ali misaghi

Malt is a vital ingredient in the brewing and food industries, as it influences the sweetness, flavor, and color of the final products. The quality and soluble solids content of barley-derived malt depends on temperature, enzyme type, and grinding roller interval. This study aimed to determine the optimal conditions for maximizing the soluble solids in Iranian malt.

Malt samples were treated at 57 and 72 °C, employing glucan maltohydrolase (GMH) and glucohydrolase (GH) enzymes, and grinding roller intervals of 0.6, 0.8, and 1 mm. The malt samples were then subjected to chemical analyses, including Brix measurement, iodine test, and pH determination.

The results showed that higher temperatures increased the Brix value and decreased the pH value of the malt samples. No significant differences in Brix and pH were observed between the GMH and GH enzymes. Smaller grinding roller intervals (0.6 mm) increased the Brix value and decreased the pH. The optimal conditions for maximizing the soluble solids content were 72 °C with the GMH enzyme and a 0.6 mm roller interval (Brix = 7.8 g/100 cc, pH = 5.32). The temperature significantly influenced the iodine test, confirming starch hydrolysis into sugar at 72 °C.

This study recommends reducing the grinding roller interval from 0.8 to 0.6 mm and increasing the temperature from 57 to 72 °C to significantly enhance the malting process. Therefore, using a 72 °C temperature and 0.6 mm roller gap is advised for better malting efficiency.

Today, the prevalence of foodborne illnesses has led to the widespread use of medicinal plants. This study aims to investigate the antibacterial effect of polylactic acid (PLA) films containing oak ethanolic extracts incorporated with cinnamon essential oil against a range of foodborne pathogens.

The oak extract was obtained by soaking method and the cinnamon essential oil was extracted using a Clevenger apparatus. PLA films containing 2% concentration of oak extract and cinnamon essential oil were prepared, homogenized, cast, and stored at 4°C. Subsequently, the antimicrobial efficacy of various concentrations of the extract against pathogenic bacteria was examined using the disk diffusion method.

The film containing 400 mg/mL of ethanolic extract along with 3% cinnamon, showed the largest non-growth zone (with a diameter of 31.5 mm against Staphylococcus aureus). Furthermore, the film with a concentration of 100 mg/mL of extract displayed the smallest non-growth zone against Salmonella typhimurium, measuring 13.54 mm in diameter.

Based on the obtained results, the combination of oak extract and cinnamon essential oil has a strong inhibitory effect against common foodborne pathogens. Consequently, these substances may be useful for enhancing the safety and extending the shelf life of various food products.

Fabric anisotropy plays a crucial role in the variations model of anisotropy degree of soil elastic coefficients. This study aims to quantify this anisotropy in sandy soils, examining its variations in terms of the available stress conditions, and assessing its dependence on grading, shape and soil particles weight characteristics. To this end, by presuming the transverse isotropy in the soil medium, the elastic coefficients obtained from 419 laboratory tests on 28 different samples of 17 different sands were collected from literature. Indeed, those were attained from the seismic velocity measurements and supplemented with corresponding data on void ratio, stress state, grading, shape and weight properties. Based using on a famous experimental equation, the collected data was analyzed, and the fabric anisotropy ratio was computed for each soil sample. By drawing these results versus the respective experienced stresses, the variability model and the amplitude of the ratio were identified with respect to the applied stresses. Finally, by performing a series of simple and multiple regression analyses, the potential correlations between the fabric anisotropy ratio and the representative characteristics of grading, shape and particles weight were investigated resulting in a couple of mutual relationships.

Edible films have gained significant attention as carriers of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds. Essential oils and aqueous extracts of red pepper, known for their antimicrobial properties in food systems, can be incorporated into the matrix of edible films. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial activity of calcium pectinate edible films containing essential oil and aqueous extract of red pepper against four major foodborne pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli (O157:H7), and Salmonella enteritidis, using the disc diffusion method. Disks with a diameter of 9 mm were prepared from calcium pectinate-based films containing 0.5% and 1% essential oil and 2% aqueous extract of red pepper and placed under sterile conditions on pre-inoculated BHI agar plates. The diameter of the inhibition zones was considered as an indicator of the antimicrobial activity of the films. Statistical analysis was performed using Sigma Plot software. The results demonstrated that the designed films effectively inhibited the tested pathogens. Composites containing red pepper essential oil exhibited a remarkable ability to restrict the growth of foodborne pathogenic bacteria at both concentrations. However, the film containing only 0.5% essential oil did not form an inhibition zone against Salmonella enteritidis, indicating no inhibitory effect at this concentration. Additionally, the addition of aqueous extract of red pepper further enhanced the antibacterial properties of the essential oil-containing films. These findings suggest that essential oil and aqueous extract of red pepper can be employed as natural preservatives in calcium pectinate edible films for food packaging applications.

