Rapid Detection and Identification Methods for Food Quality and Safety

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Analytical Methods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (12 July 2024) | Viewed by 4285

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Genetics, Physiology and Microbiology, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: food traceability; seafood; species identification; geographic origin; production method PCR/qPCR; isothermal PCR; next-generation sequencing; microbiome; honeybees

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Guest Editor
Food Quality and Safety Research Group, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Braga, Portugal
Interests: foodborne pathogens; microbiology; food microbiology; food safety; fast detection tools; PCR/ qPCR; fast multipathogen detection; food quality and safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology, University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), 27002 Lugo, Spain
Interests: food microbiology; food-borne pathogens; biofilm; antimicrobial resistance; microbiome; genomics; transcriptomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food traceability and safety control are essential in order to achieve an efficient, cost-effective, sustainable, healthy, and safe food production system.  Every year, many cases of foodborne illnesses are registered globally, which could be avoided with more rigorous foodborne pathogen evaluations that ensure security along the complete food supply chain. On the other hand, the potential fraud and/or adulteration of food products, including non-declared ingredients or species substitutions, should be tracked to ensure the transparency of the sector and to protect natural resources and consumers’ rights. For this control to be possible and adequate, having fast, portable, and cost-effective technologies that can be applied in any point of the supply chain is essential. There is an urgent need to develop new rapid detection and identification tools that allow the monitoring of a food product, its components, and its potential pathogens from the origin of the raw materials to its final point of sale. This Special Issue will examine the new methodologies for rapid detection and identification that have been developed with the aim of promoting and improving control and food safety.

Dr. Ana Marta Muñoz-Colmenero
Dr. Alejandro Garrido-Maestu
Dr. Alexandre Lamas
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • rapid methods
  • traceability
  • food safety
  • food control
  • food detection

