The Mediterranean aromatic plants and their culinary use.

Over the centuries, aromatic plants have acquired both practical relevance and socio-cultural meanings that have influenced the evolution of humanity itself and created relevant economic value. In fact, since a long time ago spices were promoted to a leading economic role, and their profitability has been often comparable to that of other commodities traded in much larger volumes. Many geographical discoveries, explorations, worldwide relationships between populations in different continents, were undertaken in order to meet the quest for new flavours, new tastes, new medicinal plants or to find new markets for those already known. While the use of plants in medicine offers an extensive written documentation produced by most ancient human civilizations, the same can not be said for food herbs and flavouring spices. However, without the adequate selection of edible, reliable and valuable plants from the whole biodiversity pool operated by folk cultures everywhere in the world, their proper combination would have never been elaborated and cuisines, like the Mediterranean ones, would have not attained such unique mix of flavour, taste and nutrient content that has no equal in the world. Therefore, any consideration on herbs and aromatic plants in the kitchen leads inequivocally to a journey into tradition.     

Effect of dose rate on inactivation of microorganisms in spices by electron-beams and gamma-rays irradiation

Total aerobic bacteria in spices used in this study were determined to be 1 × 10⁶ to 6 × 10⁷ per gram. A study on the inactivation of microorganisms in spices showed that doses of 6–9kGy of EB (electron-beams) or γ-irradiation were required to reduce the total aerobic bacteria in many However, a little increase of resistance was observed on the inactivation of total aerobic bacteria in many spices in case of EB irradiation. These difference of radiation sensitivities between EB and γ-rays was explained by dose rate effect on oxidation damage to microorganisms from the results of radiation sensitivities of Bacillus pumilus and B. megaterium spores at dry conditions. On the other hand, these high dose rate of EB irradiation suppressed the increase of peroxide values in spices at high dose irradiation up to 80 kGy. However, components of essential oils in spices were not changed even irradiated up to 50 kGy with EB and γ-rays.     

Food irradiation in Hungary: commercial processing and development work

The result of an experiment with irradiated frozen poultry meat is presented. The purpose of the experiment was to prove the benefit of irradiation treatment for elimination of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. We found that an average dose of 4.5 kGy kills the bacteria in the meat. Agroster was involved in an EU project on the identification of irradiation treatment of spices and data from this project are presented. Commercial irradiation of spices has been used for more than 15 years in Hungary, proving the benefit of this technology     

The Occurrence and Contamination Level of Ochratoxin A in Plant and Animal-Derived Food Commodities

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a highly toxic mycotoxin and poses great threat to human health. Due to its serious toxicity and widespread contamination, great efforts have been made to evaluate its human exposure. This review focuses on the OTA occurrence and contamination level in nine plant and animal derived food commodities: cereal, wine, coffee, beer, cocoa, dried fruit, spice, meat, and milk. The occurrence and contamination level varied greatly in food commodities and were affected by many factors, including spices, geography, climate, and storage conditions. Therefore, risk monitoring must be routinely implemented to ensure minimal OTA intake and food safety.     

Suitability of the thermoluminescence method for detection of irradiated foods

Irradiated foods can be detected by thermoluminescence (TL) of contaminating minerals. Altogether about 300 lots of herbs, spices, berries, mushrooms and seafood were studied by the TL method. Irradiated herbs and spices were easily differentiated from unirradiated ones two years after irradiation of a 10 kGy dose. The mineral composition of seafood was variable; and while calcite was suitable for the TL analysis, aragonite and smectite gave unreliable results. Control analyses during two years confirmed the reliability of TL method.     