Compressional and shear wave velocities (Vp and Vs respectively) are basic and essential parameters for any geomechanical modelling in deep ground conditions. However, both are complex parameters that are strongly influenced by other rock properties such as porosity, in situ stress, pore filling, clay content, etc. Therefore, detailed information about the contribution of each of these attributes can improve the results obtained in geomechanical models. Especially when the wave velocity in the surface conditions is estimated based on in situ data such as geophysical logs from wells or core samples or drilling chips, the importance of this matter becomes much significant. In this research, experimental data for more than 180 shaly rock samples were analysed. Clearly, porosity was the most critical parameter affecting shear wave velocity. Accordingly, increasing porosity leads to a dramatic decrease in wave velocity. Nevertheless, it was noticed that for a certain porosity value, a relatively wide range of wave velocities may be observed. Further investigation revealed that, clay content was also a significant contributing parameter. Based on explicit statistical analysis, a predictive equation was introduced with which shear wave velocity can be estimated with high certainty. Accordingly, for samples with the same porosity, variation in clay content would result in different wave velocities

Aflatoxins are classified as definitive or possible human carcinogens. Nuts and nutty products are among the most frequent aflatoxin-contaminated foodstuffs. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2, total) in different nuts, including pistachio, almond, cashew, hazelnut obtained from selected supermarket chains in Tehran city.

A total of 20 nut samples were collected from eight randomly selected chain stores, and the levels of aflatoxins in the samples were evaluated using an immunoaffinity column and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography technique (HPLC).

Among 20 tested nuts, only one sample (roasted hazelnut) was contaminated with the aflatoxins (AG1) at a level of 0.34 µg/kg, while the tested mycotoxins were not detected in the other samples.

Our findings indicated that different parameters such as climatic conditions, implementing strict regulations, improvement in harvest and post-harvest practices alongside rigorous surveillance by the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (AJA University of Medical Sciences) on the quality of food materials may explain the low incidence of aflatoxins in this study.

Accurate estimation of in-situ hydrocarbon is one of the most important objectives for oil/gas reservoir description. Fluid saturation is an essential parameter for this purpose. In this context, it is assumed that fluid content in a reservoir can cause seismic wave attenuation and dispersion. This assumption, however, has been confirmed using rock physics and numerical modeling and other research approaches. In this research, based on a White’s rock physics model, three types of sandstone reservoirs of different depth and degree of compaction were synthesized. A MATLAB code was developed to investigate the impact of saturation and porosity variations on velocity, attenuation, vertical reflection coefficient and phase angle, and the results were implemented on the data from an oil field in the Persian Gulf. These investigations revealed that among different attributes, frequency related velocity and frequency related reflection angle at different saturation status show similar trends. In this research, approximate reflection angle was carefully obtained for estimation of dispersion. Analysis of reflection coefficient and velocity reveals that gas saturation and porosity affect dispersion. Finally, reflection coefficient and dispersion cross plots were successfully used to estimate gas saturation.

Porosity is a very sensitive parameter for determining the velocity of waves, estimating geomechanical parameters and petrophysical properties of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Today, in oil industry this parameter is obtained by using the helium gas injection method on core samples. Determining porosity by methods such as core analysis requires a lot of time and money. Coring is difficult and costly. In addition, it is not possible to core in some wells (such as horizontal wells). Therefore, due to the lack of sufficient cores and lithological changes and heterogeneity of reservoir rock, the determination of this parameter by conventional methods is not very accurate. So far, many experimental relationships have been proposed to calculate porosity, but in most cases, the results in different regions are not desirable. In this study, in an oil well South-west Iran, porosity was measured using neutron, density and sonic logs and also a combination of these data. Then for 645 specimens of the same section, porosity was measured using helium gas injection test. Correlation analysis and mathematical manipulation resulted in an empirical equation for estimation of porosity based on a combination of three indicators: compressional wave velocity (Vp), density (), and the ratio of compressional to shear wave velocities (Vp/Vs). Artificial intelligence technics were used to optimize this empirical equation. As a result, porosity can be estimated at a lower cost and more accuracy for the whole length of drilling.