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 7003 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Study of Total Nitrogen Content and Microfluidic Profiles in Additive-Enriched Plant-Based Drinks
by Fruzsina Balogh-Hartmann, Csilla Páger, Anita Bufa, Zoltán Sipos, Anna Dávidovics, Zsófia Verzár, Tamás Marosvölgyi and Lilla Makszin
Foods 2024, 13(15), 2329; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13152329 - 24 Jul 2024
Viewed by 606
Abstract
The growing consumption of plant-based milk substitutes raises important questions about their composition. The various additives used by manufacturers, including those employed as flavor enhancers, protein additives, and stabilizers, may contain both protein and non-protein nitrogen components. In our study, we examined not [...] Read more.
The growing consumption of plant-based milk substitutes raises important questions about their composition. The various additives used by manufacturers, including those employed as flavor enhancers, protein additives, and stabilizers, may contain both protein and non-protein nitrogen components. In our study, we examined not only popular milk alternatives but also other milk substitutes made from specific plants. We present a reproducible and rapid method for the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative determination of the total nitrogen content in milk alternatives, focusing on applicability. Using the microchip gel electrophoretic method, we determined that the total nitrogen content differed from the protein content indicated on the packaging. Our results, along with statistical evaluations, supported the hypothesis that different brands of products, derived from the same plant source, resulted in different microfluidic profiles, likely due to the presence of additives. As expected, the microfluidic profiles of additive-free products differed from those of fortified products made from the same plant-based milk replacer. Total nitrogen content provides crucial information for individuals with kidney disease, as is essential to reduce the burden on the kidneys to slow deterioration, alleviate symptoms and avoid complications. Full article
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15 pages, 4918 KiB  
Article
Molecular Traceability Approach to Assess the Geographical Origin of Commercial Extra Virgin Olive Oil
by Michele Antonio Savoia, Isabella Mascio, Monica Marilena Miazzi, Claudio De Giovanni, Fabio Grillo Spina, Stefania Carpino, Valentina Fanelli and Cinzia Montemurro
Foods 2024, 13(14), 2240; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13142240 - 16 Jul 2024
Viewed by 593
Abstract
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a precious and healthy ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine. Due to its high nutritional value, the interest of consumers in the composition of EVOO is constantly increasing, making it a product particularly exposed to fraud. Therefore, there is [...] Read more.
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a precious and healthy ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine. Due to its high nutritional value, the interest of consumers in the composition of EVOO is constantly increasing, making it a product particularly exposed to fraud. Therefore, there is a need to properly valorize high-quality EVOO and protect it from fraudulent manipulations to safeguard consumer choices. In our study, we used a straightforward and easy method to assess the molecular traceability of 28 commercial EVOO samples based on the use of SSR molecular markers. A lack of correspondence between the declared origin of the samples and the actual origin of the detected varieties was observed, suggesting possible adulteration. This result was supported by the identification of private alleles based on a large collection of national and international olive varieties and the search for them in the molecular profile of the analyzed samples. We demonstrated that the proposed method is a rapid and straightforward approach for identifying the composition of an oil sample and verifying the correspondence between the origin of olives declared on the label and that of the actual detected varieties, allowing the detection of possible adulterations. Full article
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14 pages, 7264 KiB  
Article
Organic-Acid-Sensitive Visual Sensor Array Based on Fenton Reagent–Phenol/Aniline for the Rapid Species and Adulteration Assessment of Baijiu
by Lei Zhang, Yaqi Liu, Zhenli Cai, Meixia Wu and Yao Fan
Foods 2024, 13(13), 2139; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13132139 - 5 Jul 2024
Viewed by 867
Abstract
Baijiu is an ancient, distilled spirit with a complicated brewing process, unique taste, and rich trace components. These trace components play a decisive role in the aroma, taste, and especially the quality of baijiu. In this paper, the redox reaction between the Fenton [...] Read more.
Baijiu is an ancient, distilled spirit with a complicated brewing process, unique taste, and rich trace components. These trace components play a decisive role in the aroma, taste, and especially the quality of baijiu. In this paper, the redox reaction between the Fenton reagent and four reducing agents, including o-phenylenediamine (OPD), p-phenylenediamine (PPD), 4-aminophenol (PAP), and 2-aminophenol (OAP), was adopted to construct a four-channel visual sensor array for the rapid detection of nine kinds of common organic acids in baijiu and the identification of baijiu and its adulteration. By exploiting the color-changing fingerprint response brought by organic acids, each organic acid could be analyzed accurately when combined with an optimized variable-weighted least-squares support vector machine based on a particle swarm optimization (PSO-VWLS-SVM) model. What is more, this novel sensor also could achieve accurate semi-quantitative analysis of the mixed organic acid samples via partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). Most importantly, the sensor array could be further used for the identification of baijiu with different species through the PLSDA model and the adulteration assessment with the one-class partial least squares (OCPLS) model simultaneously. Full article
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13 pages, 1817 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Novel mTA10 Selective Broth, MSB, for the Co-Enrichment and Detection of Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157 and Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Salad Samples
by Ana Costa-Ribeiro, Alexandre Lamas, Marta Prado and Alejandro Garrido-Maestu
Foods 2024, 13(1), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13010063 - 23 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1514
Abstract
Multiplex assays implementing DNA-based methods have been demonstrated as suitable alternatives to culture-based microbiological methods; however, in most cases, they still require a suitable enrichment step. Finding suitable enrichment conditions for different bacteria may result in challenges. In the present study, a novel [...] Read more.
Multiplex assays implementing DNA-based methods have been demonstrated as suitable alternatives to culture-based microbiological methods; however, in most cases, they still require a suitable enrichment step. Finding suitable enrichment conditions for different bacteria may result in challenges. In the present study, a novel selective broth named MSB (mTA10 selective broth) was formulated for the simultaneous recovery of Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes. Attention was paid to ensure the optimal enrichment of L. monocytogenes as its enrichment is more challenging. To this end, cellobiose was added to increase the growth of L. monocytogenes, and sodium pyruvate was also added to improve the recovery of stressed bacteria. Four selective agents were added, namely nalidixic acid, sodium cholate, lithium chloride and potassium tellurite, to control the growth of interfering microorganisms. It was concluded that the novel broth was suitable for the simultaneous enrichment of the target pathogens, allowing them to reach concentrations higher than 7 log CFU/mL for each bacterium in pure culture. Furthermore, all heavily contaminated ready-to-eat salad samples reached concentrations higher than 5 log CFU/g. Finally, after 24 h of enrichment of spiked salad, it was possible to detect concentrations below 10 CFU/25 g. Full article
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