DNA comet assay: A simple screening technique for identification of some irradiated foods

DNA Comet Assay method was carried out to detect irradiation treatment of some foods like meat, spices, beans and lentils. The fresh meat of cow and duck were irradiated up to radiation doses of 3 kGy, the spices (cardamoms and cumin black) were irradiated to radiation doses of 5, 10, 15 and 20 kGy while the beans (black beans and white beans) and lentils (red and green lentils) were irradiated to 0.5 and 1 kGy. All the foods were then analyzed for radiation treatment using simple microgel electrophoresis of single cells or nuclei (DNA Comet Assay). Sedimentation, lysis and staining times were adjusted to get optimized conditions for correct and easy analysis of each food. Using these optimized conditions, it was found out that radiation damaged DNA showed comets in case of irradiated food samples, whereas in non-treated food samples, round or conical spots of stained DNA were visible. Shape, length and intensity of these comets were also radiation dose dependent. Screening of unirradiated and irradiated samples by Comet Assay was successful in the case of all the foods under consideration under the optimized conditions of assay. Therefore, for different kinds of irradiated foods studied in the present study, the DNA Comet Assay can be used as a rapid, simple and inexpensive screening test.     

Aflatoxins and ochratoxin a reduction in black and white pepper by gamma radiation

Irradiation is an important means of decontamination of food commodities, especially spices. The aim of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of gamma radiation (⁶⁰Co) for decontaminating ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxins B₁ (AFB₁), B₂ (AFB₂), G₁ (AFG₁) and G₂ (AFG₂) residues in artificially contaminated black and white pepper samples. The moisture content of the pepper samples was set at 12% or 18%, and the applied gamma dose ranged from 5 to 30 kGy. Mycotoxin levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after immunoaffinity column (IAC) chromatography. Both the gamma irradiation dose and moisture content showed significant effects (P<0.05) on mycotoxin reduction. The maximum toxin reductions, found at 18% moisture content and 30 kGy, were 55.2%, 50.6%, 39.2%, 47.7% and 42.9% for OTA, AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2, respectively.     

Marine Natural Products as Lead Compound for New Drug Discovery

The study of natural product has long been motivated by a quest for some benefit to man, the discover. Recent years have witnessed growing attention to the isolation, identification and synthesis of the marine natural. Although marine organisms do not have a long history of medicine applications like terrestrial plants, some marine organisms have left an extensive record of hazard to mankind. The isolation and identification of saxtoxin, tetradotoxin and lyngbyatoxin resulted from such reported. The marine biosphere has long held great promise as source of anticancer compounds, while a number of screening efforts has indicated a much higher percentage of antineplastic and antitumor activity than terrestrial plants. Several marine natural products have made their appearance in clinical trials at the National Cancer Institute, such as the didemnis, , bryostatins, This finds marine invertebratehave reinvigorated interest and effort in anticancer agent from marine invertebrate.     

Combination of Chromatographic Separation Methods with Mass Spectrometry—a Modern Technique for Studying Metabolism

Powerful separation methods developed during the past few decades, in particular glass capillary gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), can be combined with sensitive methods of detection such as mass spectrometry (MS) to provide new insights into metabolic processes. Research in a field that was long thought to be exhausted has thus been revitalized. New perspective have been opened up for studying the metabolism of foods, spices and flavorings, drugs, and compounds produced in the body as well as for establishing the way in which the organism rids itself of harmful substances or how and when these compounds can interfere with the metabolic processes occurring in the body.     

Selenium concentrations of selected medicinal and aromatic plants in Turkey

Recent scientific studies have proven the importance of trace elements on human health. The main food supplies are plants and animals, which are significant sources of these minerals. Studies on determining mineral compositions of herbs, spices and some other crops have increased all over the world. Published works revealed that spices, herbs and medicinal plants should be consumed to obtain beneficial trace elements. Selenium (Se), one of the most vital trace elements, has a significant role in human diet acting as a preventative agent against some serious illnesses. Despite numerous scientific works on mineral compositions of medicinal and aromatic plants, investigations of selenium content in these foods could not be successfully studied until recently due to the lack of suitable analytical methods for selenium analysis. Thus, publications on selenium concentrations of foods are recent. In this regard, selenium contents of some medicinal and aromatic plants commonly used as spices, herbal teas and traditional medicines in Turkey were studied in the present research. Selenium contents of the most used parts of these plants were analyzed by ICP-OES (Varian Vista-Pro, Australia). Of the analyzed 26 medicinal and aromatic plants, the highest Se concentration (1133 microg kg-1) was found in sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and the lowest in sumac (Rhus coriaria L.) fruits (11 microg kg(-1)).     