Proper utilization of 3D seismic data in the upstream oil industry is one of the crucial steps in field developments. Many attributes are used to obtain models of facies distribution in a reservoir. Using prestack inversion methods on 3D seismic data and extracting prestack attributes such as elastic properties play very important roles in precise estimation of reservoir properties. The results of prestack seismic inversion in the oil reservoirs are investigated in this study. Simultaneous prestack inversion provides more details of acoustic impedance section rather than the poststack inversion. Moreover, the compressional acoustic impedance extracted from simultaneous inversion is more accurate than the one obtained from poststack inversion. In addition to the compressive acoustic impedance, shear impedance and density, the elastic parameters can be extracted from simultaneously prestack inversion. The purpose of this research is to transform the prestack inversion products into the geomechanical parameters including Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Young’s modulus and Poisson's ratio have been used in geophysical algorithms to detect the well drilling trajectory and estimate the stress direction. These parameters can also be used in fluid detection studies.

Fresh sausage has a short shelf life  and is easily spoiled at refrigerated condition. The object of the current research was to assess the effect of Cuminum cyminum L. essential oil (CCEO) (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2% v/v) on the shelf life extension of fresh camel sausage within storage at 4oC for 15 days. Based on the microbiological findings, integration of CCEO significantly (p<0.05) retarded microbial growth in the sausage compared to the control group. Mesophilic bacterial count (MBC) reached to upper microbiological permissible limit, 7 log CFU/g, on day 5 in control samples, on day 7 in samples containing 0.05% or 0.1 % CCEO and on day 15 in samples containing 0.2 % CCEO. Based on chemical findings, on the last day of the storage period, the total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) value in the control samples increased to 39.75 mg/100g. At the end of the research, a significant (p<0.05) reduction (approximately 6.29-11.85 mg/100g) was found out in the final TVB-N of samples integrated with CCEO compared to the control samples. The peroxide value (PV) for the control sample was 4.49 meq/1000g of lipid, meanwhile, the PV values for the treated samples remained lower as 3.25 meq/1000g of lipid at the final step of the study. Regarding sensory attributes, adding 0.05 % and 0.1% of CCEO results in slight adverse effect on the sensory characteristics (p>0.05). The results of this study revealed that the integration of CCEO to fresh camel sausages is a practical method to increase its shelf life.

It is fundamental to find the safest food preservatives in order to acheive the maximum health and economic benefits. Salmonella enteritidis is the cause of Salmonellosis, one of the most important foodborn zoonoses in poultry.

The present study was conducted to comparatively evaluate the antimicrobial effects of Trachyspermum copticum, Thymus vulgaris, and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oils and Formaldehyde against Salmonella Enteritidis.

In this study minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Trachyspermum copticum, and Thymus vulgaris essential oils against Salmonella enteritidis were determined using broth macro-dilution. The effects of essential oils on growth curve of Salmonella Enteritidis were also evaluated.

In this study, MIC for the minimum inhibitory concentration level of Trachyspermum copticum, Thymus vulgaris, Cinnamomum zeylanicum and formaldehyde for Salmonella Enteritidis was determined as 500, 700, 500, and 70 ppm while MBC was calculated as 700, 900, 1000, and 200ppm, respectively. This study revealed that all the treatments increased lag phase. Bacterial growth speed was slower for Trachyspermum copticum of all the concentrations, yet a significant difference was observed only in 1 and 2 MIC of other treatments (p < /em><0.05).

In conclusion, Trachyspermum copticum (with less concentration), Thymus vulgaris, and Cinnamomum zeylanicum (with higher concentration) could be employed as a substitution of a proporation of formaldehyde to prevent bacterial development in food.

