated. Experiments were conducted using uncontaminated and toxin-containing YPM (yeast-peptone-mannitol) medium and inoculated with a bacterium suspension of either viable or heat-treated cells (108 cfu/ml) and incubated at 28 °C for 24 h. The unbound AFB1 and OTA were quantified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), whereas CIT and PAT were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Obtained results suggest that G. oxydans is able to bind various mycotoxins by 26 to 94%. Viable cells showed the best binding ability towards OTA and PAT (80.8 and 93.8%, respectively), while heat-treated cells bound less than 50% of tested mycotoxins. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that partial removal of mycotoxins involves physical binding of the toxin to the proteins and polysaccharides constituting the bacterial cell wall. Since mycotoxins contain numerous functional groups that multiply the IR spectra upon binding to bacteria, the precision of FTIR monitoring of bacteria-mycotoxin interactions is limited.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.