Metabolic changes in gladiolus due to airborne fluoride

Gladiolus plants were exposed to airborne fluoride in order to study effects at the metabolic level. Two varieties of gladiolus, one sensitive and the other resistant to fluoride, were grown on uniform soil at a clean-air site. One set of plants was then exposed to ambient air in the vicinity of an aluminum smelter plant. A second set of control plants was placed at a location free from fluoride-polluted air. At the end of the exposure period of two weeks, plants were harvested and analyzed.The fluoride content in exposed plants was about four times higher than that in control plants. Chlorophyll content remained unchanged, but the soluble protein content of exposed plants decreased by up to 50% relative to the control plants. Activities of glutamine synthetase, glutamate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and enolase in the tissue of exposed plants were reduced to 30-50% of the activities in control plants. These effects of fluoride were more pronounced in the sensitive variety than in the resistant one. The results demonstrate that gladiolus plants can be used as a sensitive bioindicator for fluoride pollution.     

Anticipation on the Development of Polycarbonate Production Technology by Using Ester-interchange Method in China

Polycarbonate (hereinafter referred to as "PC ") is the sole product having good transparency among the 5 major engineering plastics. In 2000, the worldwide PC production capacity was reached up to 2,800,000 tons of several hundreds of brands of various grades. It is estimated that the global PC production capacity will exceed 3,500,000 tons in 2005. The global demand for PC was 1,900,000 tons in 2000, which will reach to 2,600,000 tons and more than 3,000,000 tons in 2003 and 2005 respectively according to relevant estimations. The total production capacity of PC of the whole country reached to 3000-4000 tons in 2003. PC imported to China in 2003 was up to 534,000 tons and the apparent amount of consumption of that year was 447,000 tons.The scientific and technical personnel of Chenguang Chemical Research Institute engaged in the research and development of PC production technologies have been advancing wave upon wave with a combatant spirit and the spirit of "Storming the gate" for more than 40 years, having made important breakthroughs in a continuous PC manufacturing process by using ester-interchange method and in project amplification techniques. We consider that favorable conditions are now already available in China for building up PC production plants (each has an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons or above) by using ester- interchange method.In the recent 2 years, the growth rate of domestic annual PC consumption was up to more than 30 %, almost all of which relied on imports from foreign countries. Consequently, the development of domestically made PC has become a task, which brooks no delay. At present, conditions for building up domestic large-scale PC production plants are already available. It should be noted that PC production technologies are matured, PC products have a huge market potential and the returns on investment are optimistic. Therefore, building PC production plants, each with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons ( approx. ) making use of domestic scientific research achievements and engineering technologies are fully in conformity with the industry policies issued by the State, which will have very important practical significance and far-reaching strategic significance for alleviating a sharp contradiction between PC supply and demand existed in China nowadays, breaking down the blockage against PC production technologies in China and the monopolization over the supply of PC products and product prices of foreign companies and developing our national industries having our own autonomous intellectual properties by means of our own intellectual properties.     

Statistical analysis of spikes in bioburden

A spike in a set of bioburden data can be considered a bioburden number or numbers that are several times greater in value than the average value of the data set. A spike is not considered a manifestation of a quality issue, but a consistent component of product bioburden that should be taken into account in establishing the minimum acceptable dose in the radiation sterilization process. Rather than a subjective approach, statistical techniques were used to determine when a bioburden number or numbers represent spikes in a set of bioburden data. Bioburden data taken from a cross section of different products over a few months were analyzed. Results of the study identified spikes when the spike bioburden was approximately three or more times the average bioburden for the data set. In those cases where bioburden spikes were identified, use of the spike bioburden rather than the average bioburden increased the sterilization dose by up to 10%.     

Hermann Staudinger und der Kunstpfeffer. Ersatzgewürze

During the First and Second World Wars, Germany could no longer import colonial goods, such as coffee, pepper and other tropical spices. Although these commodities were not essential for the daily caloric requirement of the German people, their absence was felt considerably. Chemists began to search for a lot of appropriate substitutes, which in the end meant an enormous impact on the industry of artificial flavours. When pepper, the most important hot tasting condiment, became rare, Hermann Staudinger, the later Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, and Paul Immerwahr were anxious to find a process that would allow the large‐scale production of a synthetic pepper‐substitute by a method easier and cheaper than the one based on synthetic piperine. Staudinger's pepper‐substitute was produced by the Chemische Fabrik Dr. Höhn & Co. in Neuss on the Rhine during the First World War and by the Hoechst plant of I.G. Farben and C.F. Boehringer Mannheim during the Second World War.     