Determining the petrophysical properties of a reservoir is of great importance. The most important of these properties are the porosity and permeability of the reservoir sections. The petrophysical properties of a reservoir are usually obtained by methods including core analysis and well testing techniques which require spending a very high time and cost. Furthermore, the results of determining these parameters by the mentioned methods are not of good quality due to the lack of sufficient cores, lithological changes and heterogeneity of reservoir rock. Therefore, the optimal method is to use advanced evaluations of petrophysical diagrams in advanced software environments such as Geolog. The results of petrophysical assessments can be compared and calibrated with the results obtained from the core.Usually, porosity is estimated based on the one of the neutron logs, density logs, sound logs or combination of two logs in-site. Moreover, it can be calculated by laboratory methods which give different evaluations of porosity, of course. Experience has also shown that estimation of porosity using one type of log is not accurate due to the response of each log to certain parameters of a formation.Another method to estimate the porosity is to use longitudinal and transverse wave velocities and the ratio of these velocities. This method uses surface wave data and Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) surveys. Using the empirical relations between the porosity and seismic velocities, a proper estimation of porosity could be provided. In this research, porosity has been estimated using the VSP data and also some other petrophysical logs in a well in the Persian Gulf and the results have been compared with other methods.The results show that the porosity values obtained from VSP data are closer to the core analysis than acoustic log results. One of the advantages of porosity estimation using VSP data is the insignificant effectiveness of shale contents on this method.The well wall caving, especially at the bottom of the well, causes error in the reading of some logs and affects the amount of porosity calculated by petrophysical logs. However, well caving has little effect on VSP data readings and results in the estimated porosity values to be more accurate than the Vp/Vs velocity ratios in these areas.The porosity obtained from the dynamic method shows only the initial porosity of the rock and is not able to calculate the total porosity. Furthermore, the studies conducted in this research showed that the porosity achieved by acoustic method does not conform well to the helium gas in neutron log and density log methods (as a reliable method), and also does not have the necessary validity. For these reasons, in this study, a method was proposed to determine the porosity by combining the ratio of the longitudinal wave velocity to shear wave velocity (Vp/Vs) and rock density. Comparison of the results presented in this study with other available methods showed a good consistency and suggests that the proposed empirical equation provides a more realistic calculation for rock porosity.As a recommendation, we suggest that VSP data be acquired for the whole well column because extracting the compressional and shear wave velocities in all surveyed depths and calculating the ratio of them, will make it possible to estimate the amount of different porosities in all existing formations.

For estimating evapotranspiration of landscape, in addition to vegetation coefficient, coefficients related to microclimate, plant density adjustment and specific plant species adjustment must also be calculated. In this study, using Landsat 7 satellite images and Mashhad Synoptic Station data, the actual evapotranspiration of landscape was calculated then, using climatic and environmental parameters obtained from satellite images and Seabl model, a relationship between microclimate coefficient and air temperature as well as relationship between density coefficient and normalized difference index of vegetation was established. Finally, the obtained relationships were evaluated by field monitoring of soil moisture in Ghadir Park of Mashhad. By determining the locations of field locations on the satellite image the relationship between NDVI index and the landscape density coefficient was investigated. The results showed that the best model presented using linear regression as Kd = 0.9941 * NDVI + 0.5058 with a correlation coefficient of 0.98 that the maximum percentage of error between calculated evapotranspiration for landscape using extracted relationships and measured values from moisture weight monitoring is less than 24%. due to severe water deficit in the forest landscape and insufficient water availability of the plant, evapotranspiration calculation using the Sabal model is inappropriate and has many errors. Therefore, instead of using the Sebal model, the extracted relationships can be used to determine the vegetation coefficients and the water requirement of urban landscape.

