حمدالله مشتاقی بروجنی

 It was shown that contamination of agricultural pasturage with fertilizers, application of sewage and effluents in irrigation, use of pesticides and air pollution have led to the entrance of chemical contaminants, including metals, into plants. On the other hand, food processing is (handling, processing, transportation) considered as an important way of food contamination. Vegetable oils are essential in human dietary which is introduced as crucial sources of energy, fat soluble vitamins, and essential fatty acids. Sesamum indicum L., known as sesame seed, has been cultivated in Asian countries from ancient times as vegetable oil for cooking and seasoning ingredients. In recent years, the sesame oil has been considered due to its high antioxidant activities and nutritional properties. Due to the use of sesame seeds extracted oil in two form of ardeh oil and sesame oil, the amounts of mineral elements (phosphorus, potassium, iron, nickel, cobalt, manganese, calcium and magnesium) in sesame seeds and its extracted oils (ardeh oil and refined sesame oil) were investigated.

 In order to determine the mineral concentration, refined sesame oil and ardeh oils were prepared from an imported sesame seed. In order to prepare the sesame oil, sesame seeds were put into a cold presser and the oil was extracted under low pressure. The Ardeh oil was prepared by adding water to sesame paste in the ratio of 2.2:10 and oil was separated by centrifugation. The sesame seeds and oil samples (refined sesame oil and ardeh oils) were digested by microwave digestion method in presence of 5 ml 65% nitric acid and 2 ml of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The digested samples were then filtered through 0.45 µm filter membrane. Then, the concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, iron, nickel, cobalt, manganese, calcium and magnesium in sesame seeds, ardeh oil and refined sesame oil were examined using Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP – OES).

 In the present study, the limit of detection (LOD) for each studied mineral elements were determined as nickel: 4 mg/kg, magnesium: 0.00066 mg/kg, manganese: 0.000134 mg/kg, phosphorus: 0.384 mg/kg, cobalt: 0.594 μg / kg, iron: 0.000797 mg/kg, potassium: 0.00394 mg/kg, calcium 0.005 mg/kg. According to the results, the highest amounts of mineral elements were detected in sesame seeds. The achieved results showed that the method of sesame oil extraction can reduce the mineral elements in the final sesame oils. The amounts of mineral elements in sesame seeds were estimated as P > Ca > K > Mg > Fe > Mn > Co > Ni. The pattern of mineral elements in Ardeh oil was reported as P > Fe > K > Co > Mg > Ni > Mn > Ca. The reduction pattern was reported as P > K > Fe > Ni > Co > Mn > Ca > Mg in refined sesame oil. As can be seen the order of mineral elements was changed in two oil samples and sesame seed. It was shown that except for K and Ca, all mineral elements in ardeh oil were higher than refined sesame oil. As can be seen, the refining process was effectively reduced the metals in oil samples. On the other hand, high amount of mineral elements in sesame seed in comparison to extracted oils could be attributed to lack of processing methods which are present in oil production in both methods. 

 It should be considered that presence of different metals in vegetable oils could facilitate the oil deterioration and oxidization as well as oil shelf life reduction. Since the most of the sesame lots in Iran are imported, it is necessary to monitor the amount of mineral elements.

Honey is the nectar of living flowers which produced by honey bees (Apis mellifera). Honey could be used as an environmental pollution indicator and because of developing and industrialization of cities, levels of three metal elements were investigated in five regions of Chahar-mahale-Bakhtiary Province.
The amounts of Cadmium, Lead and Mercury for 75 honey samples were analyzed by potentiometric analyses. According to the results, mercury was not detected in all samples. Cadmium level was determined significantly higher (P

Awareness and concern about soil contamination with metals and their effects on the food chain are increasing. Cereal consumption is one of the major sources of metal exposure which soybean may accumulate more toxic metals than other crops.
Three metal elements including Zn, Cd, and Ni were measured in soy products. First, soymilk and soy cheese (tofu) were prepared by common methods, and then the digested samples were analyzed by ICP-OES. The carryover of metals in different methods was determined.
The soymilk prepared by rapid method showed higher Zn content (P According to the results the method of soybean production, soy soaking, the type of clot and the tendency of elements toward different parts of the product can have a significant effect on the amount of transfer and removal of the metals.

The antibacterial effect of alcoholic extract of Satureja bactiarica were investigated quantitatively and qualitatively on two foodborne pathogenic bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Determination of the MIC and MBC values were used as quantitative method, and disk and well diffusion methods were applied as qualitative methods. The results of the disk diffusion test showed that extracts of Satureja bactiarica at the concentration of 2% and 5% has no inhibitory effect on bacterial growth. The results of the well diffusion test showed that extracts of Satureja bactiarica in concentrations of 5% inhibits Staphylococcus aureus growth. In this study it was shown that the MIC and MBC of the alcoholic extract of Satureja bactiarica against the Staphylococcus aureus were 1.56 mg/ml and 12.5 mg/ml, respectively. MIC and MBC of the alcoholic extract of Satureja bactiarica against the Escherichia coli were 3.125 mg/ml and zero, subsequently. The results from evaluation of the antibacterial effects of the Satureja bactiarica revealed that at 4 and 15 °C, the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in test tubes containing meat extracts has increased from the beginning to the end of the experiment. In the present of the extracts of Satureja bactiarica at the concentration of 2% and 5% in the both tested temperatures the growth of the bacteria decreased in comparison to time zero (p<0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the number of counted microorganism at various times between control and experimental groups in both tested temperatures and both examined bacteria (p<0.05). Based on the results from this study it is concluded that Satureja bactiarica can be used as preservative against these bacteria in the food industry.