Although the application of nanotechnology provides numerous advantages related to food safety and quality, at the same time it may present a potential risk not only to human health, but can affect animals and the environment as well. Recent studies have shown that indeed there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that nanoparticles may have toxicological effects on biological systems. Food-contact materials (FCMs) are already on the market in some countries, therefore more data about the safety of engineered nanotechnology materials and nanoproducts affecting human health are necessary in the future to ensure adequate regulation and their useful application for FCMs.

The demands of contemporary health conscious consumers are increasingly focused on minimally processed, convenient and aff ordable food that retains its natural sensory qualities along with nutritional value. In order to fully respond to these expectations, the use of sous vide processing technology, which refers to cooking vacuum-sealed food in heat-stable plastic pouches under precisely monitored conditions, has been widely adopted. Due to the low temperatures of sous vide processing, most research on this processing method is associated with biological hazards such as Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium botulinum. Not only has sous vide long been accepted by the food industry, in recent years, it has also been applied in households and in restaurants which are searching for innovative ways to attract more health conscious consumers. In this review, the authors present basic techniques, benefi ts and disadvantages of sous vide cooking and consider the great eff orts the modern food industry is undertaking to extend shelf-life, ensure microbiological safety and maintain nutritional and organoleptic quality of sous vide food products.

No abstract

Ramonda serbica Panc. is an ancient resurrection plant able to survive a long desiccation period and recover metabolic functions upon watering. The accumulation of protective late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEAPs) is a desiccation tolerance hallmark. To propose their role in R. serbica desiccation tolerance, we structurally characterised LEAPs and evaluated LEA gene expression levels in hydrated and desiccated leaves. By integrating de novo transcriptomics and homologues LEAP domains, 318 R. serbica LEAPs were identified and classified according to their conserved motifs and phylogeny. The in silico analysis revealed that hydrophilic LEA4 proteins exhibited an exceptionally high tendency to form amphipathic α-helices. The most abundant, atypical LEA2 group contained more hydrophobic proteins predicted to fold into the defined globular domains. Within the desiccation-upregulated LEA genes, the majority encoded highly disordered DEH1, LEA1, LEA4.2, and LEA4.3 proteins, while the greatest portion of downregulated genes encoded LEA2.3 and LEA2.5 proteins. While dehydrins might chelate metals and bind DNA under water deficit, other intrinsically disordered LEAPs might participate in forming intracellular proteinaceous condensates or adopt amphipathic α-helical conformation, enabling them to stabilise desiccation-sensitive proteins and membranes. This comprehensive LEAPs structural characterisation is essential to understanding their function and regulation during desiccation aiming at crop drought tolerance improvement.

Food wastage occurs along the entire food chain, from field to table. As much as it is an ethical issue on one hand, it also leads to economic losses and has negative impacts on the environment. Food wastage is, therefore, a significant problem for modern society and the first step in solving it is to identify and understand the reasons for its emergence in each part of the food chain and specific sectors-in this case, the hospitality sector. In order to create practices and recommendations aimed primarily at preventing food wastage, food waste categorization and quantification is essential. This is not that simple, especially in the hospitality sector, given the uneven production of food, and the specific and diverse ways of running a business in this sector. What is certain is that food waste management should be an integral part of management in the hospitality sector, primarily because an effective food safety management system is the starting point for implementing most of the practices that lead to both safe final product and reduction of food waste.