In this study, 22 Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated from Siahmazgi traditional cheese were evaluated using different tests including resistance to low pH (1.50 and 2.50) and bile salt (0.50 and 1.00%), growth kinetic at low pH values and survival under simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. All the strains retained their viability at pH 2.50. However, the survival of all of the isolates was decreased at pH 1.50. Ten out of 22 strains which were able to tolerate low pH were selected for further investigations. All the selected isolates were able to grow at low pH. Strain F2 showed the highest specific growth rate. Five out of 10 isolates showed a significant decrease in bacterial count varied from 2.00 to 7.00 log CFU mL-1 during 3 hr exposure to 0.50% bile salt, while five isolates represented resistance to 0.50% bile during 3 hr. A significant reduction was observed in survival of all of the isolate at 1.00% bile salt concentration. Furthermore, viability of the selected isolates was lowered during 1 hr incubation under gastric conditions, while it remained unchanged within next 2 hr. Although, no significant changes were seen in bacterial count of the selected isolates during 1 hr of exposure to simulated intestinal condition, the survival of the isolates was relatively reduced after 3 hr. In conclusion, five out of 22 examined L. plantarum isolates showed appropriate resistance properties, therefore, could be good candidates for further examinations including functional and safety evaluation supporting their use as probiotics.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of formalin and Trachyspermum ammi (ajwain) of three concentrations on the microbial population and morphology of broilers. 150 one-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly divided into groups comprising of three replicates in each group. Each replicate contained 10 chicks. Five experimental diets composed of 1) basal diet with no additive 2) basal diet+ 175 ppm T. ammi 3) basal diet+ 350 ppm T. ammi 4) basal diet+ 700 ppm T. ammi 5) basal diet+ 0.1 percent formaldehyde. At the end of the experiment intestinal morphometric indices and microbiota counts were determined. In ileum, the count of bifidobacteria decreased in the groups received formaldehyde; ajwain at 700 ppm decreased the number of Lactobacilli but had no adverse effect on beneficial bacteria (Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria). Also, formaldehyde and ajwain at 350 and 700 ppm decreased clostridia population in Ileum. In caecum, ajwain increased Bifidobacteria population at the concentration of 700 ppm and decreased Clostridia number at the concentration of 350 and 700 ppm. There was no difference between Coliforms counts in groups in Ileum and caecum. In duodenum, villus height increased in the groups with 175 ppm ajwain, villus height and villus height to cryptal depth ratio at 350 ppm ajwain. Use of ajwain at 700 ppm has no effect on duodenum morphology. However, formaldehyde increased villus height, villus width and crypt depth but had no impact on villus height to cryptal depth ratio. In jejunum, there was no difference in intestine morphology between the groups fed by basal diet and other groups except formaldehyde increased villus height. In conclusion, both ajwain and formaldehyde could improve intestine morphology and decrease undesirable bacterial counts.

The probiotic must survive in sufficient numbers after gastric and duodenal transit to be able to colonize the large intestine. The viability of a probiotic in the human upper GI tract is mainly influenced by low acidity of the stomach and bile salt in the small intestine. Currently, consumers are more interested in natural antibacterial compounds as food preservatives, like herbal essential oils and extracts. To provide a balance between sensory acceptability and antimicrobial efficacy, the use of sublethal concentrations of EOs in combination with other preservation methods has been proposed. However, it should be considered that bacterial cell exposure to sublethal stresses may result in decreased sensitivity to the same stress and even to other stresses.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress response of probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, pre-exposed to sublethal level of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO.

The sublethal and lethal levels of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO, bile salt and pH stresses were determined for Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. Then stress response of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG pre-exposed to the sublethal level of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO were compared to cultures which were challenged directly with the lethal level of each stress (control). The growth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG was also assessed under bile salt and acid pH stress condition.

The sublethal and lethal levels of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO and the lethal level for bile salt and pH were 1000 ppm, 1500 ppm, 0.2% and 2.5 respectively. In the test tubes, the number of cells that survived increased significantly and the growth curve of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG has been affected in pre-exposed cultures.

Exposure to sublethal concentration of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO can induce cross-protection against bile salt and pH stresses.

The probiotic must survive in sufficient numbers after gastric and duodenal transit to be able to colonize the large intestine. The viability of a probiotic in the human upper GI tract is mainly influenced by low acidity of the stomach and bile salt in the small intestine. Currently, consumers are more interested in natural antibacterial compounds as food preservatives, like herbal essential oils and extracts. To provide a balance between sensory acceptability and antimicrobial efficacy, the use of sublethal concentrations of EOs in combination with other preservation methods has been proposed. However, it should be considered that bacterial cell exposure to sublethal stresses may result in decreased sensitivity to the same stress and even to other stresses.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress response of probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, pre-exposed to sublethal level of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO.

The sublethal and lethal levels of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO, bile salt and pH stresses were determined for Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. Then stress response of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG pre-exposed to the sublethal level of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO were compared to cultures which were challenged directly with the lethal level of each stress (control). The growth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG was also assessed under bile salt and acid pH stress condition.

The sublethal and lethal levels of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO and the lethal level for bile salt and pH were 1000 ppm, 1500 ppm, 0.2% and 2.5 respectively. In the test tubes, the number of cells that survived increased significantly and the growth curve of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG has been affected in pre-exposed cultures.

Exposure to sublethal concentration of Ziziphora clinopodioides EO can induce cross-protection against bile salt and pH stresses.

Consumption of appropriate amount of probiotic microorganisms via food products have health benefits on the host. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in research on the characterization and verification potential use of probiotic films in food industry. The aim of the current study was to investigate in vitro antimicrobial property of probiotic carboxymethyl cellulose-sodium caseinate (CMC-SC) films containing Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. reuteri and Bifidobacterium bifidum against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7. 

