A different, reliable, and cost-effective strategy for the analysis of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and zearalenone in corn-based foods was proposed, including one multi-toxin immunoaffinity column (IAC) sample preparation and three different high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection methods. The analytical procedures were tested and verified, keeping in mind their occurrence at trace levels in corn-based foods. With the validation of the proposed multi-toxin IAC methodology and comparison of the performance characteristics with methods using a single-toxin IAC, we confirmed the reliability of the multi-toxin IAC procedure versus the single-toxin IAC. The methods were validated by revealing satisfactory performance characteristics; for example, the obtained values of limit of detection were significantly lower than the maximum limits for all mycotoxins of concern. In addition, the recovery values were between 70.9 % and 106.1 % for all mycotoxins of interest, with precision values lower than 10.5 %.
Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If anyone ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body. However, studies on the radioactivity of consumable foods assume importance as it is necessary to estimate the ingestion dose to the public. Due to all this, the focus of this research was on determining the activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 40 K and 232 Th. Forty-nine samples in three categories of vegetables, cereals (rice, wheat, corn), and milk, were collected from local markets (city of Skopje) in the Republic of North Macedonia and they were analysed by using high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector to assess natural and artificial radioactivity. The average activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 40 K and 232 Th of the tested samples were 2.85±1.15, 2.48±0.85, and 80.64±5.45 Bq kg -1 , respectively. No artificial radionuclide was found in any of these samples. The average value of the radium equivalent activity in all samples was 12.56 Bq kg -1 , which was less than the maximum permitted value of 370 Bq kg -1 . The values of the external hazard indices for vegetables, cereals and milk samples vary with an average value of 0.11, which is less than one in all samples indicating the non-harmfulness of the samples. The mean activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 40 K and 232 Th (Bq kg -1 ) in the samples were used to calculate the absorbed dose rate whose mean value for all food samples was 6.16 Bq kg -1 . It was determined that the measured values are within the globally accepted values, i.e., they are quite lower than the data in literature. These data would be useful to establish a baseline for natural radioactivity concentrations in food products consumed in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Wheat is one of the world’s most commonly consumed cereal grains. It originates from a type of grass (Triticum) that is grown in countless varieties worldwide. Bread wheat or common wheat is a primary species. Several other closely related species include durum, spelt, emmer, einkorn, and Khorasan wheat. In addition to being a major source of starch and energy, wheat also provides substantial amounts of a number of components which are essential or beneficial for health, notably proteins, vitamins (notably B vitamins), dietary fibres, and phytochemicals. Wheat is a basic food product of Macedonian population. This study is mainly focused on measuring the concentration of radioactivity due to natural radioactive nuclides (226Ra, 232Th, 40K) in wheat grain samples, as well as on determining the quality of wheat used in daily diet. In addition, in this study we calculated radiation hazard indices (radium equivalent activity and internal hazard index) in the wheat sample. Average activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in the wheat samples were 0.57±0.14; 0.39±0.11; 96.55±0.86 (Bq·kg-1), respectively. The radiation hazard indices were calculated for all samples in this study where mean values did not exceed safety limits, pointing out to negligible radiation hazard arising from terrestrial radionuclides that are naturally present in wheat. In terms of quality, we confirmed that all tested samples meet the requirements regarding quality in accordance with the laws in our country.
The effect of the starter culture, temperature of curdling and processing technology on the composition, cheese yield and process optimization of Macedonian White cheese (MWC) was studied during 60 days of ripening in brine. Three treatments of cheese were made using current technological process and yogurt as starter-culture gained along processing of previous day (MWCK), freeze dried culture of L?ctobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus 3:1; F-DVS YF-3331 Yo-Flex version: 2 PI-EU-EN (MWC?1), and (MWC?2) with same starter culture as previous but whith 5 minute earlier processing of curd and temperature of curdling at 39?C. As ripening progressed, titratable acidity (?SH), salt and protein contents of the (MWC?2) treatment continuously increased, whereas their fat-in-dry-matter and lactose contents decreased. In same production conditions depending on the used temperature. Way of processing and starter cultures the cheese from (MWC?2) treatment was with highest acidity of 66.63 + 2.73oSH until the end of ripening of the cheese. Moisture of cheeses remained stable during ripening. The pH of cheese at the 1 day of ripening, which decreased by increasing the temperature of curdling (5.03, 5.11 and 5.00 for MWCK, MWC?1 and MWC?2, respectively), significantly (P < 0.05) affected most of the chemical characteristics of cheese. The content of salt at the end of storage at (?1) and (?2) variant is 5.23 + 0.31 and 5.52 + 0.31 respectively. Higher temperature of curdling decreased moisture and pH, whereas cheese protein content increased. The consumption of milk for production of a 1 kilogram of cheese ranged from 7.8 to 8.3 liters of milk. It was concluded that starter cultures have possstively influenced and improved the quality of white cheese.
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