Food and Health
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter 2021

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV 2, is an acute respiratory syndrome and is easily transmitted between people. The disease first started in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and then quickly spread to more than 200 countries. In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the outbreak of the disease as a global epidemic, and it is a great challenge that has affected all nations. Initially, governments in various countries, to prevent the spread of this disease, took stubborn measures, including complete lockdown. It seems that little attention has been paid to food hygiene and its association with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 is possible through food department staff to food products and food contact surfaces. Recently, cases of survival of SARS-CoV 2 through various surfaces have been reported. The possibility of transmission and survival of SARS-CoV2 via food is discussed based on previous information for other respiratory viruses such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. Nevertheless, studies are needed to survey the possibility of its transmission and survival via food. In the face of challenges such as the current epidemic, the flexibility of a system such as the food industry is critical to protecting producers' and consumers' health to reduce the risk of outbreaks by implementing new approaches.

Chemical methods to grow and improve plants threaten the health of the environment. In a previous study, factors assuming that flavonoids properties for instance pH, temperature, time, and plant extract content were assayed. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is the second most important vegetable in the world in terms of its economic value. This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with three levels of chitosan, sylamol, aqueous extract, and silver nanoparticles with three replications. Different concentrations of silver nitrate solution (10, 20, 30mg/ l), aqueous extract (10, 20, 30mg/ l), chitosan (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 v/v) and silamol (1/1000, 2/1000, 3/1000(v/v) and control treatment (distilled water) were applied. Nutritional content including lycopene, Total soluble solids concentration (TSS), vitamin C, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and potassium. Factors assuming that flavonoids properties for instance pH, temperature, time, and plant extract content were assayed., Fe, Mn, P, Ca and K, are significantly affected by using treatment. Measurement of features was done at 4, 1, 3, 7, and 11 days. The results showed that the application of the above treatment at 30 ppm silver nanoparticles was more effective than all other nutritional characters. So, these natural matters could be used for increasing the quality of tomatoes.

One of the most worldwide chronic diseases is diabetes which has affected a large population worldwide and it is predicted that 649 million adults will be diabetic by 2040. Many foods and ingredients were tested to combat diabetes. Both probiotics and prebiotics which are known as synbiotic have shown beneficial effects on many diseases including diabetes. Although several studies have evaluated the effect of synbiotic consumption on lipid profile in patients with diabetes, findings are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of synbiotics on lipid profile in diabetic patients. A systematic literature search of online databases including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Magiran, SID, and Cochrane’s library was conducted up to January 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of synbiotics on lipid profile in diabetic patients were included. A total of 11 RCTs with 662 participants were included. Synbiotic consumption resulted in a decrease in plasma concentrations of TC, TG, LDL, and an increase in plasma HDL levels compared to the control group (placebo supplements/control foods/conventional products). Synbiotic supplements may be profitable to ameliorate lipid profile in patients with diabetes and it should be suggested by both dietitians and healthcare clinics to diabetic patients.

Mahyaveh is a traditional fish sauce that is produced in the southern part of Iran and main problem related to this product is the very high histamine content. This study investigated the chemical properties of mahyaveh, in the presence of wheat bran. The effects of Mahdavi wheat bran investigated on the reduction of histamine in mahyaveh, as “Southern Iran Fermented FishSauce”. Fish sauce samples used in this study consisted of control samples and the treated samples containing 10% and 20% of wheat bran. The histamine and heavy metals concentrations in the mahyaveh samples were determined by an enzymatic assay kit and graphite furnace atomic absorption, respectively. The pH and water activity of fish sauce samples decreased during the 45-day fermentation period (2.07% and 8.13%). While the amount of TVB-N experienced a meaningful increase in the presence of wheat bran (4.95%), the protein content significantly decreased (p <0.05) (3.83%). The iron and mercury concentration range of samples (1.3-6.2 mg/kg and 0.2-0.5 mg/kg) were below maximum permissible limits of WHO/FAO (43 mg/kg and 0.6 mg/kg) but cadmium concentration range of samples (0.6-2 mg/kg) and histamine concentration range of samples (832.21-950.40) were above maximum permissible limits of WHO/FAO (0.2 mg/kg) and FDA maximum permissible limits of (50 mg/kg), respectively. The high levels of histamine in mahyaveh samples decreased significantly (p <0.05) by adding wheat bran (13.3%). Moreover, wheat bran had a considerable reductive effect on the concentrations of heavy metals naming iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) (77.96%- 66.66% and 50%, respectively). Consequently, the major safety problem related to mahyaveh consumption is the very high histamine content and heavy metals contamination.

Pistachios are good sources of some functional compounds that are essential for human health. In addition to consuming dried pistachios (salted/roasted) or used as ingredients in a variety of confectionery and cookery products, consuming fresh pistachios is also gaining a foothold in the market. This review presents pre- and postharvest operations to prevent microbial contamination and to preserve physicochemical properties of fresh and processed pistachios for extending their shelf life. There is a potential in pistachios to be contaminated with some undesirable microbes, especially aflatoxin-producing fungi, during pre- and postharvest operations. In this regard, strategies to the prevention of aflatoxin production and the decontamination of produced aflatoxin in pistachios have been of interest to researchers. Different practices including sorting, thermal processing, biological control, ozone treatment, gamma irradiation, ultraviolet irradiation, and cold plasma have been proposed for aflatoxin decontamination. Sorting out damaged pistachios is one of the most important postharvest strategies to reduce aflatoxin levels (up to 98%) that can be done manually or electronically. The majority of pistachios (~85%) are consumed as roasted form that combining roasting with lemon juice improves the elimination of aflatoxin (up to 93%). Drying and packaging are the most important methods to maintain quality and improve the shelf life of pistachios. Laminated and metallized films with vacuum or modified atmosphere are the proper packaging for pistachios.

In this study the effect of incorporation of aqueous extract of Agave tequilana (AEAT) on viability of Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus was investigated. No reduction of cell viability was seen in any treatment groups of L. acidophilus during the storage time. A statistically significant increase in L. acidophilus count was found in synbiotic yogurt samples containing 1 and 1.5% concentrations of the extract at day 21 of storage compared to the first day (p<0.05). The viability of B. bifidum remained unchanged in control probiotic yogurt during the storage, while there was a viability increase of 1, 1.2 and 2.4 log cycles in synbiotic yogurt samples containing 0.5, 1 and 1.5% concentrations of the extract during the storage, respectively. The final pH at day 21 ranged from 3.98-4.15. The pH of all yogurt samples was decreased as a function of time, while no statistically difference in pH was seen between different groups (p>0.05). All the yogurt samples revealed an increase in titratable acidity as a function of storage time.  In conclusion, as the results of this study indicated improvement of probiotic bacteria in yogurt incorporated with AEAT, its potential application as a functional food formulation is recommended.