Preparation of CMC-SC composite films were conducted based on casting method. The in vitro antibacterial property of CMC-SC films was evaluated using agar disk diffusion and broth micro-dilution methods. 

Antimicrobial property of probiotic films (diameter inhibition zone and log differences in population, respectively) were as follow: S. aureus (2.13-5.65 mm and -0.79 - -3.82) > L. monocytogenes (1.76-5.32 mm and -0.65 - -3.34) > S. typhimurium (2.13-4.33 mm and -0.34 - -2.79) > E. coli O157:H7 (1.88-3.86 mm and -0.18 - -2.62). The best antimicrobial property against aforementioned bacterial pathogens was found for film supplemented with L. acidophilus + L. reuteri + B. bifidum. 

It can be concluded that incorporation of some probiotic strains into edible films resulted in excellent antimicrobial property against S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, S. typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7 and probably solve safety related issue in food industry.

Halvi is a traditional dairy product made from sheep milk in Mazandaran province, especially in the mountainous areas of Noor and Kojur. The fungus used in the preparation of Halvi is Auricularia auricula-judae. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and microbiological properties of Halvi samples produced in various regions in Noor city, Iran.  In total, 42 Halvi samples were collected from various regions in Noor, including Chamestan (n=30), central Noor (n=8), and Baladeh (n=4), for the evaluation the chemical (protein, fat content, dry matter, ash, and pH) and microbiological analysis (aerobic plate count, coliform, molds and yeasts, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli).  The microbiological results indicated that the samples collected from Chamestan had the highest count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria (6.4 log CFU/g). On the other hand, the samples collected from Chamestan and central Noor were more contaminated with coliform bacteria and yeast and mold compared to the samples collected from Baladeh. Moreover, S. aureus and E. coli were detected in 66.16% and 5.9% of the samples, respectively. The mean pH and protein, fat, ash, and dry matter content of the samples was 6.71, 6.84%, 8.87%, 1.42%, and 21.67%, respectively.  According to the results, contamination with the mentioned pathogens indicates stricter control and proper measures during the preparation of Halvi.

Lactobacillus plantarum was the most common species in the microflora of artisanal Siahmazgi white brined cheese with 41.6% occurrence among the total isolated LAB. In this study, the attachment properties of 5 different L. plantarum strains isolated from Siahmazgi traditional cheese were evaluated by in vitro tests including auto and co-aggregation, hydrophobicity, and cell adhesion. A relatively high amount of auto-aggregation ranged from 58.21 to 73.99% was seen in selected isolates. Co-aggregation was highly variable from 1.46 to 49%, depending on the pathogenic bacteria and L. plantarum isolates. Hydrophobicity was also highly different in tested strains ranging from 6.58 to 73.3%. Two isolates showed great affinity about 73% to chloroform.  All the isolates presented high adhesion to Caco-2 cell line up to about 90%. In conclusion, five L. plantarum isolates showed appropriate attachment properties and could be good candidates for further studying, including safety evaluation, that support their use as probiotics.

Malnutrition may be one of the greatest public health problems in emergency situations such as flood, earthquake, and war that results in higher mortality among survivors. The aim of this study was formulation and prototype development of an emergency, energetic, and nutrient ration with long shelf life to minimize the mortality rate among civilians or soldiers. In this study, four new rations based on wheat and rice flour (carbohydrate source), milk powder and soy flour (protein source), shortening (fat source) were formulated by trial and error method with regard to appetizing characteristics, economical concerns, cultural affairs and reasonable weight. The qualities of sensory and microbial characteristics of samples were evaluated after six months incubation and collected data were statistically analyzed. By comparison of rations, one sample containing wheat flour and milk powder yielded the best scores in the most evaluations. Such ration also scored 6.37 in texture acceptance and achieved second rank (the first rank scored 6.5 in a 9 point scale). No microbial growth was seen except mesophilic bacteria that were in standard range. It seems that the sample ration containing wheat flour and milk powder is appropriate to be introduced as an emergency ration with desired sensory and microbial characteristics that provides a healthy and safe diet for consumers.