Photostimulated luminescence detection of irradiated herbs, spices, and seasonings: international interlaboratory trial

An interlaboratory trial was conducted to validate photostimulated luminescence (PSL) methods for herbs, spices, and seasonings. Forty products (11 herbs, 17 spices, and 12 seasonings) were purchased from a local commercial source, and randomly selected samples were irradiated with 10 kGy. Four blended products were prepared at Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, mixing varying proportions of irradiated material with the untreated product. Precharacterization against a predefined threshold identified low sensitivity products (black and white peppers) and products with high natural signals (thyme, sage, parsley, and mixed herbs), both of which might be susceptible to misclassification. Precharacterization also revealed whether calibration was likely to resolve overlap between classification categories. Eight sets of screening data and 5 sets of calibrated data were returned by participants. Of the 840 samples sent, 1593 screening measurements and 788 calibrated measurements were received from 662 samples. In screening mode, participants reached definitive conclusions in 87% of cases, 99% of which were correct. Of the remaining 13%, calibration to identify low-sensitivity resolved 60% of cases. Overall, 94% of samples were correctly identified by either screening alone, or screening plus calibration; 6% remained unclassified and therefore required further investigation by thermoluminescence. The results confirm the validity of the PSL method for herbs, spices, seasonings, and blends, and emphasize the need for calibration to identify low-sensitivity samples. This method has now been adopted by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.     

EPR investigation of some traditional oriental irradiated spices

The 9.50 GHz electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of unirradiated and ⁶⁰Co γ-ray irradiated cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum L. Maton, Zingiberaceae), ginger ((Zingiber officinale Rosc., Zingiberaceae), and saffron (Crocus sativus L., Iridaceae) have been investigated at room temperature. All unirradiated spices presented a weak resonance line with g-factors around free-electron ones. After γ-ray irradiation at an absorbed dose of up to 11.3 kGy, the presence of EPR spectra whose amplitude increase monotonously with the absorbed dose has been noticed with all spices. A 100 °C isothermal annealing of 11.3 kGy irradiated samples has shown a differential reduction of amplitude of various components that compose initial spectra, but even after 3.6 h of thermal treatment, the remaining amplitude represents no less then 30% of the initial ones. The same peculiarities have been noticed after 83 days storage at room temperature but after 340 days storage at ambient conditions only irradiated ginger displays a weak signal that differs from those of unirradiated sample. All these factors could be taken into account in establishing at which extent the EPR is suitable to evidence any irradiation treatment applied to these spices.     

Economics of food irradiation

The number of products being radiation processed worldwide is constantly increasing and today includes such diverse items as medical disposables, fruits and vegetables, spices, meats, seafoods and waste products. This range of products to be processed has resulted in a wide range of irradiator designs and capital and operating cost requirements.This paper discusses the economics of low dose food irradiation applications and the effects of various parameters on unit processing costs. It provides a model for calculating specific unit processing costs by correlating known capital costs with annual operating costs and annual throughputs. It is intended to provide the reader with a general knowledge of how unit processing costs are derived.     

Multi elemental analysis of indigenous food spices in Southern Ethiopia using INAA technique

The objective of this study is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of essential and trace elements of four indigenous Ethiopian spices and herbs using instrumental neutron activation analysis technique. Results obtained for 16 elements: Major elements; Mg, Cl, and K; Minor elements; Na, Fe, and Mn, Zn, Br. While Al, V, Sm, Sc, La, Ba, Eu, Rb were found in traces. The spices, Affromumom korarima and Lippa Adonesis var. Koseret sebsebe were found to be very good sources of essential trace elements like Fe, Zn and Mn. The highest concentration of Mg was found in Ajowan whereas K and Fe were measured in Coriander seeds. The average daily dietary intake of some essential elements from the use of these spices were found to be below the recommended upper limit by WHO.