Various natural oils/extracts and their constituents incorporated into biopolymer-based edible films as a promising technology with the knowledge that these compounds have been able to reduce microbial growth and chemical changes of packed foodstuffs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of incorporation of Ziziphora clinopodioides essential oil (ZEO; 0, 0.25 and 0.5%) and sesame oil (SO; 0, 0.5 and 0.75%) into chitosan-flaxseed mucilage (CH-FM) film against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in vitro condition and raw minced trout fillets during refrigerated condition. The in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant properties of CH-FM films were evaluated using agar disk diffusion method and free radical scavenging activity assay, respectively. The most important constituents of ZEO were found to be carvacrol (65.22%), thymol (19.51%), ɣ-terpinene (4.63%) and p-cymene (4.86%). The lowest and highest antimicrobial effect against S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium were found for CH-FM films enriched with SO 0.5% (0.98-1.24 mm) and ZEO 0.5% + SO 0.75% (5.01-6.25 mm), respectively. The antioxidant property of CH-FM based films were found to be ranged 5.45% ± 0.04-37% ± 0.45. In treated trout fillets, the counts of L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium were 1.54-4.18, 0.34-3.35, 0.29-1.45 and 0.19-1.27 log CFU/g significantly lower than control groups after two weeks of refrigerated storage, respectively. The designated films had good antibacterial effect against some food borne pathogenic bacteria including L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, S. typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7 in raw rainbow trout fillets.

Biodegradability and antimicrobial activity food packaging materials are among the most important parameters of the modern food packaging industry. For development of poly-lactic acid films to antibacterial compositions, different concentrations of essential oil of Zataria Multiflora or propolis ethanolic extract were added to the polymer using the solvent casting method. The antimicrobial activity of the composites was evaluated using disc diffusion method against the four common foodborne pathogens. Our findings showed that the resulting films were effective against all the tested bacteria and the composites containing the essential oil had a good capacity to limit the growth of foodborne pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, the addition of propolis ethanolic extract to films containing the essential oil increased the anti-bacterial properties of the films less than expected, which hydrophilic and hydrophobic nature of films constituents were likely the probable reasons of the results. Based on the results of this study and other similar studies, the biodegradable poly-lactic acid polymer can be considered as a desirable base polymer for development of novel antimicrobial films, especially in combination with herbal antimicrobial agents.

In medical and hospital settings, a nutritious, healthy, and safe diet is an essential foundation for treatment and improvement of patients. Today, one of the most important strategies used to ensure the safety of food is HACCP system (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). In this study, we tried to evaluate the safety and hygienic status of food production in one of IRI army forces hospitals and also the need for a HACCP food safety assurance system.
In a cross-sectional study 18 staffs working in kitchen of the hospital were enrolled and then by a questionnaire, their knowledge, attitude, and practice about evaluation of the hygienic quality of food and its production and supply were assessed.
The findings showed that the score of knowledge, attitude, and practice of subjects were 60.05%, 82.32%, and 89.81%, respectively. The participants had a weaker position in cases of food pathogens, food storage temperature, and cooking methods. While most of the questions about attitude were correctly responded, about 70% of participants mistakenly indicated that the first purpose of the kitchen set was to provide delicious and not safe food.
Since the raw material received in this collection do not follow the HACCP standards; therefore it seems that more study and planning are necessary in designing and implementing of this program.

Packaging is one of the important aspect of food quality and safety. Unfortunately, most of food packaging materials are from oil resources that are limited resources and undegradable.
The aim of this study was reaching an environmentally friendly packaging with enhancement safety of food.
After obtaining Bunium persicum (BP) and Mentha pepperita (MP) essential oils (EOs) by steam distillation method, their chemical compositions were determined using GC-MS analysis. PLA films were prepared using solvent casting technique containing different concentrations of BP (0, 0.5 and1%v/v), MP (0, 0.5 and1%v/v) EOs and cellulose nanoparticle (CN) (0 and 1% w/v) and their antimicrobial effects against gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 65138, Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778) and Gram negative bacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus ATCC 43996, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhymurium ATCC 14028) were assessed by disk diffusion method.
Major compounds of BP EO were Propanal 2-methyl-3-phenyl (34.08%), Cymene (18.23%) and Myrtenal (12.37%) and for MP EO were p-Menthan-3-ol (44.59%) and p-Menthan-3-onetrans (12.14%). The results of present study indicated that pure PLA film or PLA films containing CN showed no antimicrobial activity against any of the five tested bacteria but films containing EOs had significant antimicrobial activity and BP EO was more effective than MP EO and their combination (p The results of this study indicated that PLA films containing MP and BP EOs may be useful for packaging of foods in order to increase their shelf life and safety.